When one thinks of Cher – and who doesn’t like to think of Cher – it’s likely the images that spring to mind are sheer bodysuits, big hair and a bigger attitude. A high-camp, high-energy performer, she’s not one to shy away from all that glitters.
Except, that is, when it comes to her home decor. In a case of the private versus the public, Architectural Digest’s throwback tour of Cher’s Los Angeles apartment suggests that Cher at home is worlds away from Cher on stage, with her home a place of zen and quiet spirituality.
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Inside Cher's 'peaceful' Los Angeles apartment
Designed in collaboration with Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Cher’s two-storey Los Angeles home was transformed into two loft-like open-plan floors, with an intentional design of neutral colours and Eastern-inspired art flowing throughout the connective spaces.
Back in 2010, when the Oscar winner invited the magazine into her LA home, she told them, "I prefer a neutral palette, especially in my bedrooms, because the colours are so easy to live with."
Speaking to Architectural Digest, Cher notes: “While I know what I want when I see it, Martyn can verbalise it. In the end, our sensibilities are on the same page because he's an artist. As a result, I never get tired of coming into these beautiful, peaceful rooms."
This is evident in the collection of cream, ivory, beige and soft buttery touches that run throughout, from cushions to soft, sumptuous sofas.
And while most won’t have a Cher-like budget, the clever way they’ve opened the space and paired minimalist, neutral pieces with "exotic” accessories is an easy formula to replicate for any home.
Cher’s unexpectedly calm and quiet living space was a direct result of the chaos that can follow her. She explained that the intrusive paparazzi and the stresses of showbiz are what inspired her to create homes that "are my sanctuaries".
This idea of a sanctuary is captured in her palatial bedroom, designed again to feel open, airy and incredibly zen.
The focal point of the bedroom is an antique Indian-panelled platform bed, which looks out onto a panoramic view of the Hollywood skyline. The bed is topped with thick, square cushions all embroidered with an Eastern-inspired design.
Cher, a practising Buddhist, has other Eastern and spiritual touches throughout. Moroccan-style mirrors reflect hanging bronze lanterns, which the publication explains come from Marrakech, and the floor is an antique limestone.
From the open plan to the cool, limestone floors, every morning must feel like waking up in a desert palace.
In other rooms, there’s a mix of what the designer called Cher’s request for "ethnic, spicy and romantic" touches. Chinese lanterns, a 19th-century Indian tapestry with gold and silver thread, carved statues, a pair of backlit eglomise panels depicting Indian deities and a Chinese opium bed.
By contrasting these more eye-catching accessories and pieces with a neutral palette, Cher's interior design choices teach the importance of balance. It's never too much or the interior design equivalent of costumey.
With such a calm oasis in the heart of Los Angeles, Cher does not need to turn back time to redo any design choices because they have proved timeless.
