A Guide to the Best of Southern California : DESIGN : Some Personal History

Designer Heather Wielandt will graft almost anything--family photos, prayer cards, poems, even your first shooter marble--onto her functional furniture art.

“I just completed a chair for a champion dart player that incorporates three feathered darts he threw into a bull’s eye,” says Wielandt, owner of Wielandt Design in Los Angeles. “I use epoxy or I wire things on. Sometimes I carve out niches and wedge things into the wood.”

The artist will also replicate fabric patterns, painting the design onto the wooden arms and legs of upholstered pieces. She’ll even decorate doors, walls and doghouses.

Wielandt shops garage sales for older chairs and tables; some customers supply their own furniture. Completed chairs are priced from $225 to $600. Tables cost from $300 to $800.

Wielandt Design, by appointment only; (213) 465-7317.