Tour a Compact, Mid-1950s Kitchen in a Mojave Desert Home

A few years ago, Kelsey Coppetti was producing digital marketing campaigns for companies like Netflix, Uber, and Toyota. But she focused her career on interior design when she and her husband Dustyn, who has a background in architecture, decided to turn an abandoned 1950s home in the Mojave Desert into a peaceful place for short-term renters. The dramatic transformation (which took two years, due to the delay of the pandemic) served as a perfect proof of concept for Studio Marrant, a Los Angeles-based design practice. Now, prospective clients have a good example of the studio’s work.

More importantly, travelers visiting nearby Joshua Tree National Park can book a lodge at the newly renovated Twentynine Palms, California, which sits on 10 acres of mesquite-covered sand dunes. (To book, go to Airbnb.) Kelsey and Dustyn completely renovated their guest house’s stucco building, replacing (potentially) asbestos floor tiles with engineered oak planks, covering the walls in a greige lime wash by Portola Paints, and restoring the original wood beams. They also maintained the historic brick space in the middle of the house.

The couple’s most impressive work? Creating a functional, eye-catching kitchen and dining area in a compact space. “It was difficult because when we entered we were just the same,where is the dining room?There was no living space, really,” recalls Kelsey. And the layout of the kitchen was very small, so we wanted to keep everything as open as possible, so it felt bright and not too cluttered.”

Aesthetically, Kelsey and Dustyn were inspired by their dusty, dry surroundings, so they chose neutral colors of beige, brown, and terracotta. They also used natural materials and incorporated antiques where possible, creating a kitchen that looks like it could have always been there.

Let’s take a trip.

Photos by Bethany Nauert and Victoria Aguirre.

Then, the duo created an L-shaped countertop and base cabinets using tadelakt, an ancient Moroccan plaster known for its waterproof quality. “It’s a little blurry, but it’s working for us,” Kelsey said. “We wanted that molded, organic look here, with the open cabinets, so it was a perfect fit for us.”