Big Little Lies Season Two Offers Even More Interior Design to Swoon Over

Rachel Wallace

Coming into the second season of Big Little Lies, a lot has changed in Monterey, California. This time around, the show is no longer a murder mystery for the viewer. We know exactly what happened to Madeline (Reese Witherspoon), Jane (Shailene Woodley), Renata (Laura Dern), Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz), Celeste (Nicole Kidman), and, of course, Perry (Alexander Skarsgård), and now we’re watching the fallout. The first three episodes of the second installment, at least, lack the heart-stopping suspense of 2017, but the show now seems poised to take us deeper into each of the worlds of these dynamic ladies, which could be just as thrilling. As an added bonus, Meryl Streep has joined the cast, and we get to see even more of the show's breakout stars—the homes.

Months after Perry’s death, some (though certainly not all) of the weight on Jane’s shoulders seems to have been lifted. She’s in an upgraded new apartment outfitted with her same IKEA-esque staples, and she even has a new job. Each of the other women remain in their same respective homes, dealing with the drama amid impossibly chic furnishings. Below, the show’s locations manager, Greg Alpert, production designer John Paino, and set decorator Amy Wells take AD through each of the show's best abodes, filling us in on the story behind the homes, giving us hints about what might look different in season two, and offering some tips for how to decorate like women who have now been christened the “Monterey Five.”

Renata

"There are numerous times when you see her walk down the staircase, and you’ll see that again in the second season," says Alpert.
"There are numerous times when you see her walk down the staircase, and you’ll see that again in the second season," says Alpert.
Photo: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/HBO

When it first came time to choose the homes for the show, “we started from a socioeconomic point of view, with Renata being at the pinnacle, having the most wealth,” says Alpert. Originally, this was reflected by the position of the characters’ homes in relation to the water, and Renata, in her modern mansion with its infinity pool high above the ocean, is still top dog at the start of season two. Filmed at a Malibu mansion that has been used in other shows and commercials, the house is a modern behemoth with plenty of clean lines and glass, and a large center staircase which Alpert says, “gives Renata that sense of power." Paino describes the property's look as “big bones, big gestures, but minimalism."

For season two, the team redecorated her space a bit ("It is related to a bit of a plot point," spills Paino), sticking to a gray color palette and finding inspiration from the work of AD100 designer Ron Mann. “We actually built a big sort of Brutalist coffee table for Renata for the second season, which was a lot of fun,” Paino says. “We saw a house that [Mann] decorated and it was inspiring to us for Renata.” Wells especially found furnishing Renata’s house to be a treat. “I actually for the first time in my life got to shop at Ligne Roset, which was like an amazing thing for me,” says the set decorator, who purchased a sofa and chairs from the high-end retailer. Renata also has a Restoration Hardware bed and an Arteriors sofa and accessories.

Celeste

The first time Meryl Streep walked Celeste's house, "she said, 'Wow, it’s a lot smaller than it is on television,'" recalls Alpert. "Which was a fun moment to hear her say something like that."
The first time Meryl Streep walked Celeste's house, "she said, 'Wow, it’s a lot smaller than it is on television,'" recalls Alpert. "Which was a fun moment to hear her say something like that."
Photo: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/HBO

At Celeste’s home, which, unlike the rest, really is located near the town of Monterey, the water in the backyard is more “menacing,” says Alpert. “You know, with the rocks and the crashing waves, there was always sort of a sense of danger lurking around the corner.” That metaphor still works. Abusive Perry might be dead, but his mother, Mary Louise (played by Streep), is staying at the house at the start of season two, and her suspicion threatens to undermine the story the women have been telling about the night he died.

"We all are very proud of the fact that no one knows where one begins or one ends," says Paino of building part of Celeste's home on a set.
"We all are very proud of the fact that no one knows where one begins or one ends," says Paino of building part of Celeste's home on a set.
Photo: Jennifer Clasen/HBO

As fraught as life inside continues to be, Celeste’s house is as stylish as ever, with a Jonathan Adler chandelier in the dining room, bedroom pieces from Environment Furniture, and a giant walk-in closet and spalike master bathroom (notably, the master suite was built entirely on a set; the rest of the house was filmed on location). Celeste’s decor is “kind of in the style of the design firm Commune,” says Paino, with “glacial blue” as her go-to color palette. The cool hue can be seen on the walls of her living room, and Alpert says that after season two, the home's real-life owners opted to keep them that way (they had been white before, and were painted back after season one wrapped). “It really warms the house,” he says. “It’s not their principal residence; it is actually a vacation rental primarily. All of the various family members got together and they sat down and had a conversation and said, ‘We like the blue, we’re keeping the blue.’”

Madeline

"I have worked with Reese on a number of projects, so I think I have a good back-and-forth with her when I show her [mood] boards," says Paino.
"I have worked with Reese on a number of projects, so I think I have a good back-and-forth with her when I show her [mood] boards," says Paino.
Photo: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/HBO

Madeline’s beachfront, traditional-leaning home was shot entirely on location in Malibu. Though gorgeous, “it is mundane in a certain way,” says Paino. “And it’s all about the kitchen. You know, the kitchen is in the middle of the house, and it’s a gigantic kitchen, because she is trying to have a happy family and she’s the least happy of all of them.”

All of the characters have their demons, but it’s certainly fair to say that Madeline’s home shows how hard she’s striving to have the picture-perfect family assembled around her almost comically oversize kitchen island. “Madeline was not a modernist,” says Wells. “That was the first thing. When we did her palette it was more of the sort of Williams-Sonoma home or Pottery Barn kind of a look.” In her effort to evoke a “beachy Martha Stewart” look, Wells procured plenty of blue and white dishes and a taupe velvet sofa from Sisco home to dress the property.

Bonnie

"It was very much not near the water and was a different kind of hideaway," says Paino of Bonnie and Nathan's home.
"It was very much not near the water and was a different kind of hideaway," says Paino of Bonnie and Nathan's home.
Photo: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/HBO

The team's initial water metaphor didn't include Bonnie, who was a minor character last season. This time around, she has a very much expanded role, one that leads viewers deeper into her tree-house-like sanctuary in the woods. "She’s a yoga instructor and into health, and her husband is a landscape architect, so their house is very reminiscent of what they both do for a living," says Alpert. Shot totally on location in the hills near Topanga, California, the stylish house is almost entirely made of wood, and is peppered with treasures which appear to have been collected during a life of travels to exotic locales. "Bonnie’s house was the most unusual. The people that live there are super interesting people. I guess they had traveled to Tibet and India and all over the world and they definitely had a very earthy feeling in the house. It is in the middle of a grove of oaks up in the mountains," says Wells, who decorated the place with Heath Ceramics and other artsy finds. "She’s kind of like the Etsy girl. She would have lots of handmade things that she either made herself or her friends would have made."

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest