James Bond and Karen Kimmel’s family home is full of art

James Bond and Karen Kimmel decided that their love of art and design would not be restrained by the arrival of children. When Bond and Kimmel moved into their three-bedroom house a decade ago, neither of their two kids had been born. And though paintings, photography and classic pieces of furniture have since turned the Midcentury Modern residence into something of a 2,800-square-foot personal gallery, no areas are off-limits to Jersey, Ace or their 9-year-old American Staffordshire terrier, Peaches. “If you’re going to put real effort into decorating a room, you deserve to use it and make it accessible to the people in your house,” Kimmel says. “Some people use their dining rooms once a year. Not us.”  (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

Ace and Jersey have their art workstation, complete with four kid-sized Harry Bertoia chairs, smack in the middle of the living room. There they draw with the abstract art stencils that Karen Kimmel created to teach children that life isn’t so much about coloring within the lines as it is drawing your own boundaries.  (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

Kimmel, the formally trained artist of the family, decorated the space entirely. “She had free rein!” Bond shouts from the kitchen into the dining room, where Kimmel confirms in a whisper that, well, yes, she might have bullied her husband “a little” on some pieces. The décor is a mix of sources and inspirations. The owl pillow pictured here was made by a student of Kimmel’s, an artist with physical and developmental disabilities.  (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

Kimmel and Bond, whose eclectic collection includes Andy Warhol and Sister Corita, also emphasize that art doesn’t have to be expensive to be good. Kimmel likens art to dating. “You like people for different reasons,” she says. “At different stages of your life you’re attracted to different things. That’s the same for James and me. We started collecting at a certain place and then evolved as a couple and then a family. As we become a bigger family, we have less money for art.” Here in the dining room, black Eames chairs are complemented with a vintage console and a pendant light from the Rose Bowl flea market.   (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

A detail of the vintage console, which stands next to a vintage surf photo.  (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

This rustic sawhorse table by the entry? A piece Bond and Kimmel picked up while traveling in New Zealand.  (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

More paintings serve as a backdrop for the Saarinen table and chairs in the breakfast nook. Do mom and dad ever worry the kids will wreck some expensive piece of design? Accessibility “doesn’t mean there are no rules,” Kimmel says, and accidents will happen. When Ace was 8 months old, she took him to LACMA, and he promptly drooled on a Jenny Holzer installation that, much to everyone’s relief, was made of marble. “Today he scooters into the Kai Regan sneaker photograph at the end of the hall all the time, and Jersey puts her hands on the Thomas Campbell artwork in the kitchen. It happens.”  (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

A casual area in the family room.  (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

Hanging along with one child’s favorite drawings from preschool are sherbet-toned, cartoon-faced pieces by Campbell and Chris Johanson.   (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

Ace, 3, plays a rendition of Queen’s “We Will Rock You” on his bedroom drum set. On the wall: an installation by the New York skate-culture shop Supreme.   (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

In one bathroom: burned skateboards as art.  (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

In James Bond’s closet: shoe sculpture?  (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

Two of Karen Kimmel’s laser-cut wood sculptures sit on the patio of the family’s Los Angeles home.   (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

Jersey plays in the backyard. The mix of kid play space and adult art may seem unconventional to some. An artwork in the master bedroom by Raymond Pettibon, the contemporary artist known for work that incorporates ironic and sometimes disturbing text, contains the F-word. “Jersey just asked what it said the other day,” Kimmel says. “Without a doubt, the verbal and visual language we share with our children shapes them. Our take as parents is we try not to hide from the darker sides of the human condition; instead, we try to provide context as it is appropriate and be honest without being too overwhelming or scary.” Then in a lighter tone she adds: “I’ll let you know how they turn out in about 20 years.”  (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

A vinyl wire patio chair and early summer sunshine provide Jersey with the perfect setting to practice guitar.  (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)

The family dog, Peaches, feels right at home too.

For a peek inside more private worlds, check out our gallery of more than 100 California homes in pictures. For the latest news on sales, decorating, and garden, check out our blog L.A. at Home.

Read the full story on James Bond and Karen Kimmel’s family friendly, art filled home.  (Stefano Paltera / Los Angeles Times)