Restaurant Interior Design by Gulla Jonsdottir

Gulla Jónsdóttir is a Los Angeles-based interior designer and architect who creates unexpected and poetic modern architecture and interior spaces. Immerse yourself into inspiring and harmonious restaurant interior design projects by this extremely talented professional.

Le Grand Restaurant, Paris

Easy to miss if you don’t know what you’re looking for, Le Grand Restaurant is, contrary to its name, a small intimate 25-cover establishment. Smoked glass windows let passers-by see into Piège’s immaculate open kitchen enclosed by magnificent white marble dashed with dramatic grey strokes.

Gulla Jónsdóttir was tasked with the interiors, which are laid out under a theatrical black and white fragmented glass ceiling, a deconstructed take on traditional stained glass windows that matches the marble at the entrance. Oddly enough, the space has no windows, but the illusion of light flooding in from above is complete and gives the space its unique patio appeal.

Red O Interior, Los Angeles

Designers Dodd Mitchell and Gulla Jonsdottir are responsible for the look of the restaurant that casts those sweeping decor statements in a mostly quiet rainbow of beige, brown and ivory.

Hundreds of small church bells hang at one end of the main dining area, pictured at top. In the courtyard are a pair of massive chandeliers that were made by Mexican artisans; in a hallway that leads to the restrooms, Piscitello and Wagner fashioned small chandeliers using Mexican fishing nets.

Stratus Rooftop Lounge, Philadelphia

Floating 11 stories above Independence Hall, famed Los Angeles designer Gulla Jonsdottir has created a rooftop respite that feels inspiring yet comfortable, with lush textures and swaying greenery.

Stylized rooms — like the darker pseudo-library lounge — and ample space are made to mingle outside, or run for cover from unsavory weather at the indoor bar.

Palmilla Cucina y Tequileria, Hermosa Beach

Lovely outdoor patio area in the restaurant is perfect for soaking up the sea breezes from the ocean just footsteps away. Indoors is eloquently designed with hand placed stones, awe-inspiring light fixtures from Spanish artisans and hand carved, illuminated tabletops.

When dining at Palmilla, you will feel as if you’ve been transported to an upscale boutique in beautiful Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, which is where much of the inspiration of the design came from.

Hotel La Jolla Curio by Hilton, La Jolla

Nestled among the palms, this boutique hotel embodies the easy-going vibe of Southern California.

Cusp Dining and Drinks, the hotel’s on-site restaurant, serves coastal Mediterranean fare with a focus on local, seasonal ingredients. The attractive restaurant complements the rest of the hotel with touches like bent-wood barstools and laser-cut metal screens in abstract organic patterns.

Double Seven, New York

Bunkered behind a plain velvet-roped door, the bar is doused in dim light, curvy dark Ultrasuede walls and endless leather banquettes that seem to beg for types like Tom Ford and Sade.

A wall of blown-glass bulbs, created by the artist Norman Mooney, feels expensively erotic, like a collaboration between Louise Bourgeois and Murano.

Roxbury Interior, Hollywood

The club’s stellar design screams “club,” yet sensual touches sprinkled throughout the 5,000-square-foot space soften the industrial feel. Faux-leather black roses cover walls; circular booths face a circular bar with rotating leaf-like steel structures above bartender stations.

Neon cursive script lines the sides of the bar (one is a line from “Love Sonnet XVII” by Pablo Neruda), while Beatles song lyrics adorn the inside of see-through circular plastic-and-glass tables (meant to be danced upon by tipsy twenty-somethings).