Mini House Tour: Berdhouse Gallery Los Angeles

Name: David Browne, Berdhouse Gallery
Location:Echo Park, CA
Size: 300 square feet
Style: DIY

It was about a year ago when we started seeing colorful woodcut birds hanging up high on wires over intersections. An odd image, yes, but such an intriguing idea. We've seen items hanging from intersection wires before but they were usually of the Reebok fare. Not until the Berdhouse Gallery moved into our neighborhood did we learn the source of the cool wood cut "berds." David Browne came up with the idea to display his art publicly (and when we say "display", we mean aim for the wires). Anchored by combination padlocks, the "berds" hang freely from the wires, giving each passerby a smile. He's hit up at least four major cities that we know of: Los Angles, San Diego, New York and San Francisco. If you must have a "berd" of your own, you're in luck-- David sells them in his gallery. Each one is cut by hand and made with the original stencil...

When we stopped by the gallery last weekend, we were surprised by how roomy it felt inside. From the street it looks no bigger than a large walk-in closet. As we walked in the door David was busy putting out newly acquired vintage records (also for sale). He was happy to take a break and tell us about each item on display in the gallery.

We fell in love with every inch of the space but our favorite part was the wall made entirely out of found wood. David said it took over a year to find all the pieces and cut them to the right size. We're thinking we need a wall like that in our apartment! The Berdhouse Gallery also sells shoes, vintage tees, and zines. You can find him online at Berdhousegallery.com. We can't wait to go back and visit for his next open house!

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AT Survey:

Inspiration: Making things out of what's available. The DIY design makes the gallery an extension of my personality.

Fun Fact: Space was most recently a dress shop, a record store and a key shop.

Favorite Element: Location, neighbors and the size of the space.

Biggest Challenge: Makin' it.

What Friends Say: "Can you give me a deal?"

Proudest DIY: Entire store.

Biggest Indulgence: New products, furniture, old paint supplies, vintage clothes, old books and art work.

Best advice: Owning a business and getting it where you want it to be takes time. You'll find it morphs very slowly into what you want. I've been here a year and it's still not there yet.

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Resources:

Furniture: Found furniture, vintage, DIY,

Clothing, Shoes: T-shirts by Studio Browne, vintage t-shirts

Artwork, Zines: Consignment

(Thanks David!)

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And check our archives of ATLA's past house tours HERE

thank you so much for sharing this! I just moved to Los Angeles and I fell in love with the "berds" hanging on wires in West Hollywood, I'd been dying to know who the artist was.

thanks!

posted by Nicole_F on August 8th 2008 at 2:43pm
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Have you unmasked Berd??

I have been dying to go here an buy one. Thanks for the great post.

posted by Darrin on August 8th 2008 at 3:08pm
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Thanks for posting this story; I always wondered what the Berds were as I drove around LA.

posted by Julita on August 8th 2008 at 3:13pm
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What are those crates called the records are being stored in in this photo http://gallery.apartmenttherapy.com/photos/080808berdhouse/images/berd-05_small.jpg? I'm trying to find some unique ways to store my records and love this.

posted by Skyler on June 18th 2009 at 1:17pm
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