LA Times Home & Garden Roundup 09.20.08
Los Angeles
Archive for the week of
House Tour: Ben's Mid-Century Mecca
Los Angeles
Name: Ben Wolfinsohn, director and co-founder of Stop Following Me Productions
Location: Santa Monica, CA
Rent or Own: Rent
>> Enter Slideshow
When Ben sent us a link to his home, we pretty much jum...
House Tour: Steve's Beach Bungalow and Garden Retreat
Los Angeles
Name: Steve Prestemon
Location: Venice, CA
Size: 1340 sq/ft house on a 5000 sq/ft lot
Years lived in: Owned for 6 years
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When Steve bought his Venice bungalow six years ago, he kne...
How To: Make DIY Outdoor Furniture Water Sealant
Sure, it's been nice, sunny and dry here in LA all summer. But any day now that pesky thing called "weather" will return and start dropping those near mythological raindrops onto your outdoor wood fur...
Last Chance: William Eggleston's Photographs at Moss
As BethZ blogged, last night we attended an event at Moss on Melrose, "Christie's at Moss". Half of the store's been temporarily turned into a gallery to display part of the Bruce and Nancy Berman co...
A Reminder to Clean/Replace Your Air Purifier Filters
Itchy eyes, runny noses and regular headaches have been increasingly ailing our household. Emily is sensitive to pollen and other allergens, but normally I don't suffer noticeably unless there are fir...
Check Out: The 2008 Los Angeles Organizing Expo
Twenty three percent of adults say they pay bills late simply because they lose them (thus incurring those pesky late fees). We're happy to report that help is on the way with this year's 4th Annual ...
Blogging...Jasper Conran Sackville Street Textiles
Remember awhile back when we did an On the Set feature of the flat in Love Actually? We were on the hunt for a similar sofa...or at the very least, a similar flannel textile for a friend's sofa. Wel...
Look: Sneak A Peek At Sneak Design
Melbourne
We tried our hand at doing collages’ when we were at school and the results were rubbish. Anika Cook of Sneak Design puts us to shame with her handy-work. Anika’s work is both a combination of col...
Interview with an Apartment Gardener
A while back we got a question about how to grow an herb garden on a windowsill. We gave our advice and you guys chimed in and hopefully it set some gardens in motion. For more inspiration we found ...
New Austin Home Stores!
Austin
We've already shown you a number of great Austin home decor and furniture stores on Apartment Therapy (like Loft, Finch, Area, Mercury, Sanctuary, Bella Home, Homegirls and Aviary, just to name a few...
Great, Simple, Affordable Shelves
Recently we were at the new Firefly store in Venice when our friend commented on how much she liked the solid, simple shelves they were using for a display. She was surprised to hear where they were ...
It's Your Pet's Home, You Just Live In It: What We Learned From Petsitting
Seeing Lily's post over at AT San Francisco reminded of a time, before we found an apartment at a reasonable rate, when we pet sat for people while they were on vacation. It was a great opportunity t...
Best of the Fall Colors Contest: The Southwest Entries 2007
Click on any of the images above to revisit our four best 2007 Fall Colors entries
We're playing Flashback Friday today and turning back to close to the same time last year j...
Look! Matching Headrest Pillows for the Bed
If you read in bed, do you ever get a crick in your neck? We do...and it's probably because we have a less-than-adequate back support pillow and a DIY headboard project that has been sitting in our ga...
Heath Ceramics Coming to LA
We got a tip from LAist that Heath Ceramics is planning to open a showroom in LA. We couldn't be more excited about having the classic ceramics so close to home:...
9 Lighting Ideas From A + R
We recently popped into A + R on Abbott Kinney, a very cool store that offers design that charms, functions and inspires. We loved seeing all of the lighting design and accessories. Full of whimsy, st...
Decorate Using Your Own Silhouettes
via Photojojo and Craft
We've blogged all kinds of silhouette prints from Femme Silhouette to Lotus Blossum, Dwell and more. But, if you've outgrown your fondness for birds and wish you could find something a little more pe...
ATLA On The Town: Homework by Studio Job at Moss
We love Moss. It feels like a gallery, with the added bonus that one can realistically purchase the pieces on display. And that's exactly the line between design and art that Studio Job is attempting ...
Small Space Garden Inspiration: Park[ing] Day LA
If you have a chance today, check out Parking Day LA happening all over our fine city. Architects, activists and garden lovers are turning metered parking spaces into small space gardens. Jump below...
Look: Picture Frame Medicine Cabinet!
Austin
We came across this photo of a medicine cabinet while browsing through the September issue of Better Homes and Gardens. What a great idea to place a framed photograph on the door! This definitely dis...
LA Scavenger: 3 Authentic Mies Van Der Rohe Items OBO
Los Angeles
OK, so we're not COMPLETELY sure if these three items are authentic Mies Van Der Rohe pieces since we haven't checked 'em out in person...but even if they aren't, that pink Barcelona chair and light l...
Conversation Pits
Melbourne
Ok we’re just going to put it out there: we are a fan of the conversation pit. Perhaps not being around in the 70’s helps in having no sense of stylistic shame attached to the idea. But we can’t...
Your Coffee Table Style
AT readers...we try out best to keep up with your comments, especially excellent requests like the one made by Lisa Hunter (Montreal) who asked us to poll our readership about their coffee table order...
Do You Have Your Parent's Decorating Habits?
Earlier today we blogged rethinking our dining room. When we moved into our home, we set up the rooms to function as they were designed to function. Into the dining room went a large table and chair...
Inspiration: Fix Coffee Shop
We are quite familiar with the Starbucks school of thought about their coffee house being the "third place" that people hang out (the first being where you live and the second being your place of work...
Good Questions: DIY Doggy Door?
Los Angeles
Has anyone crafted an original handmade dog door? We have a store-bought plastic (and ugly) dog door installed in our back door. Even though we paid over $100 for the door it's already falling apart...
DIY: Masking Tape Screen
Melbourne
This has to be one of the cleverest and cheapest window treatment ideas – creating a decorative window screen using masking tape. Our rental has very public front windows and we don’t like to open...
How To: Build an Indoor Dog House
As Fall continues to creep in, we just want to get cozy. And we remember that when we were little we loved building forts in the living room and hiding out in them. Back then all we had were pillows...
Is There A Place For a Formal Dining Room In a Modern Home?
Recently, a book we've been reading about the evolution of the idea of home has us questioning the idea of a formal dining room in our home. Then, as these things go, poking around the Domino website...
Survey: Do Women Notice Home Details More Than Men?
Austin
We came across an amusing article in the latest Austin Monthly Home titled "The Little Things: Women Notice Them. Men Don't". The article, written by J.B. Hager who is also a husband and homeowner, w...
Out of Bounds: Whimsical Butterfly Stickers
This seems like a really neat idea for a kids room: take a few wall stickers or decals, place them on a wardrobe and extend it out to the wall and even the picture frames. If you're especially crafty...
Sales Calendar: 09.18.08
Los Angeles
September Sales...
All Aboard Boutique
Free Shipping for the month of September
online
Anthropologie
Autumn Upholstery Event
online
...
How To: Display Sculpture
Most of the art in our homes is of the two dimensional variety. Photographs, paintings, lithographs or prints easily find a place against a wall, whether hung (on hooks, from picture railing, even, a...
Thursday Giveaway: $1,000 Custom Closet!
Los Angeles
Product: Custom Closets by Closet Factory
Value: $1,000
Description: Keeping things neat and tidy is cool, right? So, what could be cooler than getting a neat and tidy custom closet organizer? Getti...
Look! Before & After Wet Bar
Oh man. When we moved to our condo in West Hollywood many moons ago, our place had an awkward wet bar just like this one: right by the entryway, tucked in an alcove, and basically the landing pad for ...
Look! Shower in the Closet
If you live in a small space but are lucky enough to have big closets, here's an idea for you:...
Look! A Rustic Cart As A Coffee Table
We enjoy seeing variations of coffee tables. Whether it's one narrow table or two smaller ones next to each other to create the look of a unified table, the coffee table can become the focal point in ...
Using a Mirror to Cheat a Window: Pottery Barn's Eagan Multipanel Mirror
Mirrors, as we recently noted, enjoy an incredible amount of versatility in a home. They can reflect light if placed near or opposite a window. But if your home lacks adequate light and windows, the...
Inspiration: Theme Bathroom
When we hear the phrase "theme room" we automatically think of a child's bedroom. Fun for kids but not transferable for our grown-up apartment. So when we were in the bathroom of our local Echo Park...
Look: Colorful Exterior Entryway!
Austin
We think it's a shame that sometimes entryways don't always get the most attention they deserve in homes today. In fact, sometimes the entryway is left out altogether! If you don't have the opportuni...
3 Chairs In The MoMA Store's "What's New" Section
We enjoy checking out the MoMA Store's site for inspiration and style. We recently checked out the "What's New" section and came across 3 chairs that we wanted to share with you. Although these may no...
Scavenger: COFFEE TABLE for $80
Los Angeles
This coffee table has a few tricks up its sleeve...or should we say leaves? Slide the top open, and there's a secret compartment to stow your magazines and DVDs. Or just add a leaf or two and you've...
Termites in antiques
Melbourne
We naively purchased these antique shoe lasts from a local flea market, not realising that what we thought was an attractive surface quality were in fact termite tunnels. They were only $5 each, so we...
How To: Make Your Own Natural Dishwasher Powder
Don't fret or call PETA on us...we're not asking you to put Scruffy in the dishwasher to scrub out those caked on stains (though plenty of pets like to clean our leftovers clean when we're not looking...
8 Uses for a Blowdryer (Apart from Drying Your Hair)
A blow dryer's great for drying and styling your hair, yes, but surely you could put it to work in other ways as well? When it's done making you look fabulous, consider these other uses......
Look!: Hanging Book Lights: Anthropologie
We spotted these hanging book lights at Anthropologie while strolling the Americana at Brand in Glendale. Although they appear in the store's window display, these attention-getters are unfortunately ...
Look! Iron Bed Frames
We admit, we used to find iron bed frames too frilly and shabby chic. But lately, we've been taking notice of some very cool bed frames in some unlikely places: the Laura Ashley catalogue. What? Yes!...
Does Ikea Cause Arguments??
Melbourne
We always enjoy having a day out at Ikea, but we cant help notice that not everyone has such a fun day. Every time we go to Ikea we hear couples, friends and families arguing about all kinds of measur...
Tile Vault: French Encaustic Tiles
My grandmother recently moved from her apartment in Paris to a house in the countryside where she can grow old in a bit more comfort. I'm visiting now and I'm in heaven. The house is filled with inc...
Look! Green Glass Tiles and Orange Accented Bathroom
Normally when it comes to picking bathroom colours, we either go for the all white bathroom or something in the pink or lilac family that will make us look good. Green is definitely a bathroom colour...
Fanny's Fabrics For the Home
Austin
Have bare windows you’re looking to outfit? Found a great piece of furniture but it needs reupholstering? If you’re looking for the perfect unique fabric and you want that small business feel, th...
Kitchen Mix: Something Old, Something New
At first glance, this kitchen/dining room may look like any sleek, modern space done up in a blinding white with all the expected modern fixtures. But don't write this off just yet: take a closer look...
Events Calendar: 09.17.08
Los Angeles
Frogtown Artwalk this Saturday Art & Design Events...September is Pets Month at Apartment Therapy
Frogtown Art Walk
Self Guided Tour of the studios in Frogtown along the LA River including...
Inspiration: Double Duty Items from West Elm
Just because something's designed for one purpose, no reason you can't use it for another. SarahC over at ATChicago recently installed some shower curtains as her living room curtains. We've done th...
Good Questions: Where Can I Get This Slide Display?
"I'm a new reader who has been going back through your house tour archives, and one my favorite spaces is Glen's Living Large In a Small Space. I adore his photography display and want to showcase som...
Look! Folding Screen Headboard
We've been all about headboard ideas lately, so here's another to add to the list. Finding a unique folding screen on Craigslist is pretty easy, and we particularly like the repeated black outlines on...
Cleaning Tip: Stay On Top of It
We're still staying with family and have now seen how they keep the floor clean. At first we were shocked (and mildly appalled) and then we realized that there was something to their method:...
Place Your Own Picture In A Museum!
Not literately, of course, but we do love this fun application called Museumr brought to us by the fun digital photo hobby site, Dumpr. If you have some time and are interested in seeing how your fav...
Shelton Collection by Pottery Barn: On Sale
A few weeks ago, Laure pointed out some ways of doing Modern Farm yourself. Our home is so not Modern Farm that we found it appealing. Since we're considering making some small changes, we thought a...
Look!: Framed Art on Stair Railing
We've seen framed art on bookshelves and Abby did a great post a while back on unconventional ways to display art but we've never seen framed art on a staircase. We think it's a great idea--find out ...
Look: Modern Mailboxes
Austin
If you've managed to find that modern home of your dreams, chances are you are a connoisseur of clean lines and smart details. You may have even invested in a good-looking modern fence for your prope...
Inspiration...domino's MY DECO FILE
[A free virtual scrapbooking tool that creates one place to store all of your inspiring images.]
How many times have you been surfing the Web and spotted an image of your dream house, an amazing new ...
Scavenger: Vintage Oriental Bar for $200
Los Angeles
Party in style and flair with this black vintage oriental bar with beautiful gold details and lined with red felt. There's a lot of storage in this unassuming cabinet, perfect to stow all of your vi...
How To: Wallpaper a Filing Cabinet
Melbourne
We were flicking through an issue of last years Notebook magazine and came across a ‘how to’ that we thought looked elegant and easy to do. The ‘how to wallpaper a filing cabinet’ is not just ...
Cleaning Up Your Flooded Home
It's hurricane season in parts of the country which can mean sudden evacuations, torrential rains and flooding. While preparing for storms and deciding what to take with you is one part of the equati...
Good Questions: How to Really Remove Pet Odors From Furniture?
"Dear Apartment Therapy,
It being Pet Month, I thought I'd send you a question I've long had but have yet to find an effective answer for. I own a couple of large mutts who liked to park their behind...
Inspiration: Downtown and Outside Downtown
We were flipping through our most recent issue of Elle Decor when we spotted quite the inspirational store, Outside Downtown, right here in Los Angeles. While it's not downtown (West Hollywood to be ...
Inspiration: White Room, One Pop of Color
So, yesterday, Abby blogged about inspiring dark rooms with white furnishings...and here's the exact opposite. An all white workspace, romantic white drapes, and then that saturated hot pink chair ju...
Inspiration: Bohemian Pattern Clash
Melbourne
We love looking to fashion for inspiration in the home, mostly in the form of new colour combination ideas. Marc Jacob’s recent Spring 2009 show reminded us of something we’re currently trying to...
Round Up: One-Sided Toilet Paper Holders
We're currently guests in a home where they have a one-sided toilet paper holder in the bathroom. What we've noticed is that because you don't have to undo anything to change the roll, it isn't a pai...
Appointment for Utility Repairs
Earlier today, we blogged a problem we had with our hot water pipe. It reminded us of when we first moved to LA and had to juggle starting a new job with learning a new city and trying to find a four...
Look: Animal-Inspired Architecture
Austin
During September's pet month here at Apartment Therapy, we've seen fun pet alternatives and gorgeous animal-inspired items for the home. Here in Austin, rumors have popped up about possible animal-in...
Look! Guess Who Lives Here...
This mini house tour may surprise you--if only because we were hoping that this professional athlete's home would have some quirky choices (much like his string of high profile relationships. But we d...
How To: Make Your Own Liquid Hand Soap
We love us some fancy soap but at $20 a bottle sometimes it's better to be a bit frugal. We've been known to reuse the bottles we love by refilling them with a concoction of our own:...
Allergy Buyers Club: A Resource For Those with Allergies
This month we've been talking a lot about pets. But some of us, no matter how much we love pets, have a sneezy wheezy itchy scratchy relationship with them. We love them but we just can't live with ...
Giving the Pigeons an Eviction Notice
Earlier this year we had a pigeon nesting infestation inside where the roofline met the front of our apartment building. Like many people, we didn't have the heart to evict them once we heard the chir...
Roundup: Pottery Barn Goes Goth
There's no way in hell that Pottery Barn dipping its toe in the uncertain waters of macabre decor for no apparent reason. Obviously, Halloween is a few weeks away, but we were pleasantly surprised to ...
'09 Calendars From Sampson May
We might be alone in this, but we have the feeling that the year is absolutely flying by. So we were stunned to get an email about '09 Calendars. Then we saw the calendars and we got really excited:...
Good Questions: How Do I Organize This Area?
Los Angeles
When maximizing space, it's a creative challenge to find room for all of your cherished belongings let alone day-to-day things, like cleaning supplies. ATLA reader, joe_g, sent us a question asking fo...
No Hot Water? Now What?
Last night, our neighbor came home to a hot steamy apartment. Nope, she hadn't left the heater on, nor had anyone in our building taken an overlong shower and there were no pots of water whistling al...
Organizing With Magnetic Boards
We've always had a fascination with the fridge door, or rather the display of items that cling to someone's fridge door. While we like checking out friends fridge door "collages," we prefer to keep o...
Inspiration: Ranch 616's Outdoor Patio!
Austin
Ranch 616 is a rowdy steakhouse located right off of West 6th Street that serves the best (allegedly) fried oysters, tasty meat entrees and killer mixed drinks---all in a quaint Texas atmosphere. Weâ...
ATLA On The Town: DIFFA's DINING BY DESIGN 2008
Over the weekend, we attended DIFFA's DINING BY DESIGN 2008 event at the L.A. Mart Design Center. We got a chance to see some amazing, fashion-forward tablescapes, in support of raising funds for figh...
Scavenger: 4 Vintage Bertoia Diamond Chairs for $450
Los Angeles
Marilyn Monroe may not have been referring to these diamonds when she was crooning those infamous lyrics, but we'd rank these high on our covet list: four white vintage Bertoia Diamond chairs, all in ...
DIY: Household care tips
Melbourne
A nasty stain on the carpet recently had us reaching for Molly Dye’s Survival Manual, a treasured book from a practical grandma. Molly Dye was one of Australia’s first female reporters and wrote a...
Inspiration: The Drama of Dark Room and White Furniture
Despite our emphasis on colour here at AT, oftentimes, especially in sunny LA, the decision is to paint the walls white or white or maybe white. But, when it's done right, a dark room, furnished with...
Good Questions: Who Designed This Artwork Print?
"Hi, I'm Maiko from LA. I've been a big fan of AT for about a year! I'm writing you today because there is a poster I've been searching
for a long time. And I'm wondering if you could be of help. C...
Look!: Toast Rack as Paper Sorter
When we organize a client's house as well as our own home we love repurposing items, especially when they add a great design element. So you can imagine our excitement when we spied this toast rack b...
Color Combo: Teal, White, and Navy
Sometimes, going bold is going too far...sort of like when we painted our bathroom in what we THOUGHT would be a strong chartreuse green and it ended up looking like we smeared avocado mush all over t...
Jacqueline Knight at Canberra Glassworks
Canberra
We visited the Canberra Glassworks over the weekend and while there were a lot of great works, Jacqueline Knight’s pieces were outstanding. A one meter high solid green glass clothes peg dominated t...
New Shipment at GROT
Los Angeles
Emma, house tour almnus and deal finder extraordinaire, recently let us know that GROT in redondo beach got a new shipment of mid century furnishings for us to drool over:
...
What Does Your Home Say About You?
We recently unexpectedly stopped by the home of a friend we hadn't seen in a long time. We didn't need them to tell us that they were in the middle of a tumultuous time in their life. We saw their ...
Look: Modern House Stripes
Austin
Frank Lloyd Wright once said "The horizontal line is the line of domesticity." While we're pretty sure he was referring to something other than colored stripes on the exteriors of homes, this house o...
Paint a Classic?
We see this from time to time, especially on eBay or Craigslist: a classic piece (the Saarinen tulip table is a popular target) that's been customized by the owner. We've seen painted bases, wallpap...
Good Question: What Lampshade for this Lamp?
Los Angeles
Hello! I recently bought a lamp on ebay, but I need help picking a shade. At the moment it is wearing one borrowed from my bedroom, temporarily. I'm all for this shape and color--modern, clean, etc...
Simple Clean: Pay Attention to Just One Item In Every Room
An old school source we've turned to when things get kooky starts with the premise that keeping your kitchen sink clean will have a domino effect on the cleanliness of the whole room. We initially sc...
Tile Vault: The Artwork of Wim Delvoye
Look carefully above at artist Wim Delvoye's piece Marble Floors. Beautiful, but a little different from your average floor tile because this particular installation was made with salami slices (note:...
Color Combo: Beige, Vanilla, and yes, Chocolate
After a weekend of entertaining and staying out way past our bedtime, we'd like nothing more than to take today off, collapse in bed, and maybe watch the entire second season of Dexter. Needless to s...
Design Classic: Thonet Bentwood Chair #14
The Thonet Chair #14 was first put into production in Austria in 1856 but since then has inspired hundreds (if not thousands) of knock offs and copies and is one of the most recognized chairs in moder...
Roundup: Umbra Office Products At Bed, Bath & Beyond
We have posted many of Umbra's casual, affordable and contemporary products on Apartment Therapy. We are big fans of both the design and the friendly prices of these cool home + office products. Whil...
What's The Coolest Thing in Your Home?
Searching for interesting ideas to showcase for you, we're often inspired by the Flickr group, Corners of My Home. Recently, over on NY, they've been running a series called Roommarks, which also sho...
Store: Mercury Design Studio
Austin
Gorgeous gifts, revamped vintage furniture finds and exquisite new details are the hallmarks of Mercury Design Studio, a staple of Austin's 2nd Street District and surely the top design store to vis...
How To: Make A Colorful And Organized Entry Way
The entry way acts like an anchor. A place where we say goodbye last and hello first. A go-to area for the details of everyday life - keys (check), purse or wallet (check), umbrella (check), quick loo...
Scavenger: Vintage Sofa-Custom Made for $765
Los Angeles
We don't really see that many chesterfield sofas on our listings, so when one makes an appearance, we jump on featuring it. This vintage custom-made sofa is actually made of faux leather, and is exce...
Look: Diamond Cut Basin
Sydney
David Knott’s diamond cut basin is the kind of thing we would have loved to see today after spending most of it looking at all things for a bathroom renovation– everything was just a bit too safe ...
Hurricane Ike Open Thread
Texas
How are all your homes down there?
It's hard to tell what it's like from the MS media....
...
Hot Posts: 09.14.08
Los Angeles
Summer has slipped out the back door (it's already noticeably less sunny...sigh) and we're stepping into the shorter and cooler days of fall. But we have some hot posts from the past week to warm you ...
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