Los Angeles interior design Kelly Wearstler gives readers a glimpse into her striking Proper hotel designs in L.A., Santa Monica and Austin, and residential projects from Venice Beach to Malibu in the new Rizzoli “Synchronicity,” out Sept. 29.

“I was thinking about the title, and every person, tradesman, creative, operational client, everyone who is involved to make a project happen. It’s the ultimate collaboration,” she says, explaining that a hotel project could involve as many as 200 people.

The book offers a peek inside a midcentury Malibu beach house with rich wood paneling, palms by Isa Isa, layered textures and rugs, and vintage pieces by JF Chen and others. Readers can also get glimpses inside a 1960s L.A. home, with a minimal entryway and staircase allowing for bold art to stand on its own, including a sculpture by Hank Willis and a Quelle Fête disco ball sculpture handmade in the Netherlands by Rotganzen.

It’s also delightful to see Wearstler’s work as creative director of Proper in such detail. “I love that it’s fiercely local,” she says of the brand.

The downtown L.A. Proper, opened in 2021, came with a pedigree.

“It was the Case hotel in the 1920s, and it had a membership club way before its time, then over the years it was closed down, then it became a YMCA in the 1960s and ’70s, so there were some interesting architectural moves,” Wearstler says of how she ended up designing a luxe three-bedroom suite with its own 30-foot-long pool, and a basketball suite with 18-foot ceilings. “It’s very iconic to Los Angeles, we took a lot of inspiration from the historic facade and early California reliefs.”

She brought her layered design language to the Santa Monica Proper in 2019.

“I wanted it to feel like you’re in Santa Monica or Malibu, but also be this earthy, interesting well-curated interior. So the team and I wanted everything to feel like I found it on the beach or nearby, so nautilus shapes, rounded soft corners, wall paneling that feels like driftwood, plaster that’s pitted and earthy, alcoves that are really soft.…Then there’s this other space, the grotto, which is a small library; I wanted it to feel like it belonged to an older couple who collected cool books and artifacts and art, and for it to be a cozy inspirational space.”

At the Austin Proper, also opened in 2019, she created a “beautifully chaotic” environment by incorporating flea market finds, like a mysterious poodle painting outside the powder room; intentionally mismatching tiles in different colors and styles on a massive wall in the Peacock restaurant, and including a neon chandelier as a nod to the city’s famous South Congress music scene.

“I got it at Round Top,” she says of finding the poodle painting at the famous antiques fair an hour outside Austin. The mismatched tiles were dead stock sourced from a family-owned tile shop in Lisbon.

“We bring things to clients that are contemporary and vintage, that’s how I design and dress. I’m traveling, always going to galleries, flea markets, auctions, I collect pieces along the way,” she says.

A Fashion lover, Wearstler has ongoing partnerships with Dior and Matchesfashion, has collaborated with Net-a-porter, guest-edited a city guide for Louis Vuitton and designed homewares for Maison Margiela.

“I love Fashion and it’s super inspirational to me and my craft,” says the designer, who also has a robust home product business across categories with Ann Sacks, Arca, Farrow & Ball and Rug Company.

She’s just launched her first tabletop collection with Belgian brand Serax, which is being sold globally, and will be at Salone del Mobile for the first time in April.

There are four more Proper hotels in the pipeline, including a revamp of the Cal Neva Lodge & Casino, a historic property in Lake Tahoe that was once owned by Frank Sinatra. “Everyone from Sammy Davis Jr. to Marilyn Monroe would visit.…A group of investors teamed up with Proper to develop the hotel and there will be a 20,000-square-foot spa, a theater, a membership club, and a casino like you’d see in Europe,” says Wearstler. “We’re going to make it very chic.”