Elegant Traditional Living Room in a Pasadena Colonial

Dana Banta's 1922 colonial in the Madison Heights neighborhood of Pasadena, California — a block from where Father of the Bride and Mad Men were filmed — opens directly into a formal living room built for entertaining, then flows into what guests reliably name their favorite room in the house. Dana, co-owner of the San Marino gift store The Monogram Home, designed these rooms around family, friends, and the belief that no one should feel they can't set a wine glass down.

The living room mixes celadon green, coral, and blue across traditional, contemporary, and Carlton V dragon-print fabrics for a look that's modern yet traditional. When they bought the house, this room was sponge-painted pink with Corinthian columns; they transformed it with paneling, molding, and wallpaper to restore its 1922 character.

Antique mirrors from her great-grandmother flank the front door, a three-generation British portrait was painstakingly restored until the sitter's pinky ring and lace cuffs reappeared, and animal-print chairs were made from a salvaged Pasadena oak.

A game table set for mahjong reflects a family that loves to play, and an unexpected hand-blown glass sculpture from a Geary's sale adds the contemporary pop her husband initially questioned. Off the living room, the library is the warm, saturated-teal heart of the home — everyone's favorite, thanks to its light and inviting fabrics. The couple added a wet bar where a TV and laundry once sat, plus bookshelves to display Staffordshire dogs, a grandfather's bowling trophy, and 1960s decanters from William Wayne in New York.

Inherited equestrian paintings from Dana's grandmother, a custom India-loomed rug, and a needlepoint pillow made for her mother's 1980 wedding layer in family history. A connecting hallway added during the remodel — with a gray-and-white checkerboard floor and Gustavian demilune tables from Round Top, Texas — closed off old thoroughfares to give the formal rooms real separation.