Jewelry Designer Maya Brenner Turned a Room Into Her Sanctuary

10.08.2024 - 03:39 / sunset.com / Sarah Yang

Jewelry designer Maya Brenner wanted a room in her Los Angeles home that was a retreat just for her. After raising kids for 21 years and running a business for 25 years, she wanted a space of her own that could be used for “dreaming, designing, reading, and being with myself or people I love.” So she decided to take over a room that was originally built as a nursery for her youngest child and then used as a home office. Joanna Williams of Kneeland Co. was tapped to help transform the space.

Amy Chin

The inspiration for the design was a trip to Paris. “When my oldest graduated high school in 2022, I took him to Paris and I walked into a shop in the Marais that had a dressing room that was covered in fabric from floor to ceiling,” Maya says. “I could not get that room out of my mind for two years, so I wanted to create something similar for myself. I have always gravitated towards the luxuriousness and attention to detail of French design, and I wanted something that was a sort of European château meets ‘60s Park Avenue.”

The choice of fabric was crucial to the project since it would be the basis for the whole design, so Joanna pulled many swatches from various designers and showrooms, with all of them having an “elegant bohemian, but also relaxed” mood. They ended up going with Schumacher’s Emperor’s Vine fabric in Aubergine.

Amy Chin

“It’s a mid-scale floral with spiraling vines and leaves, reminiscent of an Indienne textile,” Maya explains. “Indienne florals have a sophistication and old world romance—a perfect print to cover a room, pillows, bedding, and ottomans. Indiennes are textiles that were manufactured in Europe between the 17th and 19th centuries, inspired by similar textiles that originated in India. They’re