For fashion stylist Lawren Howell and her husband, Kris Moller, someday raising their three kids surrounded by nature in California’s bucolic Ojai Valley was always part of the plan. The concept of “someday” sped up significantly when the perfect pocket listing suddenly crossed their path via a friend’s broker. “The house had a wonderful feeling about it—so open and sprawling,” says Howell of the one-level Craftsman full of “amazing nooks and crannies,” which sits on nearly two acres in view of the Topatopa Mountains. “We thought we’d rent it out and use it in the summers, but it became so complicated, we were like, ‘Let’s go for it!’” The actual move from Venice, California, where they lived, was far from immediate, however, since what they’d purchased—despite its sizable plot—was dark, closed off, and poorly maintained.

The remodel that followed respected the footprint and layout, but included updates to literally every aspect of the three-turned–four-bedroom home, from exterior surfaces and indoor flooring to the finishes, bathrooms, and kitchen. While Howell headed this not-insignificant effort herself, there was one room for which she had a very specific vision that called for outside assistance. She loved the feeling of GTA, the takeaway counter of beloved Venice restaurant Gjelina. “I wanted that kind of industrial restaurant feeling in our kitchen—I didn’t want a bright white space,” says Howell, noting GTA's use of steel and concrete to warm effect. So she went to the source, hiring Alexander Liberman of AML Studio, Gjelina Group’s in-house designer the past five years.

“We are outside all the time,” says Howell, pictured with her family of five in the pool they put in behind their refreshed Craftsman in Ojai, California, backdropped by the Topatopa Mountains. Their outdoor dining table was built from old fences. “One of my favorite things about Ojai is you go to people’s homes and almost every one has some cool view or perspective,” she says. “In the morning and evening here, the pink light on the mountains is so beautiful.”

“I was the contractor at that point, and he was the designer,” says Howell of her “awesome collaboration” with Liberman. He thought of things she hadn’t, like putting planters above painted steel shelving, with a movable hanging ladder for watering, and slotting in knobs and handles into the dark green steel cabinets. But there’s no lack of brightness to balance its deep tones: The breakfast nook, for example, does double duty as an ever-changing art gallery for Howell’s children’s work. The house is also full of other conversation pieces, such as the unmissable horn chairs in the living room, originally owned by Howell’s parents. (Her dad is a University of Texas alumnus.)

Howell, an avowed flea market junkie, sourced many pieces at Brimfield Antique Flea Markets in Massachusetts. “I just buy things that I like and I hope and pray they look good with what I have,” she says, adding that she always follows her instincts. She adapted one-third of their existing pieces to the new home, where they entertain other young families often and easily. “Of course I love nice things, but I also like things to feel utilitarian and easy,” she comments. “There’s a cheeriness to the house and eclectic-ness to it that I think people respond to because there are lots of things to look at.”

The breakfast nook is an expression of creativity in more ways than one. First, Howell had a top made for an old Restoration Hardware table base and DIY-painted it with bright red car paint. (It’s surrounded by midcentury chairs from 1stDibs.) Then there’s the pinboard wall behind it, a rotating gallery for her kids’ artwork. “You can tell there’s the presence of a family,” she says.

There’s no one aesthetic or era that dominates the abode, which is probably why it’s so expressive and livable. “I’m not good at sticking to one horse, so it’s a little bit crazy, a mishmash of different styles,” says Howell, whose “all over the place” Pinterest boards ranged from country minimal to very green. She doesn’t shy from color or pattern, a fact proved partly by incorporating the new home collection of her print-designer sister Stevie Howell in their master bedroom and beyond. Their varied art collection includes wall hangings, photography, painting, and ceramics.

“Some prints work really well together, others are cacophonous together," says Howell of how interior design is a natural extension of her career in fashion. "It’s that kind of principle in decorating—finding complementary things or things that contrast nicely.” As a stylist often working with celebrities, she’s well versed in the intricacies of folding oft-disparate elements into well-composed, balanced pictures. “Styling humans and houses, there are so many other layers,” comments Howell, who had four other people to consider while renovating her home. "It's the emotional aspect of working with people."