What do you mean by design?
I would go into someone’s home and reconfigure it and I prefer to use things that they already have and in this economic time, it’s probably a better way than to redo everything.
Is this the first time for you opening your own store?
No, I had my own store in the late ’90s for about three years. And I had a space or a store going for the past 12 years. I rented a space in a store in San Clemente for the last few years and decided that I needed to move back home and be in the ’hood and have my own thing.
What made you want to open the store here?
I just wanted to get back in my own neighborhood. I feel like there isn’t anything like this in this area anymore.
What do you mean by that?
I just think there are a lot of new furniture and home furnishing stores and with the economy the way it is, I just wanted to bring back pieces that are kind of remade and re-invented. I wanted to bring vintage items mixed with contemporary art work.
Where do you find and bring items like this?
I take something that somebody is maybe selling at a yard sale and find the client for it and or re-purpose it for the store in a way that you wouldn’t necessary visualize.
How do you transform an old piece of furniture or jewelry into something different that can be used?
Taking a French chair that’s got good bones and good structure and recovering it in a fabric that’s more modern and more appealing to a wider variety of people, or taking a piece of furniture that’s wood and paint it in a bright, modern color. I truly believe in an eclectic kind of look.
What else do you sell here?
I have someone that hand-makes beautiful notecards and costume paintings and ornaments. I have someone that makes wax candles. I’m also looking to carry another hand-made line of soap and candle products, and I carry hand-block-printed scarves.
