Culture clash

ALIE WALDMAN grew up in Tarzana and lived in the same house her entire life. “My mom was into chintz and florals,” she says. “I wasn’t allowed to sit on my bed. We never used the dining room.” Her grandparents, on the other hand, were Hollywood Regency maniacs, and as she notes, “It skips a generation.” That helps to explain the mix inside Alie Waldman Home Couture, her new Beverly Boulevard store. On one hand, Waldman has an acrylic furniture line she’s starting with Aussie designer Jordan Cappella, vintage highball bar glasses and a redstr/collective Empire chandelier, whose crocheted gold thread cradles hundreds of black Swarovski crystals. But what about the clear lamp base with a skull inside, or the stuffed half-squirrel vanishing into the wall like a bad hallucination? Waldman’s new store is undeniably funky, more round than square, vintage mixed among the new -- with a slightly unsettled vibe of a twentysomething daughter acting out. “The days of having to fold down the bedspread are over,” she says. 9009 Beverly Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 278-0735; www.aliewaldman.com.

-- Jeff Spurrier

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INNOVATION

Soft seat is neat

Rebecca Finell -- designer and co-founder of the children’s furnishings firm Boon and a mother of three -- has figured out a comfortable way to organize a roomful of stuffed toys. The Animal Bag, made from plush, machine-washable polyester with zippered mesh panels, keeps the little ones’ menagerie in order and provides a lounger for the kids at the same time. The Oval, shown here (also available in pink), is $59.99. The larger, igloo-shaped Otto comes in icy blue and is $89.99. The largest, Trio, is shaped like a three-leaf clover and is available in orange plush, $99.99, and orange super shag, $399.99. Available at Traveling Tikes, 10461 Santa Monica Blvd., Century City; (310) 234-9554; or at www.booninc.com.

-- David A. Keeps

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HAPPENING

The castoff cupboard

Woe is the armoire. Ever since flat-screen TVs began flying into the house, the old entertainment cabinet doesn’t seem to sell. Witness the sale in progress at Le Meridien at Beverly Hills, which closed this month and is selling everything -- furniture, electronics, even garden planters. Michael Lunsford, chief executive of sale operator National Content Liquidators, says the hotel’s crystal and silver got snapped up fast, but the armoires? “They’re getting harder and harder to sell,” says Lunsford, adding that cabinets, which NCL would have sold for $300 to $350 a couple of years ago, have been reduced to around $95. Also remaining: desks, chairs, lamps and bathroom fixtures, among other odds and ends. The sale runs 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays, until everything is sold. 465 S. La Cienega Blvd., Los Angeles. Information: www.nclsales.com (click on “Current Sales Events”).

-- Craig Nakano

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Reaching the Scout: Submit suggestions to the Home section, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012; home@latimes.com.