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FURNISHINGS : Remaking History : Like the Unusual Buttons on Her Quirky Shirts, Designer Janice McCarty’s Tables and Chairs Come With a Past

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There’s something All-American, quirky and sweet about the loose rayon print shirts and dresses with odd, mismatched buttons that Janice McCarty designs and that her customers, including Mel Harris, Terri Garr and Daryl Hannah, wear.

The same can be said of the furniture and home accessories the Los Angeles designer produces and sells alongside clothing in her tiny 4-year-old shop.

There’s just enough room to squeeze in a pair of patchwork-covered chairs, a couple of American flag pillows and a pierced aluminum side table that was clearly inspired by early American punched-tin cupboards.

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But customers can order things that aren’t always on display, like aluminum lampshades, mirrors and fireplace screens.

Like her “found” buttons, most of McCarty’s furniture starts out as a flea-market find, which she then slip-covers, patches or patinas.

Her love of old fabrics comes through in a collection of pillows and upholstered pieces covered with bits and pieces of whimsical printed table cloths from the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s. That time period also happens to be the heyday for the rayon prints found on her breezy clothes.

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Clothing prices at Janice McCarty, 8302 3rd St., start at $190 for a rayon shirt. Pillows start at $48; chairs are priced $425 and up.

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