Field Trip: Paso Robles Renovation with Relaxed Roman Shades
The renovated living room with removed built-ins, a removed partition wall, cleaned up fireplace, upcycled mantle, built in wood storage, and relaxed roman shades.
While not a designer, when asked to try my hand at solving a layout or configuration challenge, usually by a friend or family, I’m often happy to give it a go. When it involves material selection, a trip to a favorite destination, plus the opportunity to experiment with new fabrics and window treatments options, I’m all in.
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Growing up we had “not so close” family that lived up the coast in Atascadero, the town just to the south of Paso Robles, but the only time I remember going up there was for a (big) day trip to celebrate my great grandma’s 100th birthday. But about 15 years ago as my mom and stepfather began to eye their retirement dream of owning a small winery and tasting room, our family connection to the area began to grow. At first with a small house my mom bought in Cambria, then even more so when she moved up to Paso full time. Eventually more family put down roots in the area, and at this point it’s a location we find ourselves in very often.
With that, we’ve seen the town evolve and expand quite a bit over the past 15 years, and if you are a food and wine loving visitor, I can attest that your experience in Paso has gotten much, much better as the number of wineries has exploded and the options for excellent food at every price point are now many.
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In the case of this light renovation of an awkward 1990’s living room space in need of some serious 21st century attention, we decided to accept the challenge and make a little experience out of it.
The 90s called and would like its white wash back.
I had somewhat recently gotten my hands on some really cool chunky woven Irish linen I’d been looking for a place to use, and decided that the semi-rugged yet refined hacienda aesthetic we’d try to give this Spanish style home would be a great place to give it a go. It isn’t exactly a full-on case of the tail wagging the dog (the window treatments dictating the design), but more so an idea of where we wanted to go, and cohesive components coming together before the project fully took shape.
The key objectives of the remodel were to open up the primary living space by eliminating a 3/4 height wall that you saw immediately upon entry through the front door that not only closed down the space big time, but obstructed sweeping views into backyard filled with mature native oaks and a sweeping gulch; then refocus the awkward layout of the room with its tricky angles, unnecessary built-ins, and undersized and weirdly located TV for 2025 viewing habits. And lastly, eliminate A LOT 90s white washed oak.
As is so often the case, removing the wall immediately transformed the space, making the room seem immediately larger and somehow just more comfortable to spend time in. The built-ins were removed entirely (they really served no purpose at all). We deleted all the faux column finishing around the fireplace (should have removed the fire box and refinished that, but did not work it into the timeline…grrr) and replaced that with beautiful Arto tile, handmade here in California. This was not my first time working with the Arto Arabesque pattern tile, and once again, I think it came out really cool. In the spirit of trying to use locally sourced and / or repurposed material, we were able to upcycle one of the decorative beams from the demo’d wall and turn that into the new fireplace mantle - not only cool to repurpose that piece, but also nice that it tied in completely seamlessly with the newly stained ceiling beams. These got treated with a Sherwin Williams deck stain product (Superdeck), and turned out fantastic.
Where the old, bulky TV and 90s AV equipment was stashed in the wall, we were able to make a nice tiled-in firewood storage niche, kept full with felled oak from the property. This was not part of the original plan, but a really nice pivot we decided to add along the way once we opened things up. And then of course, the cordless, unlined, relaxed roman shades in the chunky yet incredibly supple and refined Irish linen felt like the final piece to tie the ruggedly sophisticated design all together.
Cordless Roman Shades: A deeper Look
Most pure linen you’ll come across in the textile industry is Belgian linen, which is of exceptional quality and highly regarded. Though not too long ago, one of our fashion district based suppliers got ahold of some very unique Irish linen, generally considered more artisanal, more boutique, and therefore more rare. It can be highly sought after in segments of the fashion industry like suiting. We’ve currently got two different weight weaves of this Irish linen, with the one pictured being the thicker, chunkier weave that is available in only a few colorways – a very natural light brown, a crisp white, and then an interwoven combination of the two.
We felt this chunkier texture both stood up to and complimented the rugged beams and handcrafted, irregular patterning of the fireplace tile. With white walls and a good amount of color in the fireplace, we wanted to the shades to be understated, have a natural feel, but also have their own story without trying to steal the show.
Out and About in the Paso Robles Region.
Looking west from the porch at High Camp Wines. Winter is an underrated time to visit the central coast, but personally my favorite. During dry winters like this, temps are mild but cozy, crowds are light, and sunsets are epic.
This is far from the definitive locals guide to Paso Robles, but just some of the places we enjoy and things we’ll try to do on any given trip.
I would be remiss if I did not recommend checking out my mom and stepdad’s tasting room, 7 Angels Cellars. It is right off the 46 west, on the property of Dark Star Cellars, which is owned and operated by another Long Beach defector and long time friend of theirs. It’s a small and intimate space where you’ll get a personal tasting, something that seems to be slowly disappearing from Paso wine experience of late.
Other wineries and / or tasting rooms we enjoy are Ultima Tulie, an extremely boutique winery on the order of dozens of cases of certain wines per year in Tin City, where you’ll likely meet the proprietor in the tasting room; and High Camp Wines in San Miguel, just northeast of Paso. It is owned by a hip former LA couple with authentic connections to the Paso agriculture scene and the tasting room is operated by some real area veterans. The San Miguel region is interesting to me as it is starkly different from the lush green landscape west of the 101, and is very reminiscent of Valle de Guadelupe, just outside of Ensenada in Baja, CA.
Food
A restaurant search will give you many, many options in and around Paso, but the small town of Templeton can get overlooked. Kitchenette in Templeton is an excellent spot for breakfast and lunch or check out McPhees, a local classic, for a saloon-y western, yet elevated meal. In Paso we go to Hatch for open fire cooked farm to table BBQ fare. Perhaps my favorite all around restaurant in town for the past few years has been Le Petit Canailles, right off the main square and if you are looking for a pretty special, unique experience, Six Test Kitchen, with about a dozen seats around the horseshoe shaped bar where you watch the team of 3 (including the chef/owner) prepare and plate Michelin starred food is entirely worth a splurge. When the chef walked around with a wooden box allowing us to choose our knife for the meat course, almost more excited at the handmade nature of each blade and its unique characteristics than the food itself, we knew we were in the right company.
Though most of the time we prefer to fire up the Santa Maria grill, get some excellent seafood from Pier 46 and local tri tip, and cook a big meal at home.
The Santa Maria grill with seasoned oak from the property is perfect for feeding a crowd.
Get Outside
The real appeal of Paso Robles and the central coast for me personally is not only the casual beauty of the rolling hill and laid-back vibe of an agricultural region, but also its proximity to the ocean, with regional classic surf if you go looking for it, and mountain biking or hiking in Montana de Oro State Park just south of Morro Bay / Los Osos. If you do head that way, consider stopping by one of the dockside seafood vendors in Morro Bay, Tognazzini’s and Giovanni’s are both great.
Pick your pleasure, views from the trailhead parking lot allow for a surf check or access to miles of smiles in Montana de Oro State Park.
