IT MAY SURPRISE some people to learn that musician Dave Navarro really likes interior design. He and his manager have been known to watch HGTV together on the road. He pays attention to store windows when driving past and, yes, if something catches his eye, he will stop and buy it. He knows what he likes and why he likes it; he’s not averse to waiting for the right piece of furniture or art to come along and seems to prefer that when it does, it does so organically. He doesn’t want anything in his home to feel forced.

Navarro is a man whose dark eyes light up as he talks about the importance of good lighting. Who is excited to demonstrate how his living space is transformed from “airy and open” to “literally a black cave with no sunlight” that’s “suddenly sexy and cool, like a nightclub,” by the simple act of closing curtains. Who is willing to admit that he appreciates things that are “durable and easily cleaned,” and says that he chose his now year-old home in a landmark Hollywood building not only for its proximity to work, music, and nightlife, but also because it provides the “closest thing to New York living, with the city streets bustling outside, while still staying in Los Angeles.”

Walking into the guitarist’s loft is like walking into an amazing hotel room—an extremely spacious hotel room with nearly an entire wall of windows framing views of the Capitol Records building and the Hollywood sign nestled in the hills just beyond. The kind one might imagine Navarro and his Jane’s Addiction (or, briefly, Red Hot Chili Peppers) bandmates enjoying night after night, city after city.

Which is exactly how Navarro wanted it to feel, says interior designer Heidi Toll, whom Navarro called when he bought the loft. “He told me he wanted it to be similar to how I did his last house, which was simple, clean, modern, and hotel-like. Oh, and he told me he was going to move into it in two weeks,” she laughs.

Having spent more than 20 years on the road, Navarro has come to appreciate much about hotel living. “As soon as I enter a hotel room, I feel like I’m on vacation, whether I’m working or not,” he explains. “So the idea was to re-create that feeling at home. It was really important to me to streamline, so I essentially got rid of everything except for my computer, car, toiletries, and clothes, and started over with the goal of living with only the essentials. When you live out of a suitcase for nine months out of the year, you realize you don’t need a whole lot of stuff. It feels light to me, and free. I can pick up at the drop of a hat and not have to worry about the yard or the pool, plants or pets, and I really like that.”

Moving quickly, designer Toll “went on a rampage to try to find things in stock, which is definitely a challenge.” As she and Navarro tell the tale, it’s clear the two are very good collaborators. Toll says, “I’d show him ten dining room chairs and he’d go ‘Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no.’” Navarro nods in agreement, “I hate going to stores and looking and shopping. She easily weeded out all the stuff she knew I wouldn’t like.” Working with a neutral palette—taupe paint and dark floors—Toll’s biggest challenge was to take a single room and create different environments within it, because, as Navarro puts it, “It’s not like I can go upstairs or downstairs to another room. You have to make this one room as many rooms as it can possibly be.”

And so Toll paired beaded wallpaper with black-painted floors to create a gallery vibe in the entry, which envelops guests before opening into the main space. There, distinctive areas have been carved out for lounging, sleeping, working, cooking (Toll swapped out boring beige for mirrored mosaic tiles and “sparkly black” counters in the kitchen area), and dining (in the dining area, the designer topped a steel frame with a faux-python-wrapped “rock star” tabletop that sits beneath the custom installation of Bocci lighting that evokes a “constellation” and is a nod to Navarro’s love of space and exploration).

“What did I tell you, Heidi? I wanted the kind of place where, when women come in, their clothes actually fall off?” Navarro jokes, as he points out the “pretty spectacular” white faux-fur rug that anchors the main seating area, which includes a B&B sofa, Minotti leather chairs, and a glass-topped coffee table. “People actually do like to writhe around naked on the rug,” he laughs. “But that’s OK because it keeps them from writhing around on the couch!”

“Truth be told,” says Navarro, “this is not a big party house. There are parties every night within walking distance; there’s no reason to bring that into my living space.” No, it’s much more usual (and, he says, comfortable) for two or three friends to hang out and watch a movie in his bed, a queen-size white patent leather Heidi Toll original, surrounded by pillows (and built-in lights) that “rocks and is so much more warm and inviting than the couch.” Designed to do doubleduty as a lounge, it’s Navarro’s favorite area in the house. “For obvious reasons, but also in terms of cozy,” he says. “You lay in bed, dim the lights, close the curtains, and it’s like being in a little cocoon.” Overhead, the ornate black chandelier with crimson bulbs “takes a page out of the set design of 2001: A Space Odyssey” (one of his favorite films). He characterizes it as “one old, simple and really interesting piece that’s juxtaposed to the really modern, clean environment.”

And then there’s the black-tiled bathroom, where fishnet-stocking wallpaper adorns one wall, black patent leather covers another, and “legitimate” makeup lights frame the generous mirror. “They crank up to the point where you can cheat yourself into thinking that you’re flawless,” attests the homeowner, who then points out the ceiling, painted red to complete what he calls the “bordello vibe.”

“I’ve been really happy with the process,” Navarro admits. “One of the things that’s beautiful about designing a space from scratch is that you get to watch it evolve, as opposed to having one moving day when you cram all your stuff in, throw things up on the wall and in drawers, and it just becomes a new container for all your stuff. It was an empty space when Heidi started, and it was nice to adjust to each piece as it came,” he says. “It was like Christmas every day.” ★