Why Is This the Most Saved Home on Pinterest? | How Ola House Was Built From Another Builder's Leftovers

I've been thinking about Ola House since I finished filming.

It's a 1996 villa in Uluwatu, Bali, renovated in 2024 by Kat and John, a couple who moved to the island and, when it came time to renovate, used whatever construction materials John had left over from projects across the island. Limestone from cancelled builds. Teak beams salvaged from demolition sites. Terrazzo made from offcuts too small to use elsewhere.

You can watch  the full home tour here.

Nothing was bought new. Everything had already been somewhere else first.

The result is one of the most cohesive interiors I've filmed.

Here's why I think it works.

The monochrome kitchen fades into the background and becomes one with the architecture.

1. Constraint does the work that taste can't

Most renovations fail in the selection phase. There are too many options, and every option is available, so nothing feels inevitable. You choose a tile and then second-guess it for three months.

Kat and John didn't have that problem. They had a fixed palette, the particular grey of the available limestone, the specific warm brown of the salvaged teak, the ochre-cream of the terrazzo offcuts, and they had to make those things work together. The constraint did the curation.

The house doesn't look like it was designed. It looks like it grew. And I think that's exactly because no individual element was chosen in isolation. Every decision was conditional on what already existed.

Modern dining area with floor-to-ceiling glass walls, offering a serene view of lush greenery and a tranquil poolside setting.

2. The garden is the colour palette

The palette at Ola House is split-complementary: terracottas and warm ochres reading against the blue-greens that come through the open steel pivot doors from the tropical garden beyond. But neither Kat nor John invented this palette. They imported it.

The teak ceiling extends out over the terrace without a break. The limestone runs from the interior columns to the outdoor walls. The living room is, effectively, the same space as the garden, just covered.

The homes that feel most effortless are almost always the ones that stopped fighting their context. The palette isn't applied; it's borrowed. From the plants outside, from the soil underneath, from the materials that already belong to the neighbourhood.

If you're struggling with choosing the right color palette for your home, I've got you covered with my Interior Color Palettes.

3. The door built for the spirits

There's a door in one of the walls that opens to nothing. No room beyond it. Just a ledge at the bottom and a view of the garden wall.

The grandmother who owns the property told Kat and John it was built for the spirits. They need a way in. The ledge is so they'd trip on the way out.

I've been in a lot of beautiful rooms. I've rarely been in one that was designed for its entire world, not just the visible part. That's what makes Ola House different from most beautifully renovated properties. It isn't decorated. It's inhabited. By people, by materials, by history, and, apparently, by whatever else comes through that door after dark.

You can watch  the full home tour here.

Luxurious surf shack kitchen featuring a monochrome design with natural wood and stone elements, where comfort meets elegance amidst lush greenery.