A long living room with a stone media wall and fireplace, open to the kitchen, an interior by Apel Design

Interior Design · Living + Dining Rooms

Rooms for gathering, composed around how people sit.

Apel Design plans and furnishes living rooms, great rooms and dining rooms for private homes in Malibu, Los Angeles and Southern California, from the seating plan and fireplace to the dining table and the light above it.

The idea

A living room is a plan for conversation before it is a look.

Most living rooms fail at the seating plan, not the finishes: a sofa pushed against the wall, a television that dictates every angle, a fireplace nobody faces. We start with distances. How far apart can two people sit and still talk, where does a guest land on arrival, which seat holds the view? The furniture, the rug and the fireplace follow from that plan, so the room works for eight people as well as for one.

Dining rooms are ruled by the table. Its length and shape set the proportions of the room, the chairs set the clearance around it, and the light above it sets the mood of every meal. In open plans we also design the route from kitchen to table and from table to terrace, so a dinner can move outdoors without anyone stepping around a sofa. The great room then reads as one space with distinct places inside it.

Knowledge + experience

What we bring to the rooms where a household gathers.

Six areas of judgment shape every living and dining room the studio designs.

Seating plans

Conversation groups sized to the room, with clear walking routes behind them and every seat given a reason to face where it faces.

Fireplaces and focal walls

Fireplace surrounds, stone walls and media walls composed so the screen can recede and the fire, the art or the view leads.

The dining table

Table size, shape and material chosen with the chairs, so clearances, sightlines and the usual number of guests are right from the start.

Light above the table

Chandeliers and pendants hung at the right height and scale, with dimmable layers so the light for dinner differs from daylight.

Kitchen and garden routes

Open plans arranged so service flows from kitchen to table, and gatherings drift out to the terrace without crossing a seating group.

Rugs, fabrics and upholstery

Rug sizes, performance fabrics and upholstery details chosen for daily family life, strong coastal sun and a room that ages well.

Selected work

Living and dining rooms from the studio's portfolio.

Great rooms, sitting rooms and dining spaces where plan, furniture and light were composed together.

A living room with black steel-framed doors, a coffered ceiling and sculptural lounge chairs, an interior by Apel Design — **Living room in morning light**Seating gathered on one rug

An open great room with tufted leather sofas and a lit glass wine display beyond, an interior by Apel Design — **Great room with a wine wall**Two seating groups, one room

A white sectional facing a linear fireplace, with the ocean view beyond, an interior by Apel Design — **Living room facing the ocean**Fireplace, sofa and horizon

An upholstered banquette wraps an oval table beneath an iron chandelier and garden windows, an interior by Apel Design — **Banquette dining nook**A table set into the windows

A glass-topped dining table with gray upholstered chairs, aligned with the kitchen island, an interior by Apel Design — **Dining table before the kitchen**Table and island in line

A wood table extends from the kitchen island toward glass doors and the garden, an interior by Apel Design — **Island table toward the garden**The route from kitchen to terrace

A wood dining table and benches beside tall garden windows, with high glazing above, an interior by Apel Design — **Bench dining under high glazing**Daylight from above

The great room's tall stone fireplace wall, with a bar alongside, at Merritt Estate in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Merritt Estate**Malibu

Arched steel-framed doors open the living room to the loggia, at Merritt Estate in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Merritt Estate**Malibu

The kitchen island opens to the great room under timber beams, at Merritt Estate in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Merritt Estate**Malibu

The dining table beside a glass corner open to the terrace, at Merritt Estate in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Merritt Estate**Malibu

An upper gallery with a planted water channel beside the stair, open to the living and dining rooms and the view, at Marlay in the Hollywood Hills, by Apel Design, shown as a design visualization — **Marlay**Hollywood Hills

A dining room under a branching glass chandelier, divided from the living room by a double-sided stone fireplace, at La Jolla North in West Hollywood, by Apel Design — **La Jolla North**West Hollywood

Living and dining rooms in one curved open space with the kitchen beyond, at Sycamore Meadows in Malibu, by Apel Design, shown as a design visualization — **Sycamore Meadows**Malibu

A dining table under woven globe pendants beside glass to the terrace, at Surfside in Malibu, by Apel Design, shown as a design visualization — **Surfside**Malibu

The path

From a floor plan to a finished room.

Listen

We learn how the household gathers: daily meals, large dinners, quiet evenings, children, guests and the rooms each one favors.

Plan

Furniture plans, clearances and routes are drawn to scale and tested against the windows, the fireplace and the views.

Specify

Seating, tables, lighting, rugs and fabrics are selected and detailed, with samples reviewed in the room's own daylight.

Design review

The studio reviews each finished room against the drawings, adjusts placement and lighting levels, and signs off with the client.

Design-Build interiors

Designed by Apel Design, built through Design-Build.

Rooms from Mintcello and Maliview, where the studio carried its own design through Design-Build, with construction by Creative New Dimensions Inc, in conjunction with Apel Design for Design-Build.

A curved white sofa set into a stone-walled living room beside a fireplace, at Mintcello in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Mintcello**Malibu

A timber dining table under an iron lantern, framed by stone walls, at Mintcello in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Mintcello**Malibu

High-backed upholstered chairs line a thick plank table beneath an iron chandelier, at Mintcello in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Mintcello**Malibu

A stone-walled sitting room with a fireplace and an arched garden door, at Mintcello in Malibu, by Apel Design — **Mintcello**Malibu

Steel windows frame the mountains beyond a long gray sofa, at Maliview in the Malibu Mountains, by Apel Design — **Maliview**Malibu Mountains

The living room opens wide to a covered patio, at Maliview in the Malibu Mountains, by Apel Design — **Maliview**Malibu Mountains

Questions

Useful clarity before the first conversation.

How do you plan seating in a large great room?

We divide it into places rather than filling it. A great room usually holds a main conversation group around the fireplace or the view, a dining area with its own light, and sometimes a reading corner. Each group gets its own rug and clear walking routes around it, so the room feels generous without leaving guests stranded across a wide floor.

How much space does a dining table need around it?

Plan at least 36 inches between the table edge and any wall or piece of furniture, and 42 or more where people walk behind seated guests. Within that, the room sets the length of the table and the number of guests you host most often sets its shape: round and square tables suit square rooms, long rectangles suit long ones.

Should the television be the focus of a living room?

Usually not. We design media walls so the screen can recede, set into stone or millwork, concealed behind panels, or moved to a family room. The fireplace, a work of art or the view then becomes the focus, and the seating plan can serve conversation first and viewing second.

Can Apel Design stay involved through construction?

Yes. Apel Design can lead an interior from the first sketch to the final placement, whether the house is delivered through our Design-Build practice or built by a contractor of the client's choosing, with the studio overseeing the interior work. On Design-Build projects, construction is by Creative New Dimensions Inc, in conjunction with Apel Design for Design-Build.

Let’s shape the experience: from room to object.

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