Bringing Traditional Style and Color Back Into a Montecito Home

Marc Normand Gelinas is widely recognized for his timeless and welcoming design aesthetics, spanning from traditional to modern. Drawing on his expertise in color, scale, and artistic background, he believes in tailoring each project to mirror the personality and individual style of the client, resulting in well-designed, comfortable, and functional spaces.

With a unique perspective acquired from extensive experiences in New York and Paris, Gelinas has been consulting on projects since 1987, spanning locations such as New York, Chicago, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisades, Aspen, and his home state of Rhode Island. His portfolio encompasses projects of varying scales; from decorative enhancements to comprehensive renovations, involving floor plans, elevations, hard surface selections, and project management. He collaborates closely with clients, architects, and contractors to ensure a seamless outcome.

A core aspect of Gelinas’s approach is integrating the client’s sense of style harmoniously with the overall style of the house. Take the Montecito home you see here: “I really enjoyed working with the client on this project,” he says. “They approached me seeking color and casual elegance for family comfort and entertaining. We drew inspiration from the outdoors, including the blues of the ocean and sky.” He engages in phased approaches; encompassing both decoration and architectural redesign to meet the evolving living needs of the client.

At his retail establishment in Montecito’s Upper Village, Gelinas offers a curated selection of 18th-century antiques alongside being Southern California’s distinctive home to SALADINO furniture, providing accessible upholstery services for the general public, designers, and architects alike.

Gelinas’s work has garnered recognition in prestigious publications such as the Wall Street Journal, House Beautiful, and Traditional Home. Additionally, he has been featured in Window Style, a hardcover book published by Traditional Home. And his show house projects, including “The Newport Decorator Show House,” have received widespread acclaim.

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Sponsored by Marc Normand Gelinas. Photography by David Palermo.