When actress and model Molly Sims starts her day in her seven-bedroom contemporary home in the oceanside Los Angeles neighborhood of Pacific Palisades, the first thing she sees are two paintings she adores.
They’re a portrait of her family with film-producer husband Scott Stuber, painted by artist Donald Robertson, and a Harland Miller painting of an imagined Penguin book.
These works line the walls of a joint kitchen and family room that, as a mother of three young kids, Ms. Sims has designed to be equal parts functional and fashionable.
Here, Ms. Sims, 44, shares five of her favorite items at home with Mansion Global.
A portrait of Sims’s family by artist Donald Robertson
I first found him back in 2012-13. A builder and interior designer, Dan Scotti, showed me his work at Eric Firestone [Gallery] in East Hampton. We didn't buy it because Scott was like, "It's too feminine." I so regretted it. I became obsessed with him and I tracked him down through his agent, Theresa Peters at UTA, and basically I said, "I will do anything if you will do a portrait of my family for our wedding anniversary." I said, "The only thing is, capture me." He captured us perfectly. Now I literally have to have him take it back and break the glass, and add another child!
A painting by Harland Miller, I’ll Never Forget What I Can’t Remember
I bought it when my husband and I first got married. I have always been obsessed with Harland Miller, and we ended up getting that piece out of London. I could have that piece for 100 years. It's one of my favorite pieces. If you know Harland Miller's work, he's iconic for having these amazing statements on these Penguin books. He always adds a great twist. "I'll never forget what I can't remember."— With my crazy tribe of five, I need that statement.
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The kitchen backsplash by Waterworks
It's the whole back wall of my kitchen, which leads into my family room. Originally, I wanted to copy Debbie and Jim Burrows—he directed "Friends" and "Will and Grace" and "Frasier." I had seen a great black-and-white backsplash in their house in Cabo, and I loved it. I was set to pull the trigger and then Dan Scotti said, "I really think we need to do something fantastic." We did open-shelving and he said, "I think this should be a look." He thought the black and white would be too busy, so we ended up going with this Waterworks. It's a custom blue-black with a triple-high gloss. It balances because there was too much white in the whole room. It's a navy-black represented in the paint of all the doors and the kitchen cabinetry. It's a good base and it keeps everything from being white and washed out.
Her lampshade
I needed something over a Saarinen table, an oval '60s table with a mahogany top. I wanted something that had texture, that was light, that was see-through, but also really took up space in the room. I didn't want any glass and I wanted something that gave it warmth.
The dining chairs
The chairs are Milo Baughman vintage, with Elizabeth Dow fabric. My husband's only request was, "I want to be comfortable sitting down." My husband is almost 6-foot-5. We bought them on 1st Dibs and re-covered them in Elizabeth Dow fur. They’re really warm and comfy. No one ever wants to get up.
This story first appeared in Mansion Global magazine.
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