STUDIO KEETA x Sarah Chase Hays

10/12/2026 I Written By:

STUDIO KEETA, the Los Angeles-based interior design studio founded by Kristina Khersonsky, approaches every space as an opportunity to tell a personal story. For Sarah Chase Hays and her growing family, that meant creating a room that feels distinctly their own, balancing beauty and function with unexpected touches that invite discovery. Designed to grow alongside her children, the space brings together warm materials, playful accents, and pieces chosen to feel at home for years to come.

...this is one of the most formative spaces for your child. Your baby is going to spend much of their time in this very room. Why not lean into the sensory experience— of the colors, the materials, and the textures?"

Tell us a bit about yourself and your design philosophy at STUDIO KEETA.

Hi, my name is Kristina Khersonsky, and I’m the founder of LA-based STUDIO KEETA.

At STUDIO KEETA, we really approach interiors through the lens of the human living there. We take a pretty rigorous approach to getting to know our clients and doing a big, deep dive into their taste preferences, who they are, and who they want to be in the space.

I really think it’s important to get to know the human living there, inside and out, before we just start slapping aesthetics into the room.

With that, we approach the space by bending genres and styles and incorporating things that the client really, really loves. If a client has a visceral reaction to something, I will forever try to find a space for it.

That’s why our spaces feel really relaxed, collected, and layered, while also maintaining a feeling of being elevated and sophisticated—something the people living there can grow into.

When designing this nursery, what kind of atmosphere or emotional experience were you hoping to create? Were there any particular inspirations that shaped the space?

When we started working with Sarah on the nursery, she actually came to us with the inspiration. She was after a cloud-like scene and unexpected pops of red.

Our team took that and ran with it. We morphed it into this little world, where we wanted to spark curiosity, but yet create a room that the child could grow into (and not outgrow within a year). We didn’t want it to feel too elementary or kitschy.

With that in mind, we selected silhouettes and materials that were a bit more traditional. But with all the color pairings and the unexpected textures working together, it still creates a sensory and evocative space.

Which Babyletto piece feels most central to the room, and why?

With Sarah, we ended up selecting most of the pieces in the room, but we actually held off on the crib because it wasn’t feeling quite right.

One thing she really wanted was to make sure the crib could live on with her baby through multiple phases of the baby’s life.

Then it dawned on me: I love the Yuzu from Babyletto. It’s so versatile, and this walnut stain is just so perfect. It fits quite seamlessly with the walnut dresser we selected for the room as well.

It was such a harmonious piece and really pulled everything together.

There are so many thoughtful details throughout the room. Can you talk us through a few of the elements that bring the space to life?

There is such a nostalgic feeling to wicker. It feels familiar, and the natural material plays a role in the room in a way that feels both unexpected and recognizable.

It straddles these two worlds of, “Oh, that’s sweet and that’s cute,” but also, “Wow, that’s a material that’s been woven into the room in a way we’re not seeing anywhere else.”

I love that element. The hot-air balloon is also so whimsical. It allows the baby to look up and dream.

We also incorporated these adorable ceramic plates by a French artist. They bring in a handmade feeling.

This type of installation is actually very traditional, and it adds an element to the room where, although this is obviously a contemporary space, there are touches you would typically see in more traditional interiors.

Much like the curtain tieback and the plates, those details help balance the room.

...we selected silhouettes and materials that were a bit more traditional. But with all the color pairings and the unexpected textures working together, it still creates a sensory and evocative space.”

Was there a design choice or moment in the process of designing this nursery that surprised you?

Working with Sarah has been really fun. She has been a longtime client, and we’ve been working and collaborating together for a couple of years.

The home itself is very restrained and architecturally forward. It was really interesting to see, as we designed nursery number three for her new baby, that she is craving punchier colors. She was a little more daring with the textures and color combinations we pulled together for this space.

It has been fun to see the evolution of her style and how that came together in this room.

The home’s architecture is pared down, so layering in a colorful space in a way that still felt meaningful to the entirety of the home was definitely a challenge. But I’ll take it—if a client wants a little more color, we’ll go for it.

What advice would you give parents who are designing nurseries?

I’ve found, after working with multiple clients, that there are generally two ways this goes.

For some reason, clients often end up choosing a theme, which can feel a little kitschy at the end of the day. Instead, I would implore clients to think about their children and how they want those kids to grow.

Maybe it’s an interest the parents have, or something they’ve always loved and want to immerse their children in. Think about it in a human way rather than a thematic way.

Secondly, a lot of people designing nurseries are a little scared to really go for it because there’s this notion that the child is eventually going to grow out of it.

At the end of the day, this is one of the most formative spaces for your child. Why not really lean into the sensory experience—the colors and the textures?

We all change rooms eventually, but you should go for something you love and not get bogged down by the idea of the child growing out of it, because that just doesn’t exist.

Always go for what you love.