Blog Find: Destined to Design

There are a few things you need to know about Jessica Comingore. First, she has more talent in her little pinky than most people you'll ever meet. Secondly, her taste is impeccable. Refined. Brilliant. And, she is equally as kind and a fantastic friend as she is skilled. So, knowing all of this, you should know that this isn't exactly a blog find. But it is a post to tell you that if you haven't read Destined to Design, her visual journal filled with nonpareil finds, you simply must. And start soon as she has a giveaway of Eamonn McCabe's book, About A Village, that ends tomorrow.

Monkey Find: Greenpoint Originals

From sustainable furniture to Michiko Shimada's cheeky porcelain salt and pepper bananas (a must for the monkey in your life), each piece of art from the Brooklyn designers in Greenpoint Originals is worth a gander.

Blog Find: SF Girl By Bay

There are many loves in my life, but two of them--San Francisco & vintage-inspired design-- can be found in Victoria Smith's beautiful SF Girl By Bay. Don't miss her Unexpected Guests posts where you can read about artists and designers from New York to Tokyo and everywhere in between.

*photos from SF Girl By Bay

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

Livingreen

10000 Culver Blvd., Culver City

ReForm School
3902 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles

Firefly

1409 Abbot Kinney, Venice

Weego Home

2939 Main Street, Santa Monica

Henry Road

3949 Laurelgrove Avenue, Studio City