Moppet Modern : Sleek Vintage Furnishings Avoid the Kiddie Cliches

Sasha Emerson Levin, believes that a child’s room should have as much style as the rest of the house. “Most kids’ furniture these days is that fake country look,” says the former film executive-turned-designer, who lives in a 1962 contemporary-style house in Santa Monica with her husband, screenwriter Larry Levin, and their daughters, Sophie, 41/2, Eden, 51/2, and month-old Isabel. “I wanted an aesthetic for my own kids that would be compatible with modern architecture--light, whimsical and colorful.”

For starters, Levin filled the older girls’ rooms--situated with a third bedroom, a playroom and a bathroom in garage space remodeled by architect Mark Mack of Venice--with mid-century blond wood furniture. She found many pieces, including a $100 pair of Heywood-Wakefield twin beds, at secondhand stores, flea markets and garage sales. “Almost nothing came from a legitimate kid’s store,” she says. “And everything was inexpensive.” Levin, who with Marne Dupere owns Orange, a home furnishings store in Beverly Hills, then gave the rooms different identities with mismatched dressers, bookshelves and chairs made by mid-century furniture manufacturers and designers. For Sophie, she bought a Gilbert Rohde six-drawer dresser and a side table by Paul McCobb. For Eden, she paired a vanity with a Thonet bentwood school chair. At the store, Levin says, “we specialize in refinishing school furniture, which is perfect for kids’ rooms.”

Accessories range from flea-market prints of Paris street scenes to old globes and a framed paper kite. “Most of the little objects I found at Pic ‘n’ Save, Ross Dress for Less and Ikea for a few dollars,” Levin says. Even a toy box was salvaged from a pile of junk at the Long Beach flea market for $30. “Cheap is good for kids . . . if it gets ruined, it’s OK.”