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Director and photographer Claire Cottrell shares the ways traveling and exploring her Los Angeles neighborhood inform her home. Inspired by architecture, people, light, and color, she shows us how her visual world impacts her decorating style.

Last summer, I stayed at Le Belvédère du Rayon-Vert, an old hotel in the South of France. The town used to be a destination for starlets in the 1930s and ’40s and is still very cinematic. I knew the hotel was a significant work of Art Deco architecture, and when I saw these pale blue marble stairs surrounded by white walls, it didn’t disappoint.

Similarly, I love the shape and subtle elegance of this sofa in my bedroom.

In my backyard, peach and apricot trees grow next to six different kinds of cherry trees that were planted by my neighbors—set designers for Quentin Tarantino who traveled to Japan often.

Find more inspiration in the fall issue.

At home, if I need a change, I sometimes sleep on my guest bed. I bought it in grad school and didn’t have the budget, but I thought, I have to have this. Returning to an old thing in a new state can change your relationship to that object.

On the same trip to France, I visited Cadaqués, a fishing village on the Costa Brava that is the first place the sun touches in all of Spain. It’s a bohemian community of artists and free spirits. This woman was out for a stroll, and I liked her dress.

Another detail I loved was this fantastic fresco and clamshell candleholder back at Le Belvédère.

My kitchen and dining nook have similar shades of pale pink and lavender.

Find more inspiration in the fall issue.

More color inspiration from Le Belvédère was this rich burgundy curtain, like the bunch of wild roses by my bed.

In the living room, I keep books, gifts from friends, and small artworks in my creative storage trunk.

Everything has a story—a branch from Joshua Tree, a Scenes From a Marriage poster (I’m a big Ingmar Bergman fan), a blue ceramic pot. I only brought back photos from this trip, and I’m planning to print a few to hang at home as a souvenir.

Find more inspiration in the fall issue:

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