4 Design Mantras the Owners of This Popular Joshua Tree Retreat Swear By
Sara and Rich Combs, owners of The Joshua Tree House and authors of a new guide to desert living, share their design philosophies—and how to incorporate them in your home, room by room.
"The first home that we ever worked on was just after we started dating as sophomores in high school," Rich Combs says about his relationship with his wife, Sara Combs. "My parents bought a house built in 1900, and my family did a complete renovation on it. One of Sara’s early memories of us together was when we were carrying sheetrock through the yard."
Hindsight has a way of making decisions seem inevitable, as if Sara and Rich knew then that their high school relationship would eventually led to marriage and a successful business. The couple is the design team behind The Joshua Tree House, a popular pair of properties for rent in Southern California's Mojave Desert, and the authors of At Home in Joshua Tree: A Field Guide to Desert Living, a book about their daily lives and design philosophies that was published last October.
At Home in Joshua Tree: A Field Guide to Desert Living
Infuse your life with desert vibes, from home designs and entertaining plans to wellness rituals, with this beautifully illustrated lifestyle guide from the creators of The Joshua Tree House. At Home in Joshua Tree offers a peek inside the captivating world of southern California's high-desert, with The Joshua Tree House founders Sara and Rich Combs bringing readers into their laid back, inviting world through mindful practices that enhance the everyday. Guided by nature and the cycles of the sun, this beautiful book offers an intentional, mindful way of living that combines the very best of the wellness movement and modern design to celebrate the singular beauty of the desert. Dive into the design principles that guide The Joshua Tree House, then experience a day in the desert, from sunrise to nightfall. Each chapter in this beautiful lifestyle guide incorporates designs, recipes, wellness practices, and entertaining rituals that elevate and honor the ordinary moments associated with that time. Interviews with other designers, artists, and makers who are inspired by the desert, including those whose designs are featured throughout the Joshua Tree House, are sprinkled throughout, alongside gorgeous full-bleed photographs and a complete sourcing guide. Publisher: Running Press Adult Photo Courtesy of Amazon
ShopRich jokes that they had no idea what was to come after that initial family renovation project. Looking back, of course that makes sense. They grew up in Connecticut, and after years of working for companies in the industry, they started a freelance design business in 2013. That sudden flexibility gave them the chance to drive across the country and travel throughout Southeast Asia, and when it became time to return home, there was only one place they could think of to go. "Joshua Tree had stood out from all of the rest of the destinations as a place where we felt creatively inspired and wanted to be a part of," Sara says. "We immediately went back in search of a place to call our own and eventually found our dream home on Craigslist!"
Design Mantras
Once they moved to Joshua Tree, that's when those early memories of careful building and the more recent years of meticulous design all seemed to come together. "Our four mantras when designing are: blur indoor and outdoor spaces, curate a home that enhances with use, design for ordinary experiences, and always add real plants. These are all based around creating laid-back environments inspired by and connected to nature," Sara says. "We call these 'mantras' because they're meant to be repeated a subtle reminders throughout the design process. As with meditation, if our mind wanders—and it will—it's incredibly helpful to have a key thought to refer back to that keeps us on our path. These mantras guide many small decisions into one cohesive design."
"The daily routines that can be easily overlooked as mundane are what ultimately compose our lives. Those are our favorite moments to design." —Sara Combs
Below, Sara and Rich describe how to carry out their distinctive desert aesthetic in a living room, kitchen, dining area, bedroom, and outdoor space. Their advice aims to create a comfortable and warm atmosphere for even the simplest tasks, because as they know from personal experience, you never know which decisions will end up becoming lasting memories of a larger story.
Living Room
When designing a space, Sara says that the two things to avoid are buying everything new and using fake plants. She and Rich source items from local flea markets and swap meets to make sure every space in their homes can tell a story. Their book includes a full index of where they buy their furnishings, including at Soukie Modern, Fireclay Tile, and Found Company.
Photo courtesy of Sara and Rich Combs
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"Living rooms are spaces for conversation and gathering," Rich says.
"We always make sure to have a few seating options in living rooms close enough together for conversation, a stack of blankets (enough for everyone), and a record player with a curated collection of music that reminds us of the location."
Kitchen
"We believe that the space should feel like it belongs in the environment and community that it’s a part of," Rich says. For this kitchen, that means sticking to natural materials—including the stone accent on the island and the cactus near the entryway.
Photo courtesy of Sara and Rich Combs
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Hasami Black Mug 13oz
Simple and unadorned, the clean lines recall Japan’s traditional forms. In fact, for almost 400 years Japanese artisans in the Hasami district have been making pottery such as this. The mugs are created from porcelain made from natural Amakusa pottery stones mixed with potter's clay, giving it an amazing textured feel. Also available in Gloss Gray.
SHOP NOW"To us, a kitchen must be light and sunny, and created with natural materials," Rich continues. "Many of our daily routines and rituals take place in the kitchen, which makes it a particularly fun space to design. We get a lot of joy out of collecting ceramic mugs for our morning coffee or tea."
Dining Area
"The spaces we choose to renovate have plenty of history and character even before we begin," Sara says. "Our goal with our renovations is to bring the spaces in some ways back to what we believe they once were." Both homes available to rent were originally built in the mid-20th century.
Photo courtesy of Sara and Rich Combs
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Fortessa Tableware Solutions Petrified Wood Serving Board
Tree-to-table beauty. Wooden serving boards are one of our favorite party tricks for instantly dressing up even the saddest cheese nubbins from the depths of the fridge. But this organic petrified wood serving board is worthy of the most truly special party snacks. Cut from petrified trees that have been turned into stone over many, many years of fossilization, no two of these boards are exactly alike, making each piece truly one-of-a-kind. And don’t you dare put it in storage when you’re not entertaining—this board looks just as handsome under an array of charcuterie as it does a few plants and books. Made in: Indonesia Made of: Petrified WoodSize: Small is about 12" in diameter x 1.5" H and weighs 12 pounds; large is about 16" in diameter x 1.5" H and weighs 30 poundsBecause each piece is organic and cut from petrified wood, the size and look will vary slightly from the measurements listed and photos here. Sourced from: Fortessa Tableware Solutions Photography by Linda Xiao
ShopIKEA MÖCKELBY Table
Table with a top layer of solid wood, a durable natural material that can be sanded and surface treated when required.
Shop"A dining area is an extension of the kitchen, and we love it to be sun-filled as well," Sara says. "Dining tables take a lot of wear and tear each day, so our goal is always to find a dining table that will get better with use. The one we have in our personal dining room was made by my father-in-law with reclaimed wood we pulled from our walls during renovations."
Bedroom
"The book was a great opportunity for us to reflect on what we’ve been working on the last few years and put our design mantras down on paper," Rich says.
Photo courtesy of Sara and Rich Combs
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Anthropologie Curved Rattan Bed
Crisscrossed rattan creates a light canopy, giving you the feeling of being at once cocooned and open to the breeze.
ShopParachute Linen Venice Set
Our signature Bedding set is an homage to our California hometown. Designed without a Top Sheet (because that’s our favorite way to sleep), it has everything you need to upgrade your bed.
ShopAvocado Vegan Mattress
Our vegan hybrid mattress features GOLS organic certified latex rubber, 100% GOTS and USDA organic certified cotton and up to 1,414 individually pocketed support coils arranged in 5 strategic zones. Rather than use glues to bind the layers together, it's needle-tufted by hand. No polyurethane foams or toxic fire retardants. It's exactly the same as our Avocado Green Mattress, but uses cotton instead of wool. Vegan certified by Vegan Action and PETA approved. GREENGUARD Gold certified for low emissions. MADE SAFE® certified non-toxic. Handmade in Los Angeles. 1% of all revenues support environmental nonprofits via 1% for the Planet®. 1 year risk-free mattress trials and 25-year limited warranty. World's only Climate Neutral Certified® mattress brand, with "net zero" carbon emissions from our farms to your bedroom. Queen size pricing reflected. America's #1 ranked hybrid mattress, 2018 - 2020, according to a leading independent consumer publication's rating of Avocado Green Mattress. Avocado is a Certified B Corporation. meeting the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.Avocado is the 1% for the Planet® 2020 Pinnacle Award Winner.
Shop"Bedrooms are sanctuaries," Sara notes. "Before even getting to aesthetics, our first priority in a bedroom is a comfortable mattress, pillows, and soft sheets. Sleep is important! Once we've covered those basics, it's on to a design that's clutter-free with soft color palettes."
Outdoor Space
Finding a balance between texture and color is key to this desert look, which can even mean bringing indoor blankets and pillows outdoors for an occasion.
Photo courtesy of Sara and Rich Combs
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The Citizenry Sumi Lumbar Pillow
Featuring a mix of traditional motifs in a warm palette of mustard, sienna, and navy, this small lumbar pillow adds an artful touch to any couch or bed setup. Designed in a compact, easy-to-style size, this little guy is perfect for layering. Each one is made by a group of talented women in Dimapur, India, who’ve perfected the art of backstrap weaving over centuries. Handwoven from incredibly soft cotton, this pillow takes almost a full day to complete. All made start-to-finish in a fair trade environment. Photo Courtesy of The Citizenry
ShopThe Citizenry Ravi Dhurrie Rug
A classic dhurrie-style rug prewashed for that perfectly broken-in, had-it-forever look. Meticulously handwoven from lightweight (not to mention, soft) cotton and hand-dyed in rich, mustard hue, this accent rug brings a warm, inviting feel to any bedroom or entryway. Handwoven and hand-dyed by a group of 15 master artisans in Banskho, India, each rug takes 5 days to complete. All made start-to-finish in a fair trade environment.
Shop"We love blurring the line between indoor and outdoor spaces," Rich says. "We're often bringing some of our favorite indoor items outside with us for a few hours to create outdoor living rooms, and we're always bringing rocks and native plants indoors as well. Creating a cozy outdoor living room doesn't take much: a side table, variety of pillows, a favorite wooden bowl or serving board, blankets, and a rug will do the trick."
Book your stay at The Joshua Tree House / @thejoshuatreehouse
Related Reading: A Couple Buy a Collapsing Cabin For $7K in Joshua Tree and Revamp it Into a Desert Oasis
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