Eames centennial

FOR Eames Demetrios, preserving the work of his grandparents, 20th century designers and filmmakers Charles and Ray Eames, is more than a family business. Demetrios, shown here, has relocated Eames Office to a former thrift shop in Santa Monica in time for the centennial of Charles Eames’ birth. The new 5,000-square-foot location combines educational exhibits with showroom models of Eames’ postwar Modern classics, including the bent plywood DCW chair and leather 670 lounge chair. Along with cash-and-carry Eames apparel, stationery, books, DVDs, toys and children’s furniture, there are also pillows by textile designer Alexander Girard and George Nelson clocks. Don’t miss the new work by Demetrios’ mother, Lucia Eames, who designs furniture made from cut steel and bronze, and his sister, Llisa Demetrios, a sculptor. Eames Office, open Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., will be open until 8 p.m. tonight as part of the Santa Monica Design District’s Wine & Design, a walking tour of design destinations. 850 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica; (310) 396-5991; www.eamesgallery.com.

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TREND SPOTTING

Jeepers! Chic little creepers

First there were trees, printed on plates and fashioned into lamps. Then came birds, fluttering around fabrics and perching on pillows. Now, before you can say, “Jiminy Cricket,” the latest nature-

inspired motifs in home decor -- garden-variety insects like grasshoppers and butterflies -- are swarming into stores for summer. This tiny porcelain bud vase, $36, mixes the elegance of classical Chinese pottery with the whimsy of a hand-painted cricket, a revered guest in many Asian homes. The cotton hankie, $24, which easily doubles as a napkin, is printed with neon-colored moths, a creepy-crawly clever update on the butterfly prints shown in fashion fabrics in past seasons. Both available at Show, 1722 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles; (323) 644-1960; www.showlifestyle.com.

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HAPPENING

A whole lot of Modern

Though its stated theme is Music & Design, the 2007 Los Angeles Modernism Show at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium this weekend promises other 20th century eye candy from the worlds of industrial and interior design. In addition to rare electric pianos and guitars, 1940s jukeboxes and speakers designed by George Nelson, the show features “Neon Garden,” an outdoor installation of American roadside signs, and a 250-square-foot terra cotta mosaic by John Bennett commissioned for the Santa Monica Hospital Medical Center in 1972. The 1970s also figure prominently in vintage furniture displays. The one-of-a-kind, cobalt blue lacquered wood and tubular chrome desk, shown here, is a 1978 Frank O. Gehry design. Priced at $35,000, the desk can be found in the booth for, appropriately, Off the Wall. Admission tickets, $15, show hours and directions can be obtained at www.lamodernism.com

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MADE IN CALIFORNIA

Panels kissed by the sun

Blake Simpson uses the desert as his finishing studio. After welding hand-cut steel discs onto frames, “I put them outside in the sun for a few weeks, watering them a few times a day to get them to rust,” says the Joshua Tree-based designer. The result: architectural panels that fuse organic shapes into an industrial modern design suitable as room dividers or outdoor sculpture. Simpson also constructs them as backdrops for fire pits and with troughs for use as water features. A 3-foot-by-7-foot panel, such as the one shown here on Simpson’s deck, sells for around $6,500 and can be delivered in two weeks. For information and pricing on custom sizes, contact Simpson at (323) 715-8775 or visit www.mojaveprojects.com.