A Rock Star and Her Fiance Get a Surprise Makeover
Echosmith singer Sydney Sierota returns from a tour to find that her parents had secretly arranged to redo her apartment
Mitchell Parker
December 11, 2018
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More
“I wish that I could be like the cool kids,” sings Sydney Sierota on Cool Kids, the 2013 double-platinum-selling single she and her brothers released with their band, Echosmith. She was just 16 at the time. Now, more than five years and many more popular songs later, and with a new Echosmith album in the works, she has ascended beyond cool-kid status to that of enviable globe-trotting rock star.
The 21-year-old recently got engaged to Cameron Quiseng, a former bassist with the pop rock band Allstar Weekend. As an engagement gift, Sydney’s parents, Linda Sierota and Jeffery David, who are also her manager and producer, respectively, decided to surprise their daughter and future son-in-law with a makeover of the one-bedroom apartment that’s attached to their 1920s Spanish Revival house in Pasadena, California. “We thought that this would be a great opportunity to make things a little more friendly to a young married couple,” Linda says.
The 21-year-old recently got engaged to Cameron Quiseng, a former bassist with the pop rock band Allstar Weekend. As an engagement gift, Sydney’s parents, Linda Sierota and Jeffery David, who are also her manager and producer, respectively, decided to surprise their daughter and future son-in-law with a makeover of the one-bedroom apartment that’s attached to their 1920s Spanish Revival house in Pasadena, California. “We thought that this would be a great opportunity to make things a little more friendly to a young married couple,” Linda says.
“After” photos by Bethany Nauert
Apartment at a Glance
Who lives here: Sydney Sierota, the lead singer of pop band Echosmith, and her fiance, Cameron Quiseng, a former bassist with the pop rock band Allstar Weekend and a current grad student
Location: Pasadena, California
Designer: Lucie Ayres of 22 Interiors
Before: Jeffery and Linda found designer Lucie Ayres by searching Houzz for an interior designer in their area. While the parents were on tour with their daughter and sons, they secretly used the Houzz app to collaborate with Ayres remotely with ideabooks of inspiration photos, furniture and decor.
Their main goals were to brighten the apartment, clear clutter and add storage, especially in the original bedroom, pictured, where there wasn’t enough drawer and shelf space to accommodate a rock star’s wardrobe, much less her fiance’s too. “There was a clear lack of storage,” Ayres says. “There was a lot of clothing everywhere. And with the fiance moving in, they needed to get it together and organized.”
Watch now: See Sydney Sierota’s reaction to her new bedroom
Apartment at a Glance
Who lives here: Sydney Sierota, the lead singer of pop band Echosmith, and her fiance, Cameron Quiseng, a former bassist with the pop rock band Allstar Weekend and a current grad student
Location: Pasadena, California
Designer: Lucie Ayres of 22 Interiors
Before: Jeffery and Linda found designer Lucie Ayres by searching Houzz for an interior designer in their area. While the parents were on tour with their daughter and sons, they secretly used the Houzz app to collaborate with Ayres remotely with ideabooks of inspiration photos, furniture and decor.
Their main goals were to brighten the apartment, clear clutter and add storage, especially in the original bedroom, pictured, where there wasn’t enough drawer and shelf space to accommodate a rock star’s wardrobe, much less her fiance’s too. “There was a clear lack of storage,” Ayres says. “There was a lot of clothing everywhere. And with the fiance moving in, they needed to get it together and organized.”
Watch now: See Sydney Sierota’s reaction to her new bedroom
After: A new bed with four storage drawers below, two nightstands with plenty of drawers, and lots of new built-ins inside the closet and nearby shelving area helped tackle the clutter problem.
Next came brightening the bedroom. Ayres thought that the existing gray walls were fine in the living area, where natural light is a little more abundant, but that the color in the bedroom looked “dingy, which can happen with a pale color that doesn’t have the right amount of light,” she says.
She chose a warm peachy color, knowing that Sydney’s favorite color is pink but not wanting to go too pink for Cameron’s sake, and added lighter curtains. A large grayish-pink area rug helps lighten the midtone wood floors.
“It’s fresh but grown up,” Ayres says.
Xia hand-tufted rug in pink and gray: Chandra; Camile upholstered four-drawer platform bed in gray: Baxton Studio; Addison globe light fixture in black and brass: Dutton Brown; Forte nightstands in matte gray oak: Star International Furniture; Eldon table lamps: Galla Home
Find an interior designer near you
Next came brightening the bedroom. Ayres thought that the existing gray walls were fine in the living area, where natural light is a little more abundant, but that the color in the bedroom looked “dingy, which can happen with a pale color that doesn’t have the right amount of light,” she says.
She chose a warm peachy color, knowing that Sydney’s favorite color is pink but not wanting to go too pink for Cameron’s sake, and added lighter curtains. A large grayish-pink area rug helps lighten the midtone wood floors.
“It’s fresh but grown up,” Ayres says.
Xia hand-tufted rug in pink and gray: Chandra; Camile upholstered four-drawer platform bed in gray: Baxton Studio; Addison globe light fixture in black and brass: Dutton Brown; Forte nightstands in matte gray oak: Star International Furniture; Eldon table lamps: Galla Home
Find an interior designer near you
Before: A makeup station in an arched niche lacked the glamour befitting a rock star, Ayres believed.
“As a singer, your makeup and your look is something you need to focus on,” she says. “So I wanted that to feel fun.”
“As a singer, your makeup and your look is something you need to focus on,” she says. “So I wanted that to feel fun.”
After: And what’s more fun than glitter? Ayres had the idea of adding glitter paint to give the area a bit of sparkle but soon found the application to be much more difficult than she had thought. Glitter paint doesn’t come already mixed together. Nor do you just add glitter to a can of paint and mix, which is what Ayres initially tried. “When you do that, you just get grainy paint because the paint swallows up the glitter,” she says.
She discovered that you have to paint the wall first and then, while the paint is still wet, throw a bunch of glitter at it.
“The painter and his assistant were good sports,” she says. “They went home head to toe in glitter. But I love the results. It’s an easy thing to do. Messy, but anyone can buy glitter and throw it on wet paint.”
Stool with hairpin legs in gray: Mod
Watch now: See how this project came together
“The painter and his assistant were good sports,” she says. “They went home head to toe in glitter. But I love the results. It’s an easy thing to do. Messy, but anyone can buy glitter and throw it on wet paint.”
Stool with hairpin legs in gray: Mod
Watch now: See how this project came together
Here’s an example of the kind of built-in storage Ayres added to various niches in the bedroom. When Sydney and Cameron move their stuff back in, they will be able to better organize and store everything.
“I’m really happy because this apartment feels like it’s a lot more accommodating to two people now, and it’s really cool because there’s more space for Cameron to put stuff,” Sydney says.
“I’m really happy because this apartment feels like it’s a lot more accommodating to two people now, and it’s really cool because there’s more space for Cameron to put stuff,” Sydney says.
Before: Apart from the storage issue, Ayres and Sydney’s parents believed that the room could use some new style.
After: Sydney sits on her new bed and bedding beneath a new modern light fixture, which replaced a ceiling fan. You can see how the new paint color, the pale drapes and the area rug go a long way to brightening the room. “It’s perfect for us as a couple,” she says.
Before: When it came to the original living room, pictured, Ayres noticed a lot of great furniture pieces. But she felt that there was a lack of cohesive design and storage for books and knickknacks Sydney had collected during tours around the world with her band.
“I thought this place should be inspiring,” Ayres says. “Yes, comfortable, but it should have some fun elements. She’s been to all these hotels and seen things around the world. We should take it up a notch in creativity.”
“I thought this place should be inspiring,” Ayres says. “Yes, comfortable, but it should have some fun elements. She’s been to all these hotels and seen things around the world. We should take it up a notch in creativity.”
After: A custom bookcase behind the sofa stores books and, eventually, the couple’s items when they finish moving back in.
Watch now: See more of this surprise makeover
Watch now: See more of this surprise makeover
Before: Ayres knew they would keep many of Sydney’s pieces, such as the pink velvet sofa. “It’s super cute, comfortable and a good size,” Ayres says. “The scale of it with the coffee table and TV console felt like it worked. We just needed a different rug.”
The cramped dining area in the corner needed attention, and the light fixture that matched the kitchen pendants didn’t work for Ayres. “The eye needs to have a focal point,” she says. “When light fixtures are the same, the eye groups it all together and ignores it, so nothing stands out. Lighting is the jewelry. You want to focus on it.”
The cramped dining area in the corner needed attention, and the light fixture that matched the kitchen pendants didn’t work for Ayres. “The eye needs to have a focal point,” she says. “When light fixtures are the same, the eye groups it all together and ignores it, so nothing stands out. Lighting is the jewelry. You want to focus on it.”
After: A glass-rod light fixture with a gold finish now gives the eye something to settle on. Ayres got rid of the dining table and chairs, and moved a small Parisian-style table to the spot, along with two bright blue velvet dining chairs.
The nearby desk area also got a makeover with a new desk, chair and mirror.
Matrix six-light pendant light in Havana Gold: Varaluz; Rowland mirror in Champagne: Surya; M60 chairs in gold and navy blue: Meelano; Knollys desk: Sterling
The nearby desk area also got a makeover with a new desk, chair and mirror.
Matrix six-light pendant light in Havana Gold: Varaluz; Rowland mirror in Champagne: Surya; M60 chairs in gold and navy blue: Meelano; Knollys desk: Sterling
A lighter-colored rug updates the look while enhancing natural light. “It was mostly about tying everything together, and how do we make it feel a little bit rock ’n’ roll and a little bit fun,” Ayres says. “It’s rare to get to design for a 21-year-old rock star. It was such a fun project.”
Ayres knew she could lose the indoor dining table to declutter the living area because the couple had this unused patio, which she updated with new furnishings. “This is California,” she says. “They can eat outside for most meals.”
Lisbeth French bistro side chairs: Safavieh; Santa Cruz indoor-outdoor area rug in sky blue and pale blue: Surya; molded-glass lantern: Northlight Seasonal; Cadiz lantern in brown: Smart Solar USA
Lisbeth French bistro side chairs: Safavieh; Santa Cruz indoor-outdoor area rug in sky blue and pale blue: Surya; molded-glass lantern: Northlight Seasonal; Cadiz lantern in brown: Smart Solar USA
Behind Sydney hangs a photo collage that Ayres created by securing a bunch of Sydney’s black-and-white photos with Mighty Magnets to magnetic strips bolted into the wall. “She can do whatever she wants with it — change photos out, add postcards,” Ayres says.
“Being welcomed into the Sierota family has been quite the experience,” Cameron says. “I think this is really the icing on the cake of them forwarding that love and hospitality — welcoming me literally into their household, not just their family — and I think that’s amazing.”
“We just hope this is something they can enjoy over the next couple of years,” Linda says. “And we will be able to have them just walk up the stairs for Thanksgiving for years to come.”
Watch now: See Sydney Sierota and Cameron Quiseng’s newly redecorated home
Get the look: Shop for products from this makeover
Your turn: Find a professional and get started on your own project
“Being welcomed into the Sierota family has been quite the experience,” Cameron says. “I think this is really the icing on the cake of them forwarding that love and hospitality — welcoming me literally into their household, not just their family — and I think that’s amazing.”
“We just hope this is something they can enjoy over the next couple of years,” Linda says. “And we will be able to have them just walk up the stairs for Thanksgiving for years to come.”
Watch now: See Sydney Sierota and Cameron Quiseng’s newly redecorated home
Get the look: Shop for products from this makeover
Your turn: Find a professional and get started on your own project
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Well done Lucie! Fun and classy.
It's a nice place, but I feel like they forgot all about the fact that it was supposed to be a space for BOTH of them, not just their daughter.