Simply natural
WARM modernism is the catchphrase at De La Espada, a London-based furniture maker that recently moved its California showroom from San Francisco to West Hollywood. All pieces are solid black walnut, oak or cherry, made out of the company’s farm-raised trees and crafted in a village 60 miles outside Madrid. With traditional oiled finishes and minimalist lines, the collections play up the beauty of wood. “It blends better with more traditional things,” says Avi Lupo, one of the West Hollywood store managers. “Most of us don’t have an entirely modern home.” The Parallel dining chairs above, for example, have slender spaces between the back slats to balance the visual heft of the white oak ($935 each as shown here, with a microfiber suede seat). To see other designs, go to www.delaespada.com or come to the showroom Tuesday. De La Espada will be hosting a wine reception open to the public from 6 to 8 p.m. to celebrate the store’s opening and its latest collection, a collaboration with the Turkish design firm Autobahn. RSVP via e-mail to losangeles@delaespada.com. 8483 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood; (323) 951-1085.
-- Jeff Spurrier
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MADE IN CALIFORNIA
These crafts are a hoot
Love that ‘70s style? These decorative arts motifs -- the whimsical toadstool and the wise old Mr. Hoot -- should strike a chord. The recent explosion of DIY arts-and-crafts designers is awash with nostalgia for the flower-power politics of the Marcia and Jan Brady era. Working in earthy and Earth-first burlap and felt, Silver Lake-based Cathy of California’s mushroom pin cushion ($32) has a decidedly retro look with boldly modern coloring. Decaf Plush, an Echo Park home accessories collection, uses a vibrant 2007 palette and a sure hand with pinking shears to create cuddly applique pillows ($68), including ones emblazoned with an owl, the most popular bird in design circles this season. Available at Reform School, 4014 Santa Monica Blvd., Silver Lake; (323) 906-8660.
-- David A. Keeps
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SPLURGE/SCRIMP
Artistic frame of mind
Splurge: Relocated from the entertainment center to the wall, the flat-screen TV is now hung like a work of art. Jamie Adler’s Rialto frame, left, treats an idiot box like a museum piece, with an exuberantly lacy Rococo design that curves backward toward the wall, leaving the TV front and center. The hand-carved, bronze-leaf-finished model shown here, which accommodates a 42-inch screen, is available for $10,770 at Circa Furniture, 655 N. Robertson Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 289-6872.
Scrimp: With significantly less detail and at a cost comparable to framing a large canvas, Pottery Barn’s Chadwick shows off a plasma or LCD TV with a sparer Shaker sensibility. Made from hardwood with the ever-popular espresso stain, it sets the TV screen within a simple shadow box surrounded by stepped molding. Available in three sizes, from $399 via catalog or www.potterybarn.com.
-- David A. Keeps
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HOME PAGES
Life as a ‘Makeover’ personality
Taking a TV personality all the way to the bank, the premiere issue of Ty Pennington At Home is loaded with the star of TV’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Nearly three dozen pictures show the spiky-haired entrepreneur at work, at play, sipping his Ty-tini cocktail in the yard and pitching his line of wares for Sears. Despite the mildly obnoxious product placement, Pennington and his editorial team have put together handsomely illustrated contemporary interiors, accessible home projects and solidly middle-class shopping resources. The magazine just needs to broaden its scope. Now that readers have seen every inch of his home and know what’s on his bookshelves and iPod (the editor’s letter goes so far as to disclose his attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), they may want Pennington to get out more often. The “special-interest” publication of Woman’s Day, planned as a quarterly, is $4.99 on newsstands.
-- David A. Keeps
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Reaching the Scout: Submit suggestions to the Home section, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; home@latimes.com.
