This story is part of our January 2026 issue. To read the print version, click here.
The interior decor is so remarkable that the house, built in 1964, was deemed worthy of inclusion alongside the more architecturally significant Eichler homes featured on the 2025 Preservation Sacramento Historic Home Tour. (See our September 2025 issue.) Dubbed “The Groovy House,” it was a crowd favorite.
Owner Jennifer Dion, an interior designer and vintage reseller specializing in Midcentury Modern decor, purchased the home sight unseen in 2021, while living in Los Angeles. A local friend suggested the neighborhood when Dion decided, amid the pandemic-era chaos, to start fresh in Sacramento.
A wall of graphic black-and-white custom decals frame a vintage
Danish MCM bed topped with floral Marimekko bedding, while neon
lighting sets the mood in the master bedroom. Dion reupholstered
the bench in a leopard print faux fur.
After a successful 30-year career flipping houses as a general contractor and designer in L.A., Dion was unfazed at the prospect of restoring a home that was still in mostly original condition. The previous owner, also an interior designer, had lived in the home for nearly 50 years.
Wallpaper was everywhere — including the ceilings, Dion recalls — and wall-to-wall carpet sprawled across even the entry hall. Dion set to work peeling back the layers, removing popcorn ceilings and exposing original hardwood floors, which she sanded and refinished. Fresh white paint provided a blank slate for Dion’s exuberant vision.
In the breakfast nook and kitchen, Dion designed the hot-pink and
black linoleum floor as a cohesive backdrop for Atomic Age
collectibles, while keeping the “indestructible” original pink
painted cabinets. Her ragdoll cat, Luna, appears unfazed.
Newly single and with her two children grown and flown, Dion was free, for the first time, to indulge her passion for all things 1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s, while simultaneously flexing her design philosophy that the decor should reflect the era of the house. The result is what she calls “Curated Maximalism.” Says Dion, “I thought, ‘What craziness can I put in?’ I love lava lamps! I love retro. I love groovy. It just all came together.”
Storied Midcentury designer Charles Eames once said, “The details are not the details. They make the design.” This is a fitting description of every room in Dion’s home. Dion laid a unifying foundation of black and white, punctuated with vibrant colors (especially her favorites, hot pink and orange) to playfully highlight the decor. The lighting, too, is a key player, thoughtfully designed to create visual drama.
The living room, anchored by a vintage ‘70s rug and a retro orange sofa, is bursting with riotous color and pattern. A veritable catalog of groovy and MCM icons are featured here: Sexton cats, atomic ashtrays, swung vases and genie bottles are artfully arranged alongside Dion’s beloved Eero Saarinen Womb Chair and a 1970s panther coffee table that she got for free and modified with an Isamu Noguchi glass top.
Curtain beads, graphic wallpaper and mood lighting a la lava lamp
show that no room is too small or utilitarian for maximalist
decor.
Dion proudly points out a recent find: a rare 1970s goddess rain lamp she wanted for years. Part fountain, part chandelier, it streams mineral oil around a statuette of a Greek goddess. Dion had it completely refurbished, and it’s now in mint condition. “It’s just such a kick!” she laughs.
A curtain of vintage 1960s beads graces the doorway to the kitchen, which Dion calls her “happy place.” She kept the pristine, original pink cabinets and the Corian countertops but added a colorful linoleum floor, new appliances and floral window curtains made from vintage fabric. The kitchen furniture, artwork and collections are a nostalgic nod to the Atomic Age.
There’s no such thing as too many lava lamps in this interior
designer’s home, which occasionally serves as a showroom for her
vintage resale business, Happy Home Vintage.
Most everything in the house was acquired through thrifting, and Dion refurbished many things herself. With her keen eye for discerning quality, she finds the exceptional pieces, often at pennies on the dollar. Saving items from the landfill is important to Dion. “You can repurpose. Reupholster. For not a lot of money, you can make your house look fun and comfortable. You don’t have to go to IKEA.”
Throughout the home, Dion utilizes mirrors in unexpected places
that reflect light of various hues and create the illusion of
expanding rooms.
Dion has a booth at the Stardust Vintage Emporium in Fair Oaks, where she resells her vintage finds. After the home tour, she sold dozens of pieces right out of her home. She thinks the era “resonates with the younger generation.”
“They’re loving all the albums and the stuff from the ‘70s,” she says. They’re realizing that stuff was pretty cool back then and made a lot better.”
Dion’s home is a magnet for friends and family. She savors time spent with them and sharing the environment she worked so hard to create. Dion reflects, “I’m really proud that I did this at this stage in my life — literally on my hands and knees, scrubbing, removing wallpaper. I was overwhelmed, but I did it.”
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