What you can learn from Jennifer Garner’s cozy Los Angeles home
Jennifer Garner’s Los Angeles place gets called a farmhouse, but it’s really a blueprint for building a warm, family-run house that can handle real life.
The space leans simple and thoughtful: post-and-beam bones, natural textures, a kitchen that opens to the pool, and an orchard and garden that actually get used. That’s why it works—nothing feels staged, but everything feels considered.
Lead with a working kitchen, not a showroom
Her kitchen is a true hub with honed stone, a fireplace, and a dedicated baking area. It’s kid-friendly, mess-friendly, and close to the action outside. If your kitchen is the family base, bring the working pieces to the foreground: put tools you reach for on one tray, keep a towel and hot pads within arm’s reach, and stop hiding your most-used pots. When a room is designed around how you move, it reads calm instead of chaotic.
Build in “memory stations”
Garner’s home has moments that invite memories—like a blue study, a reading nook with stained glass, and a screened porch upstairs. Create one or two small “memory stations” where you already hang out: a reading chair with a lamp and basket of library books, or a puzzle spot at the end of the dining table with a lidded tray. The goal is to make it easy to pause and stay.
Let nature pull its weight
The property was planned to feel like a walk through trees, with a kitchen garden for snacks and dinner. Even if you’re in a neighborhood, you can still borrow the idea. Add one raised bed or a row of big planters near the door you actually use. Keep a small pair of shears and a bowl outside so grabbing herbs becomes part of the routine. When greens are close, you use them.
Keep the palette quiet and tactile
Designers Steve and Brooke Giannetti leaned on natural wood, mohair, brass, soapstone, and vintage pieces. That mix makes the house feel collected without trying too hard. If your rooms feel loud, don’t add; subtract. Swap two busy pillows for textured neutrals, pick one metal to repeat, and bring in one wood piece with visible grain. The textures do the talking so you don’t need a dozen patterns.
Make “farmhouse” mean function
What actually sells the farm-style idea here is usefulness: screened porch for breezy dinners, a fireplace near the table for long evenings, and doors that open to the pool. Copy the function with what you have. Add a clip-on screen to a back door for cross-breeze nights. Put a dimmer on dining lights and move a candle lantern outside. Small moves change how a night feels.
Anchor every room with one honest piece
Garner’s dining area revolves around a simple 1850s farmhouse table. Find one hardworking anchor per room: a wood table with dents you don’t baby, a durable flat-weave rug that takes traffic, or a slipcovered sofa you can wash. When the anchor doesn’t need fussing, your whole room relaxes.
Let the garden be your art
The house points to the outdoors. You can do this with one large branch arrangement, a bowl of backyard citrus, or a vintage landscape print near a window. It’s a nudge to go outside and a reminder that your view is part of the room. If you’ve got nothing green, start with a rosemary pot by the sink. It’s low effort and smells like you tried.
Don’t overfinish
Garner’s spaces are “nice, but not precious.” Keep a little air on surfaces, leave a nick in the wood you don’t repair, and choose a finish that can take a scratch. That lack of perfection is exactly what makes guests exhale. When the room allows for muddy feet and a dance party, people use it the way you hoped they would.
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*This article was developed with AI-powered tools and has been carefully reviewed by our editors.
