BY SANDRA BARRERA >STAFF WRITER

Each summer, Cottage Living magazine opens the doors to an Idea Home as a showcase of refined architecture, interior design and outdoor living.

From last year's New Orleans cottage to this year's 3,500-square-foot Mission revival in the heart of Los Angeles - the magazine's fourth Idea Home, open to the public through Aug. 24 - the magazine and its project partners have sought to honor the architectural history of a given neighborhood "so people can look down the street and not know which house is old and which house is new," says Steele Marcoux, associate home editor of Cottage Living.

And so, the spacious two-story home at 6376 Lindenhurst Ave. was intended by Georgia-based Harrison Design Associates to look like it has been standing on its 50-by-150-foot lot since Hollywood's silent era.

White stucco and red-clay roof tile pay homage to Southern California's Spanish-style tradition of the 1920s with its arches, courtyard and sparing use of Moorish details, while at the same time responding to modern-day needs.

Concealed solar panels cover the south-facing roof, generating about half of the house's power. An abundance of French doors and windows provides natural light and creates cross-ventilation to keep the house cool on a warm day.

Inside, L.A.-based interior designer Jackie Terrell's concept is all decorative

black-and-white tile inserts, vintage-inspired kitchen cabinets with lattice doors made to look like individual pieces of furniture and an explosion of color, ingenuity and use of space, including a built-in reading nook halfway up the stairs.

Once the showing is over, the home will be put up for sale. The listing price is $2.94 million, not including the furniture. A price for the whole package has yet to be determined.

Full coverage of the Idea Home will appear in the October issue of Cottage Living. At the same time, a virtual tour of the home will be up and running on the magazine's Web site.

Here are some take-away ideas that won't break the bank.

WORKSPACE SOLUTIONS

Rather than going with a cork bulletin board, the facing wall of the office, just off the butler's pantry, is coated in Rust-Oleum Specialty Magnetic Latex Primer ($19.97 per quart; Home Depot) and then covered with paint. The primer magnetizes almost any interior surface made of drywall, plaster or wood for displaying photographs, children's drawings and handwritten notes.

For more workspace solutions, check out Rust-Oleum's other specialty brand products, including Chalk Board and Dry-Erase Paint.

DIY STYLE

Aligning your style with your budget doesn't mean having to skimp on quality.

The house is full of examples: Take the dining room, where a reclaimed industrial cabinet has been transformed into a hutch for storing silverware and china, and a pair of antique movie camera tripods hold up the large dining table that has been fashioned out of everyday lumber wrapped in blue moisture-resistant outdoor fabric and studded into place.

In the upstairs gallery hang a wall-full of monochromatic family photos that have been printed out in magenta. Framed baby keepsakes adorn the laundry room walls. And in different rooms throughout the house, roller shades that have been installed at the bottom of the window instead of at the top provide privacy without blocking the view of treetops.

WINDOW DRESSING

To complement the house's Spanish-style architecture, decorative roll-down shades by New York-based Delia Shades were installed on prominent windows of the home, including the west-facing wall of windows in the dining room. The shades are made of energy-efficient Greenguard mesh mounted on chain-operated rollers and evoke the motifs of Moorish arches and doors.

Delia Shades' other styles include wrought iron, lattice and drapery patterns in shades of black, gray and beige. Prices start at $21 per square foot. The shades can be ordered only at deliashades.com or by calling (646) 344-1652.

MAKESHIFT WINE CELLAR

Got a stairwell closet? Turn it into a wine cellar by simply fitting the facing wall with a rack for storing bottles of California pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon or chardonnay. The wine cellar that Terrell carved out of the closet in the dining room also has a mirrored cabinet for storing accessories, from corkscrews to wine chilling buckets.

Sandra Barrera (818) 713-3728 sandra.barrera@dailynews.com

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COTTAGE LIVING IDEA HOME

>What: A newly built two-story Mission revival now open to the public.

>Where: 6376 Lindenhurst Ave., Los Angeles.

>Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday; through Aug. 24.

>Related events: Upcoming events include a book signing with architect Bill Harrison on Saturday; an REC Solar workshop on Aug. 9; and a book signing and carrot cake sampling with Cottage Living's food editor, Kim Sunee, on Aug. 23.

>Admission: $15, with all proceeds to benefit P.S. ARTS, a nonprofit organization dedicated to restoring arts education in California's underserved public schools.

>Information: www.cottageliving.com.