Designer Spotlight: Hearth Homes Interiors

Meet an interior design firm that isn’t afraid to mix family and business. Katie Labourdette-Martinez and Olivia Wahler, the sister-in-law duo behind Hearth Homes Interiors, combine their complementary styles to create a California casual aesthetic that feels both effortlessly cool and deeply comforting.

Katie and Olivia recently completed a full home remodel for a boutique rental in Santa Barbara that features some truly stellar tile moments, and we chatted about their inspiration, design process, and best design tips. Keep reading for the full interview!

Hi Katie and Olivia! Can you tell us a bit about yourselves and your design firm?

Hi, thank you for having us on here! We are sisters-in-law, boy moms, wine enthusiasts, and we love that we get to explore the world of design together. We are the owners of a full-service interior design firm in Santa Barbara, CA that specializes in high-end remodels, ground up builds and full-home furnishing projects.

When did you first become interested in design? How did you get your start?

Olivia and I, (Katie here!), have always been interested in design separately. When she was young, she was constantly rearranging her furniture in her bedroom, and then offering to do the same for friends. My dad was a general contractor, so I’ve always been immersed in this world. When I married Olivia’s brother, we both found ourselves professionally burnt out and unfulfilled in the corporate world. Our passions for all things beautiful eventually blossomed into Hearth Homes Interiors!

Can you tell us about your design process? What is your favorite part?

This is a tough question because the design process is a lengthy one, with so many moving parts. From the big picture perspective, for us there are five phases of every design project: Fact-finding, design, procurement, construction, and installation. My favorite part (Katie speaking!) is creating the initial design concepts, the mood boards, color palette and design direction. For me, (Olivia here!) it’s designing a truly custom kitchen that checks off all of the boxes that our client has while always keeping the aesthetic and design top of mind.

How would you describe your aesthetic, and where do you draw inspiration from?

We love to travel and pull inspiration from the most unexpected places; a hand painted tile in Italy can inspire the curve of the stone on a vanity backsplash, the moss and grassland of the Irish countryside can inspire an earthy color palette, etc. We also love to see what other designers are doing! In this world, it’s only natural to be inspired by other amazing creatives in the space. We always look through design books at the beginning of a project, and we explore our area, pulling inspiration from the architecture and landscape surrounding us.

Can you share your 3 best design tips?

1. Find a color palette that you can be consistent with throughout the home. Use this as your north star when shopping/sourcing so the overall look ends up visually cohesive. Saturation and shades might vary in the objects or furniture, but your overall palette will flow from room to room.

2. Be flexible! Design is as much about problem solving as it is about creating beautiful spaces.

3. Plan and then plan some more. Always make sure you have all of your materials or furnishings on-hand before the project breaks ground to avoid delays. Just winging it can give immediate satisfaction, but a good plan, even if it’s executed in phases, always creates a better end result, and keeps everyone involved happy. We typically find that this helps with budgeting, finding curated pieces you want to hold on to, and overall, a more cohesive design and stress-free process.

How do you factor sustainability into your designs?

Whenever we can, we love reusing or refurbishing pieces to be used in our renovations. Whether it be utilizing the original door hardware, finding vintage furniture for the bathroom vanities, or sourcing second hand furniture from estate sales, we find that this always brings in more character and helps make the project feel complete. We also always love working with brands like Fireclay that focus on ways to sustainably manufacture materials.

Why do you like using tile in your designs?

A shower tile or backsplash is something that’s more permanent, and where some might find it stressful, we love the endless amount of options out there— it gives us so much room for creativity, and there really can be something for everyone. Tile can either be the element that pops, with color and shape, or the perfectly neutral backdrop for the rest of the space. It’s so versatile.

What made you want to work with Fireclay Tile?

Funny story, we started our professional interior design careers flipping houses. Our main goal, and still a huge priority for our team, is to change the narrative around renovations and flipping. We have always sought to “do things right, not quickly,” which led us to finding amazing brands like Fireclay. We’ve been big fans since our beginning!

Do you have a favorite tile moment from your Boardwalk Beach House project?

The pop of the unexpected floor tiles in the primary bath might be our favorite tile moment at Boardwalk. It’s bold, fun, and perfectly unique for a fun weekend getaway to the beach!

Which of our tiles would you love to use in future projects?

Fireclay has some of the most amazing color palettes, so we can pretty much find what we need for any project! That being said, we are really loving the mauve colors for a fun Marfa-meets-cottage-core project we’re currently working on.