LA’s Design Destinations

I’ve always been so jealous of my designer friends who go to the Legends events in L.A.’s La Cienega Design Quarter—all their social media pictures have made me want to go there for a few years now. Well, I just got my chance—I went to pick up my son from a summer program out there, and I arrived a couple days early to meet some friends and take a tour.

My first taste of cool came with this Airbnb—It felt like an editor with Domino or Lonny had decorated it!

 

 

 

And then I went down to the design quarter, armed with recommendations from designer Schuyler Samperton, a DC native who’s become a darling of the LA design scene. I just wrote a story for Luxe Magazine on a home she designed out there, which will run in the fall.

The first stop was Nathan Turner’s shop; he’s a veteran of “Million Dollar Decorators” (and his shop is next door to fellow star Martyn Lawrence Bullard’s office); I saw him earlier this year at the Design Bloggers Conference in Atlanta. Not only is he hilarious and kind, but his immense talent shows through in his store:

 

 

 

And then I wandered into Restoration Hardware. Yes, it’s everywhere, but not like THIS:

 

 

 

I also walked into Jasper, Obama White House designer Michael S. Smith’s huge showroom. I was most taken by the walls of lighting, covered in Jasper’s Indian Flower wallpaper.

 

The next day, I had lunch with Beth Kleid, Schuyler’s incredibly warm and enthusiastic client whose home I just wrote about. She’s one of those people who you instantly want to be their best friend. After lunch, we went shopping at some of the stores that I referenced in the magazine captions for Beth’s home:

Mecox Gardens:

 

 

 

Hollywood at Home:

This is Peter Dunham’s shop, and I’m a sucker for his textiles with their rich, tribal-south-of-France-by-way-of-Morocco-like patterns and saturated color.

 

 

Beth and I mutually swooned over Hollyhock, designer Suzanne Rheinstein’s chic shop that combines Hollywood and Palm Beach glamour:

 

 

 

There was too much inspiration on this trip to put into one post. Next up: The Pacific Design Center.