Justina Blakeney’s Colorful Home Is on The Cover of Architectural Digest’s First Family Issue

Justina Blakeney believes “the home is a wet canvas.” 

The founder of The Jungalow, the beloved home decor community, recently opened up the SoCal home she shares with her husband, Jason Rosencrantz, and 9-year-old daughter, Ida to Architectural Digest for the magazine’s first-ever “Family” issue, and this colorful plant-laden pad is overflowing with good vibes.

In addition to Blakeney’s popular design brand, which launched in 2014, she also channeled her creativity into transforming the family’s 1930s Spanish-style house in Altadena. While the home was in “decent” shape when they closed on it in December 2020, changes were definitely in order. They wanted to put in a new kitchen, overhaul the bathrooms, and do electrical work. Now, it’s filled with Mediterranean details across its 2,700 square feet, and embraces the positivity and energy you’d expect from the mind behind The Jungalow. 

Of course, getting the home to that point that exuded energy was a bit of a challenge. In addition to the planned construction, they chose to transform the garage into a guest room that could double as a workshop for Blakeney to test out bedding and wallpaper. Clearing permits and accessing the supplies that were necessary for the transformation was extremely challenging during the pandemic. “It’s been a real exercise in patience,” said Blakeney. “It has not been easy living almost a year in a construction zone.” 

Luckily, Rosencrantz is pretty handy, complementing her flair for design. “We are a great team because I bring the big vision like ‘Here’s what I want the room to feel like, and these are the colors that I want to bring in,’ and he’s very much dialed-in to all the tiny little details,” said Blakeney.

Each room is designed to evoke a different mood. The overhauled kitchen, which has a Zia tile floor in a cool blue hue, embraces a minimalist vibe that had to be “super functional.” Its wooden cabinetry and tiled backsplash in a warm terra cotta color provides a subtle contrast. The primary bedroom is washed with cool blues to embrace a “moody” aesthetic. Wicker and rattan features on the bed and nightstand feel tropical, as does the brass palm tree lamp stand. “I feel like a lot of times my designs, and the spaces that we create, conjure a transformative narrative,” Blakeney said. “But this is the first time that we were like, ‘Oh, we’re in a whole new biome.’ We went with the idea that the bed was our island in this ocean for us to celebrate our love together.” 

Naturally, you’ll find plenty of patterns throughout the home from the Jungalow’s designs, like the Cha Cha wallpaper in Blakeney’s dressing room and the palm tree mirror from Jungalow’s partnership with Opalhouse. The bathroom is also filled with Blakeney’s designs, boasting the cosmic wallpaper and inlaid teak doors. 

A lanai with a bright skylight and tons of lush plants is home to a travertine table and a set of four chairs that belonged to Blakeney’s grandparents. Underfoot, the Moroccan cement tile floor is a colorful addition. Continue outside to the courtyard, which is centered around a large olive tree. It’s where Blakeney meditates most mornings, but there’s also plenty of space for the family to entertain guests in the plush pink seating. A brick patio with plenty of nooks for enjoying the outdoors leads to the swimming pool.  

“It has a coziness to it that I really love,” Blakeney told AD. “And a circularity about the flow of the energy because of the way it surrounds the courtyard.”

This post was originally published on Apartment Therapy. Read it there: Take a Look Inside the Jungalow Creator Justina Blakeney’s Colorful Home