Set Pieces: The L.A. look in ‘The Kids Are All Right’

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As it moves from art houses to suburban cineplexes, ‘The Kids Are All Right’ keeps racking up raves for director and co-writer Lisa Cholodenko and stars Mark Ruffalo, Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. Here’s one more commendation -- for the film’s sets. Production designer Julie Berghoff and set decorator David Cook have captured the contrasting design styles of two sides of Los Angeles.

The Venice family home where lesbian moms Nic (Bening) and Jules (Moore) are raising their teenage kids is decorated with pages-from-a-catalog furniture and just a touch of earth-loving bohemianism, Berghoff says.

‘The dining table and chairs are Indonesian teak, and Jules had run a Moroccan furniture import business, so there are leftover woven chairs and lanterns and pillows made from embroidered fabrics,’ she said. (That’s Cholodenko, above center, with actresses Mia Wasikowska, left, and Moore.)

As a more intimate and romantic space, the moms’ bedroom, right, features a custom headboard and glass lamps from Restoration Hardware. Seeking a feminine hue for linens, Berghoff did color tests to complement the actresses’ skin tones and hair, landing on pale creams and violet.

By contrast, the Echo Park hipster bungalow of restaurateur and sperm donor Paul (Ruffalo) was decorated with what Berghoff calls a ‘vintage mish-mash’ of unmatched chairs, an old-school hi-fi and found objects. ‘It’s like he did a lot of shopping at the Rose Bowl Flea Market, which is exactly what we did,’ Berghoff said.

You can see that character’s living and dining rooms on the jump ...

-- David A. KeepsCLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this post failed to credit Cook as the set decorator.

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