Lawson-Fenning

On a normal day, my clients rely on me and my professional experience to recommend really good and unique home furnishing vendors that fit their style and design aesthetic. But I will admit that sometimes the reverse happens and my clients introduce me to cool new resources that I've never before heard of. Although I feel in some ways that they're sort of doing my job for me (which is not really a good thing...), I still love it when it when they bring new resources to my attention.

Someone very wise once said, "A designer is only as good as their resources" (Nathan was that you?), and it's so true! So a big thanks goes out to Dan and Cynthia for introducing me to Los Angeles based furniture company Lawson-Fenning. It's modern furniture, but each piece has it's own unique characteristics. It's not the same old modern we've seen before. It's a little bit mid century, a little bit danish, with a contemporary twist. My client purchased the Dillon chair (shown above), and here are a few other cool pieces from their collection. Lawson-Fenning also sells vintage pieces in their showroom, also featured on 1st Dibs, here.

HD Buttercup

I drove up to HD Buttercup in Culver City today to pick up some rugs for a client. I love that store. They have some really interesting furnishings and often at a good discount. For designers, it may pale in comparison to the Pacific Design Center, but personally I think it's sometimes nice to visit a more condensed furniture mall that doesn't take as long to walk through and has significantly closer (and cheaper) parking.





Even though it's a little bit of a drive from Orange County, I always try to send clients there who are interested in doing some shopping on their own. It's not "to the trade only", like most design centers, but it still helps clients see what new and different furniture is available, outside of the typical Restoration Hardware, Crate and Barrel, Z Gallerie, etc.




Photos curtesy of Apartment Therapy, Home Grown Interiors, and Maison 21, and Cococozy.

Restoration Hardware Paint

I was sick all day today, but around 7 pm I was feeling a little better and needed to go check out some pillows that were on sale at Restoration Hardware. I've been really into gray lately and I noticed they had the perfect color of gray on their walls. I was chatting about it with the sales woman and she said that they had just painted and talking about how it was the color "slate", it took me second, but then I realized that she was talking about Restoration Hardware's own paint. How did I not know they sold paint?

Turns out they have some great colors. Everything is grayed and muted...very soothing and pretty, very Restoration Hardware. And they sell sample pots for just $3.95, which I love. It's always a good idea to paint a small area or piece of poster board before you commit to the whole room.

Rumba

Yesterday I took a field trip to LA and visited several stores, but thouroughly enjoyed chatting with Kimba, who owns Rumba; a fabulous little vintage furniture shop in Santa Monica. She had great stuff in her showroom, and more in an extra warehouse. She also shops for specifics for her clients, so if you have a certain style or piece you are looking for, you can let her know and she'll be on the hunt. I love that kind of customer service!