Toni Bravo didn’t start with a mood board or fabric swatches—she started with a feeling. “I knew nothing about interior design,” confesses the beauty and lifestyle content creator. “But then you begin to picture what a Sunday would look like in your kitchen or where your friends would hang out—and it all becomes weirdly instinctual.”
While the details evolved, Bravo was clear from the beginning. “Even though I was unsure of how to start, I knew exactly what vibe I wanted,” she says. At the top of her list were a few essentials: comfort, color, and—most notably—a space reflective of her distinctive style. That last point shaped many of the conversations between Marie Trohman and Ashley Drost, the design duo behind Proem Studio, who partnered with Bravo on the project.
The home, which Bravo purchased in 2024, had changed hands several times, diluting much of the charm expected from a 1920s Spanish-style house in Los Angeles. Trohman recalls asking herself: “How does this girl who is so vibrant fit with this cold space?” But Bravo saw its potential instantly. “I knew right off the bat that this was my home,” she says. “It just needed some serious warmth.”
The first step was reinjecting life and a sense of narrative into a space that had been stripped of both. For Trohman and Drost, that meant carving out distinct moments through deliberate design decisions. “We’re always looking to delineate spaces in order to have different experiences within one large space,” says Trohman. Enter soft, rounded arches; a living area wrapped in large-scale floral Farrow & Ball wallpaper; and a dining room and kitchen defined by wood-paneled walls and muted terracotta-marble countertops.
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A prismatic palette—and the confidence to use it freely—shapes nearly every room. “I’ve never been afraid of color and I’ve never been afraid of pattern,” Bravo says of the playful walls that now animate the home. That philosophy shows up everywhere, from the butter-yellow kitchen to the calming, green primary bedroom. “There is not one wall that is stark white,” she says proudly. “Previously, the house was just plagued with it,” she laughs.
When it came to the design itself, inspiration was plentiful, with the Forbes 30 Under 30 alum showing up to meetings with—by her own admission—“too many ideas.” It’s no surprise that Bravo, who studied media and film at the University of California, Irvine, looked to set design as a primary influence, pulling references from shows like Girlfriends. Yet while television serves as a muse, there isn’t one in sight.
“My job revolves around me interacting with screens all day, so living in a space that does not feel centered around one is really important to me,” Bravo says. Instead, the living room is anchored by a fireplace set against a wall of green tiles. “Hearing that she didn’t want a TV to be the focal point was music to our ears,” Trohman jokes.
Books and art reign supreme with nods to her Long Beach, California, upbringing displayed on vintage Vitsœ shelves. “I wanted the design to reflect that this was my home,” Bravo says. “I have tons of Black artists in the space, seeing myself in art and in books is so important to me.”
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Though she admits the experience still feels surreal, the outcome itself does not. When asked what her younger self would think of her success—a question that feels almost premature for someone who purchased a home at 24—Bravo smiles.
“Young me would be like, ‘Oh yeah, of course this happened… of course,’” she says.
For Bravo, the house represents more than a milestone. “To have a place that is not only mine but also an extension of what I’ve been able to accomplish in my career is beautiful,” she reflects. “This all just feels much bigger than me—I got to where I am by taking up space and I want to help others feel like they can too.”
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