Kimba Hills: The art of the party in Santa Monica

Kimba Hills, owner of the vintage furniture store and gallery Rumba in Santa Monica, hosts a dinner party at least once a month. Just about any excuse will do to have friends over to the bungalow she renovated and once shared with artist Laddie John Dill in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Santa Monica. The food is usually barbecue — flown in from Hog Wild in Memphis, Tenn., the night before — but the look of the house is always a bit different. Hills is a flurry of activity before guests arrive: She rotates art, throws a Turkish kilim on a poolside patio, places a Pop art lamp from the living room between two lawn chairs in the garden. Here, a guest passes by a painting by Ann Thornycroft.