A Sunny California Cottage Filled With Vintage Décor

The dining table was designed by Larkin with a base found on Etsy that she paired with a white-quartz countertop found at a local slab yard. The dining chairs were reupholstered in African mud cloth and ecru linen. The antique Kazak runner is one of her treasured finds that she sells on Corre Marie Home. Photo: Anne Ciotola

Corre Larkin leads a double life. In her day job, she runs a WOSB (woman-owned small business), Transparent Armor Solutions. “We are a U.S. government defense contractor,” Larkin says. “A typical week for me is like last week, when on Tuesday I spent the day touring a Navy patrol boat on a Marine base in San Diego. It’s where the Navy SEALs train, and watching them train was fascinating! We were down there taking final measurements for a boat that we are going to provide the armor for. Then that evening, I came home and worked on the design of one of my current projects, where I am sourcing antique paintings for a gallery wall.” She and her husband moved to their single-level cottage in 2015. “I grew up in Newport Beach, and most of my family are here. My daughter was 2 when I became pregnant with my son. It was time to find our forever home, and we did.” It was decorating that home, the kitchen of which is seen above, that inspired Larkin’s second career and business, Corre Marie Home.

Larkin’s aesthetic is eclectic and goes against the grain of typical California coastal style, which features lots of neutrals and white, with rarely an antique in sight. “Our house sticks out because it has so many collected items,” Larkin says. “It has lots of color and things that I picked up when I travel.” The white sofa was custom designed by Monarch Sofa. “We went super-deep at 48 inches,” she says. The coffee table was fashioned from another base found on Etsy and then topped with Carrera marble sourced at the slab yard. The deer hides used for accents on the chairs are from Tennessee Web Store, the photos above the console are by Slim Aarons, and the oriental rugs are from Corre Marie. The console was found on a trip to a tiny town in Gloucestershire many years ago. Photo: Anne Ciotola

The master bedroom feels stately and cozy with millwork painted in Farrow & Ball’s Inchyra Blue. The bed is from Anthropologie, and the leather Chesterfield was custom designed by Monarch Sofas. “I dipped my toe in the design world working on this house and spent a lot of time sourcing antique rugs and became kind of obsessed with that. I started selling them, so now I have my online shop that sells the antique rugs and I also take on one or two projects at a time. This is kind of what I do for fun in the free time I don’t have.” Photo: Anne Ciotola

Larkin’s 4-year-old daughter has a bedroom infused with soft color and sophisticated texture. The vintage rattan bed is from the south of France from Elsie Green, the teepee is from Roller Rabbit, and Larkin found the bedding in a market in India. The armchair is from Larkin’s mother, and she recovered it in an antique suzani. The pouf is from Flea Market Fab. The children’s bathroom is covered in “Mr. Blow” wallpaper from Abnormals Anonymous. Photo: Anne Ciotola.

Larkin’s 4-year-old daughter has a bedroom infused with soft color and sophisticated texture. The vintage rattan bed is from the south of France from ... more Larkin’s 4-year-old daughter has a bedroom infused with soft color and sophisticated texture. The vintage rattan bed is from the south of France from Elsie Green, the teepee is from Roller Rabbit, and Larkin found the bedding in a market in India. The armchair is from Larkin’s mother, and she recovered it in an antique suzani. The pouf is from Flea Market Fab. The children’s bathroom is covered in “Mr. Blow” wallpaper from Abnormals Anonymous. Photo: Anne Ciotola.

The baby’s room has an elephant hamper from Amazon. “The crib is a hand-me-down from a friend, but it is originally from Pottery Barn,” Larkin says. The leather pouf is from Eclectic Goods, and the rocker is from Amazon; Larkin recovered it with three different fabrics found on eBay. The Juju hat on the wall over the crib is from Etsy, and the twig mirror is from OKA in London. “My foray into the design world was to bring a bit of color and creativity to my life,” Larkin says. “I live day-to-day in the male-dominated, ball-busting world of defense. I love the people I have met in the design world, a vast majority of them female. It’s just not something I have in my defense world.” Photo: Anne Ciotola