Modern gets a life; a California couple warms up their cool contemporary house with a soulful injection of color and pattern.

With a little encouragement, however, modern design can be as playful, quirky, and soulful as you are. In other words, it can be fun.

That's the spirit Ann Blanchard and Sandy Becker brought to their California Modern home. The couple had been living in an old bungalow that was all about rich color, romantic atmosphere, and ethnic accents. "It was like a Paris apartment owned by people who traveled to North Africa," Ann recalls. Unfortunately, the house was too small for a growing family, and they were ready for a style update.

Ann's first impression of the new house--a geometry equation of straight lines and sharp angles--wasn't favorable. "Honestly, from the outside, it looked like a hospital," she says. But once inside, the couple found themselves drawn to the clean open spaces and dazzling light.

Both Ann and Sandy, a television agent and building contractor respectively, grew up in homes that were warm and nurturing--Sandy's modern and Ann's antique-filled. They wanted to provide a similar environment for their kids, Reiss, 4, and Ryland, 8 months. What's more, says Ann, "I wanted to have the sense that the house sort of inspires imagination."

The challenge: Could they honor the calm, expansive feeling of the architecture and still feel free to express their family's colorful, fun-loving personality?

That's where Los Angeles decorator Sasha Emerson came in. Former partner in a popular furniture store called Orange; Emerson has made it her mission to convince people that modern design doesn't have to be cold and uncomfortable. "I view design as a weird crusade," she says. "I feel that your home is your safe haven. It should reflect who you are and amuse you. It should be comfortable and be a place where you want to raise your children."

Emerson took her design cues from a few colorful, clean-lined pieces Ann and Sandy already owned, plus their growing collection of abstract artwork. In the living room, a painting by Los Angeles artist David Lloyd inspired a palette of greenish gold, orange, blue, and red that appears again in the pixilated pattern of a Tibetan rug. An Anne Thornycroft painting in the dining room repeats the rug's mosaic motif and suggested the bright orange upholstery on the chairs. (By Sharon Overton).