monkey in la: Pretty on the Inside

What is with June Gloom? Last year I seem to remember a few honey-you-might-as-well-be-in-Kansas storms with giant nimbus clouds and ugly thunder. While it prompted rainfearing Angelenos to put on their Wellies, after a few showers the clouds went away and everyone was sweating their faces off. At this point, I'd take a brief monsoon over this long expanse of gray and sometimes blue. I mean, clearly there is no hope for my leche legs to see the sun (apart from my brief exposure to the 101° up north this weekend). But since it seems that there may be no quick end to this unpredictable weather, I'm going to deal with it and focus on the inside. The beauty within. That's what counts, right?

To do this, I've found inspiration in a site that fills the huge chasm in my heart left when Domino magazine shut down: Apartment Therapy. (Speaking of Domino magazine, does Condé Nast really think that Architectual Digest is where they should redirect readers desperately seeking archived online Domino pages? Please). Apartment Therapy is like a giant vitamin gummy bear for your right brain. That is, it is delicious and colorful, with a variety of good ingredients (unlike a regular gummy bear which is, say, the IKEA catalogue of inspiration--cute, but limited). Get it?

On the Los Angeles Home Tours page, there is a plethora of genius from other LA and world citizens who live everywhere from downtown at the Brewery Art Colony to a chic man cave (you read that right) in Sydney. At Matt's Melrose and Heliotrope pad, for example, a small space (900 sq. ft.) is fused with impeccable taste and unusual pieces that makes for an interior filled with vision and ideas. In fact, his use of Ferm Living wallpaper made me want to go out and buy 8 rolls and paper my lackluster 1924 dining room. Instead, I might settle for a coat of paint and the Love Birds wall sticker. The point is, his use of interesting and found objects from LA shops and eBay shows that thinking outside of the box about the inside of your house can result in a fabulous space you won't mind being stuck in. If you need help, the brilliant folks over at ATLA (as they sweetly call Apartment Therapy-LA), put together the most brilliant shopping guide for your quest to making your interior perfect.

In the spirit of sitting inside for the past month, I have browsed the entire collection. These are fantastic:

Visionary Boutique

8568 1/2 Melrose Ave, West Hollywood