Unhappy Hipsters, we're smiling: Black kitchen in the L.A. Times joins the ranks of the recaptioned

Just days after the Times' architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne called Unhappy Hipsters a "welcome addition to the often self-serious world of architecture and design," the website took a satirical poke at one of our photos, which had us laughing out loud.

Our original Oct. 3 caption on the photo, by prize-winning staff photographer Robert Gauthier? "Robert Choeff holds daughter Zara as he makes dinner in the upstairs addition of their home. A long countertop spans one wall, and dark cabinets help to conceal the refrigerator and other appliances. The chalkboard paint also makes the kitchen feel bigger than its 125 square feet."

The Unhappy Hipster caption? "Daybreak revealed much worse. The blackness hung low, swallowing shadows, blotting out sunshine. He hugged his daughter close and tried to assume the normal routine."

Check out our original photo gallery of Robert Choeff's and Krystyan Keck's home, including the bench-wrapped living area where son Zo looks, well... dare we say happy?

-- Lisa Boone

Photos, from top: Screen grab from Unhappy Hipsters; The acrobatic Zo photographed by Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times

February gardening: Ideas and inspiration

You'll want to stay out of flower beds until they dry out a bit -- there's nothing worse than compacted soil. But for those plotting their next move in the garden, some suggestions:

Now is a prime time to plant winter greens -- or reds, whites, pinks and purples, as is the case with one colorful edible. Check out Lili Singer's advice on planting chard. 

Why bother with seeds? It's one way to get more interesting plants, and it's easier than you might think. Robert Smaus offers tips on the best way to raise seedlings.

If a desert garden sounds smart but you're worried about how your children and pets might live with it, read our feature on cactus without spines or needles.

We could spend hours debating the place (or lack thereof) of lawn in L.A., but for those of you who have decided to keep your turf, at least know there are good reasons not to spread manure as fertilizer, as so many gardeners and professional gardening crews do this time of year. 

Finally, what would winter be without camellias? Read out feature story, and for some growing advice, click to the jump.

Made in California: Doug Edge's eco-political bench at 'The Last Plastics Show'

In a Jan. 15 Culture Monster post on "The Last Plastics Show" at Cardwell Jimmerson Contemporary Art, reviewer David Pagel noted that the work of Venice, Calif.-based Doug Edge pushed "mysteriousness to extremes, making wacky talismans that are too beautiful to ignore, yet too odd to make sense of by conventional means." That description certainly applies to the artist's rippling cast-resin pieces with bullet holes, which commemorate slain leaders Malcolm X and John F. Kennedy. But Edge's 1969 piece "Earth, Seed, Water Bus Bench," shown above, is a pretty easy read. 

"It was created for the first Earth Day 40 years ago," says Tom Jimmerson, co-owner of the Culver City gallery, where the 7-foot-long object is prominently displayed. Made during the birth of the green movement, the work is still meaningful today.

Its name stems from the ingredients encased within its molded plexiglass components. The uprights are filled with dirt, the seat slats contain plant seeds, and the wavy-topped back is a reservoir for water.

At $15,000, the one-of-a-kind original artwork is out of my league, but it did make me to wonder how I might make the same statement at a more affordable price. My take on the concept: Make three acrylic 18-inch acrylic cubes that could each be filled with earth, seeds and water. They could double as side tables. On a whim, I called Hastings Plastics in Santa Monica, where to my surprise, a representative said that the company had done refurbishing work on the Edge bench. The estimated cost for my idea would run about $1,500. Now I'm thinking that filling three small acrylic display cubes from the Container Store might be an  intriguing centerpiece. Or at least a conversation starter. 

"The Last Plastics Show" runs through Saturday at Cardwell Jimmerson Contemporary Art, 8568 Washington Blvd., Culver City; (310) 815-1100 or cardwelljimmerson.com.

-- David A. Keeps

Photo credits: Cardwell Jimmerson Contemporary Art

Dan Marty's new showroom gets earthy: Take a peek inside Maison Au Naturel No. 819

 
Designer and showroom owner Dan Marty has closed his sprawling space in the Pacific Design Center in favor of a smaller showroom on La Cienega Boulevard named Maison Au Naturel No. 819.

Marty says that name change reflects his shift toward “more earthiness in design,” such as his growing collection of vegetable-dyed hemp throw pillows, sea grass rugs and shell-encrusted  mirrors. Even hay bales are used to delineate different areas of the shop.

Marty was one of the first to use French grain sacks as upholstery fabric. It’s a much-copied look -- Pottery Barn has come out with a line of grain-sack-inspired throw pillows -- so he's now busy trying out new ideas. The latest involves using subway scroll fabric for pillows and lamp shades. They've just arrived in the store.

Au Naturel upholstered pieces aren’t cheap: Linen-covered chairs and sofas run $1,000 to $3,000. But some of the hemp pillows (photo on the jump) can be had for under $200. And a new line of glass domes set atop antique cogs, pictured here — they’re a cool  twist on bell jars — go for around $250. 

Maison Au Naturel No. 819, 819 N. La Cienega Blvd., West Hollywood; (310) 657-1002. Open Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. More photos after the jump ...

The Deal: Mash Studios sale on LAXseries furniture

Designer Bernard Brucha's dilemma is your opportunity. "I am running out of room for all our prototypes and samples," says the owner of Mash Studios and creator of the solid walnut LAXseries furniture line. 

To clear out some space, Brucha is hosting a studio sample sale that runs Thursday to Saturday. Pieces from the LAXseries collection and his new solid teak PCHseries beds will be reduced  50% to 70%. Among the steals: A slim wall-mounted desk in solid walnut, right, will be $370, and a low, 23-inch-square side table with a nifty cord-concealing design will be $175.

The event will also provide a peek at Brucha's latest designs, including his first upholstered pieces -- the modular seating group, shown above. 

"I went to buy a sofa for my own home and found the existing designs to be very dull, like having a gray elephant in your room," he says.

His solution: a sleek, low-slung and easy-to-move trio -- ottoman, armless two-seater and one-arm seat -- that can be configured in a variety of ways to suit spacious homes or cozy apartments. 

Balanced on a solid red oak plinth base, the LAXseries sofa features feather-and-down-filled cushions upholstered in solids, stripes and, as shown at right, a jazzy mix of both fabrics that Brucha calls Transition. The three-piece sectional is available by order from Mash Studios for $3,975. Prices for custom fabrics vary.

Mash Studios, 12705 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 313 4700 or www.mashstudios.com. The sale begins with a party on Thursday, 5 to 10 p.m., and continues Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

-- David A. Keeps

Photo credits: Bernard Brucha for Mash Studios

The Recyclist: Where did all this paper come from, and what is it doing in my house?

During my recent cleaning spree, I happened upon the basket I use to stow old bills. Now, that's not where the statements belong, mind you. It's just where they stack up until I have time to file them. But as I flipped through the accumulated statements, it's clear I haven't had time to file in, let's see, about two years. I also realized that I have never, never, ever, not once, gone back to check an old statement. In other words, it's a complete waste of trees, a waste of space, a waste of filing time. (Or it would have been a waste of filing time if I had actually filed them.) And I have to admit that this basket of paper is just one of many piles that I have stacked up all around the house, supposedly making me feel like I am organized and instead adding to my stress level because I can't find anything when I need it.

It's time to go paperless.

For the longest time, I avoided the paperless billing, even though I pay bills online. If you asked why, I'd tell you that I fretted missing an e-mail alert since I'm not the best when it comes to checking my personal e-mail. (I am tethered to my work e-mail. The last thing I want to do when I get home is check another e-mailbox.) Besides, what if I needed to look up a past bill quickly? Wasn't it handier to have a hard copy?

But here's the truth: Paperless bills involve setting up online accounts, and online accounts involve setting up stupid new user names and stupid new security questions and stupid new passwords and stupid new PINs that I will inevitably forget. If there is anything driving me crazier than paper clutter, it's the clutter of user names and security questions and passwords and PINs. Sorry, username taken. Your password must contain at least one numerical digit. Sorry, username taken. What is your mother's maiden name? Sorry, username taken. What are the last four digits of your Social Security number? Sorry, username taken. What's your first pet's name? Your PIN must be no longer than four characters. Your password must be at least six characters. Hey, how many times do we have to tell you, username taken...  AAARRGH!

Lost L.A.: Krotona -- Hollywood's utopian oasis

For proof of just how long Hollywood has held the dreams of the hopeful, read Sam Watters' latest Lost L.A. column on Krotona. Nearly a century ago, the dream wasn't a six-picture deal or a YouTube stunt gone viral. Krotona was a place where the faithful hoped to study philosophy, appreciate nature, celebrate performance and otherwise live a fuller life -- all in the Hollywood Hills. Among the architecture that rose here: the home of New York transplant Grace Shaw Duff, above, which blended California Spanish with Moorish design. To find about what happened to Krotona and to Duff's house, read Watters' story. 

-- Craig Nakano

Photo from the collection of Sam Watters

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The Deal: Pottery Barn offers big savings for small spaces with apartment sofa beginning at $799

With the current emphasis on small-scale living, this affordable, pared-down version of Pottery Barn's Buchanan Sofa feels especially of-the-moment. Well-suited for apartments or small spaces, the couch measures 79 inches long (the regular one is 87 inches) and 36.5 inches high. Like its big brother, it features double-padded seat cushions and an extra-thick foam core -- but two cushions instead of three.

The price fluctuates with fabric choice -- there are 89 in all -- but begins at $799 for twill and $1,299 for a textured basketweave textile. Shipping is $80. For more details, call  (800) 840-3658.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credit: Pottery Barn

Datebook: Events, exhibits, classes for the week ahead

We've listed select home and garden events below. Suggest your own via reader comments. Submissions must be fewer than 75 words and must be for one-time events with legitimate value to other readers. No store promotions and no frivolous links, please. L.A. at Home staff will determine which submissions will be made public, but we won't edit the comments.

Feb. 10: Michel Rojkind Halpert, principal of Rojkind Arquitectos in Mexico City, discusses the challenges of building during tough economic times in the SCI-Arc lecture series. 7 p.m. Free. 960 3rd Ave., downtown Los Angeles. Free. (213) 613-2200.
 
Feb. 11: The Thursday Garden Talks With Lili Singer continues with Jerry Turney, plant pathologist for the department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures for the County of Los Angeles, who will discuss common landscape diseases. 9:30 a.m. to noon. $20. Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. Registration: (626) 821-4623.

Feb. 11: Luther Burbank: Jane S. Smith will discuss her book “The Garden of Invention: Luther Burbank and the Business of Breeding Plants.” 7:30 p.m. $5. Friendship Auditorium near Griffith Park, 3201 Riverside Drive, Los Angeles. www.socalhort.org.

Feb. 11: Melanie Robinson, principal and director of KAA Design Group’s Brand Experience Studio, moderates a discussion with architect Grant Kirkpatrick, landscape designer Jerry Williams and interior designer Chris Barrett on how to work more effectively and collaboratively with artists of various disciplines. 11 a.m. Reception to follow. Free. Conference Center, Pacific Design Center, 8687 Melrose Ave., West Hollywood. RSVP: (323) 966-4600.

Feb. 12: Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena of Escher GuneWardena Architecture (who designed the Glassell Park home shown above and profiled here) speak as part of Locals Only lecture series devoted to progressive architecture. 6:30 p.m. Free. Woodbury University School of Architecture, 7500 Glenoaks Blvd., Burbank. (818) 252-5121.

Feb. 13: Participants from around Los Angeles will display prize-winning blooms at the 38th annual Camellia Show. Experts will be on hand to discuss camellia care and cultivation and to demonstrate pruning, disbudding, grafting and other techniques. Plants will be available for sale. 1 to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 13, 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Feb. 14. Free with regular admission of $6 to $20. Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. (626) 405-2100.

Feb. 13: Ted Tegart, youth education coordinator of the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, leads a family tour. Come early as space is limited to 25. Tour runs rain or shine. 10 a.m. to noon. Free with regular admission of $3 to $8. Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. (626) 821-3222.

Feb. 13: Become a better native plant gardener in this casual question-and-answer session with staff of the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants. 10 to 11:30 a.m. $10 to $15. 10459 Tuxford Road, Sun Valley. (818) 768-1802.

Feb. 13: A two-part class on the medicinal uses of California native flora discusses the plants and why they are effective. Part 1 includes a photographic presentation and plant descriptions. Part 2 on Feb. 27 moves outside where participants collect plants and prepare them for use. Led by Cecilia Garcia, Chumash healer, and James D. Adams, Jr., associate professor at USC School of Pharmacology, co-authors of “Healing With Medicinal Plants of the West: Cultural and Scientific Basis for Their Use.” Both classes run 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. $60 to $80. Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers and Native Plants, 10459 Tuxford Road, Sun Valley. (818) 768-1802.

Feb. 14: The Los Angeles Mycological Society presents the annual Wild Mushroom Fair. The event includes demonstrations on how to grow and cook mushrooms, guest speaker and display with mushroom identification. Professional mycologists will be on site for consultation and identification. Participants are encouraged to bring their finds. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free with regular admission of $3 to $8. Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden, 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia. (626) 821-4623.

-- Lisa Boone

Photos: Erin Wright and Joe Sola's house photographed by Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times; a bloom on Camellia japonica at the Huntington Botanical Gardens photographed by Stefano Paltera / For The Times

Be mine: Valentine's wall graphic from Simple Shapes

We have been inundated with Valentine's Day pitches here in the Home section and it is making us a little cranky. One sample: "The Top 10 Most Romantic Homes for Sale!"

That said, this wall graphic from L.A.'s Simple Shapes works for me and at $35.99 it may be pricier than a greeting card -- but it's a lot cheaper than a $72 million mansion in Bel-Air.

Imagine stumbling upon this greeting on your bleary-eyed route to the coffee maker on the morning of Feb. 14. Who needs roses? Another benefit: the vinyl saying is removable, which means you can take it down Feb. 15. Or, when you get in a fight.

The letters can be applied to just about any surface including drywall, concrete, glass (mirrors and windows), wood or metal. You can choose colors and size -- even your own saying if you like. For instance, "I would love you even more if you washed the dishes." Call us romantic.

The wall stickers are made and shipped from Los Angeles, which means if you order by Monday, you will most likely receive the item by Friday, in time for Valentine's Day. For more information or to see their other love-themed designs, click on Simple Shapes' Etsy shop here.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credit: Simple Shapes

Home Tour: 'Dragnet' house in Palm Springs gets an updated look

Palm Springs Modernism Week is coming Feb. 12-21, and to whet your appetite, we've got a Palm Springs house with a pedigree for you to examine. The home originally belonged to Jack Webb, best known as Joe Friday on "Dragnet."  He had it built in 1960, just after the show's eight-year run came to an end.

The current owners -- snowbirds from Illinois -- hired Palm Springs decorator Christopher Kennedy to help them get a look that is true to the house's Modernist roots, but doesn't look like a paint-by-the-numbers Palm Springs abode.

Read Barbara Thornburg's full story on the home, or check out our extensive photo gallery, which will have you wishing the snowbird owners would invite you over for some mellow desert stargazing.

-- Deborah Netburn

Photo credits: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times

PS: If you are interested in attending the Palm Springs Modernism Week, check out my colleague Booth Moore's guide to planning your trip. It's thorough!

The Dry Garden: L.A., braced for a deluge, has barely returned to normal rainfall

In his 1982 autobiography “My Last Breath,” legendary film director Luis Buñuel wrote:

A year can go by, even two, without so much as a single cloud in the impassive sky. Whenever an adventuresome cumulus wandered into view just above the mountain peaks, all the clerks in the grocery next door would rush to our house and clamber up onto the roof. There, from the vantage point of a small gable, they’d spend hours watching the creeping cloud, shaking their heads and murmuring sadly: "Wind’s from the south. It’ll never get here."

And they were always right.

May a Los Angeles filmmaker one day match the elegance with which the Spanish-born Buñuel exaggerated the dryness of his native Aragon. Annual rainfall there is much like ours: 12 to 15 inches a year.

But when it comes to exaggeration here, our tendency is to overstate the rain. Ever notice how much it rains in Los Angeles on TV dramas? (Thank the fire hoses.) But when real clouds roll in, it never merely rains in Southern California. As our newscasters style it, we get “slammed” by “storms.”

We get slammed even when it doesn’t rain. Ever since some forecasters predicted an El Niño this year, we’ve been at battle stations. The weeklong succession of showers last month were given the media coverage of a disaster, but downtown Los Angeles got less than 5 inches of rain, barely an inch more than the historical average.

As February opened, downtown L.A. had received less than 10 inches of precipitation for the season. In other words, the city had 5 inches to go before it reached what Buñuel remembered as impossibly dry.

Critic's Notebook: Christopher Hawthorne on Unhappy Hipsters and the mystery behind it

 

So what if the name, for all its alliterative bounce, seems not quite right? And who cares, really, if the quality has ebbed ever so slightly in the last few days?

The website Unhappy Hipsters is the most welcome addition to the often self-serious world of architecture and design in recent memory, not to mention a pocket of satirical warmth in the middle of a soggy, recessionary, earthquake-wracked, Martha Coakley winter.

Produced anonymously on a simple Tumblr blogging platform, it adds brief, deadpan captions to photographs from Dwell magazine (and a few other publications), most showing couples looking miserable or lonely in their spare, neo-modern houses. Quite a few of the pictures feature some version of the same basic tableau: a woman sits inside, often on the sofa, while a man stands nearby gazing out the window, silently ruing his life or plotting his escape -- or both.

Unhappy Hipsters entered the world quietly near the end of January, doling out a couple of entries per day, and soon began generating serious Web buzz. Its best captions have a pared-down rhythm to match the architecture on display, along with a forlornly superior air -- Colbert meets Sartre meets "This Is Why You're Fat."

Garage-mahal, Chapter 2: The neighbors strike back

When we first ran the story, we called it the Garage-mahal: a 1,200-square-foot living room for a resident Ferrari 512 BBi "Boxer." Two walls are floor-to-ceiling glass with retractable exterior shades; a flat-screen TV on tracks can traverse the length of the room. To avoid exhaust fumes when the car is started, Times automotive critic Dan Neil wrote, a hydraulic ramp has been built into the floor. It tilts up about six inches so the car can roll back across a bridge and into the Brentwood street before starting.

Ah, that bridge. Today, Times writer Bob Pool reports that neighbors have complained about the bridge, saying it could create a safety hazard and set a precedent that could degrade hillside neighborhoods throughout the city. The city has withdrawn permission for the owner to use the bridge. Writes Pool:

The ruling sets the stage for the city to issue an enforcement order that will force Schubert to tear down the 10-foot-long, 15-foot-high bridge if he does not obtain a zoning variance for it or win a court reprieve that preserves it. That would mean that his prized gray 1984 Ferrari would have to give up its unique living-room parking spot.

You can read Pool's story, see the latest photo gallery and read Neil's original story and photo gallery on the ultimate Southern California garage.

-- Craig Nakano

Photo credit: Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times

Melrose Trading Post goes green with e-waste collection, bike valet and green shopping

While bargain hunters flock to the Melrose Trading Post for its deals on antiques and vintage items, the weekly flea market's "Green Days" event this weekend feels anything but timeworn.

The two-day event will include an e-waste collection from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Bring all your kaput electronics: computer monitors, TVs, printers, laptops, scanners, toner cartridges and VCRs. Not accepted: refrigerators, washer and dryers, fluorescent light bulbs or household batteries. There is a $5 service fee for microwave ovens. All proceeds from the e-waste drive, held in front of Fairfax High School, will benefit the school's programs.

On Sunday, the market unveils its bike valet service, sustainable-agriculture produce table, and a section specializing in green and sustainable products.

The Melrose Trading Post is in the parking lot of Fairfax High at 7850 Melrose Ave. in Los Angeles. Admission is $2 for adults and $1 for seniors and students. For more information, call (323) 655-7679, Ext. 1.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credit: Los Angeles Times

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Scout Regalia's SR Patio Garden box

When I wrote about Echo Park-based design firm Scout Regalia last week, I focused on its new outdoor table set. A colleague, however, was equally drawn to one of the firm's other designs, so I thought I'd share it here too. It's the SR Patio Garden box.

Like the hip picnic table, the raised bed is designed with apartment dwellers and small-space gardeners in mind. The 18-by-30-inch box can easily fit on a small patio or balcony.

The box comes fully assembled for $185 or as a DIY kit for $95. The ready-made dimensions were designed to maximize the board-feet of the wood, says co-designer Makoto Mizutani, but you can build one to nearly any specifications.

The box is constructed with Forest Stewardship Council certified redwood and is lined with a textile made of 40% post-industrial recycled material. The kit comes with powder-coated heavy-gauge steel brackets, the drainage textile, hardware and all instructions (but no wood). Plants and soil are not included.

For further information, e-mail info@scoutregalia.com.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credits: Scout Regalia

The Deal: Sweet, dreamy savings on the Company Store's colorful extra-deep sheets

For "Princess and the Pea" types who love thick mattresses, sheet shopping can be a royal pain. Most extra-deep bedding is plain white with low thread counts. Yawn.

Happily, the Company Store has got you covered with colorful extra-deep flat sheets that are 6 inches longer than standard, and fitted sheets that stay secure on mattresses up to 20 inches thick. And yes, the catalog and online retailer carries California king sizes too.

Two styles are marked down through Feb. 10. Wrinkle-free 400-thread-count queen flat and fitted sheets are discounted from $64 to $51 each. Kings, once  $74, are now $59. Selections may be limited.

There is also a 350-thread-count sateen available in the solids and coordinated stripes shown here. Queen sheets are reduced from $64 to $54 each. King and California king, once $74, are now $63. Certain colors and sizes are marked down 50% -- that's $32 for queen, $37 for king -- in both solids and stripes.

-- David A. Keeps

Photo credit: The Company Store

Burpee's New Year's Resolution Garden plants seeds of change

I'm about to commit garden writer sacrilege, but here goes: I hate seed catalogs. Too many options, too much color, too many variables.  I  want a seed personal shopper -- someone to tell me what to buy, when and how to plant it, and then I'll happily do the rest.

Enter Burpee's New Year's Resolution Garden (pictured left), essentially a packet of seed packets. The marketing pitch is that each corresponds to a common New Year's resolution. Want to lose weight? Grow lettuce. Want to spend more time with the family? Grow sunflowers together. Want to save money? Grow your own tomatoes. It's a cute idea, but what I love is the ease of getting seven packs of seeds for $10, without weighing 47 tomato choices.

Burpee tried this idea last year with the Money Garden, a group of carrot, pepper, tomato, bean and pea seeds that would ostensibly help people save money by growing food in their backyard. "Obviously you can just buy seeds and make your own money garden," said Burpee CEO George Ball, "but we did this as a marketing promotion for people who are on the fence about gardening."

So what comes in the New Year's Resolution pack? In addition to sunflowers, lettuce and tomatoes, there are seeds for Monarda Bergamo, which attracts bees (steward the environment); a mix of annual cutting flowers (to reduce stress); carrots (make better food choices); and pole bean blue lake  (which apparently require exercise). Each pack comes with an illustrated poster with a garden-layout plan.

Burpee doesn't sell these seed packs in stores, or in their catalog, but they are available on Burpee's website.   

-- Deborah Netburn

Photo credit: Courtesy of Burpee

The Deal: Duffy London light sale at 2Jane

Duffy London's two-dimensional chandelier light makes a smart statement. And not just about design.Think about it. No dangling crystals? No dust. No dust? No cleaning.

Each chandelier image is digitally printed on 100% cotton canvas that is manufactured from sustainable sources. The canvas is stretched over a 36-inch-square wooden frame from Forest Stewardship Council-managed forests and then equipped with low-energy, long-lasting fluorescent bulbs that illuminate the chandelier from within, giving it a warm ambient glow. Win, win, win.

And did we mention it's on sale? The pink-on-white and turquoise-on-white versions are marked down from $450 to $295 at the British import site 2Jane.

Duffy London also produces other versions of the Glo Canvas, which can be ordered online. But you'll pay in British pounds -- and a hefty shipping fee.

-- Lisa Boone

Photo credit: Duffy London

L.A. interior designers pay it forward at new Upward Bound homeless shelter

Just two days before the new Upward Bound House Family Shelter was to debut last week, 18 interior designers good-naturedly traded tables, shared paint and swapped rugs.

At the former budget Culver City motel, vacuums and strollers were parked outside the rooms as the volunteers put finishing touches on the new emergency shelter for homeless families with children. “These people are sleeping in their cars,” said volunteer coordinator Dara Lasky of the families who will begin moving in this month. “They need the extra three months to get their lives together.”

Interior designers Vanessa De Vargas of Turquoise Interior Design and Erica Islas of EMI Interior Design (shown above) spearheaded the effort, enlisting 16 designers to revamp the motel rooms -- pro bono -- in just two weeks.

Word spread via design blogs, Facebook, phone calls and e-mails, and the designers received donations of furniture, accessories, money and labor. "I haven't had to pay for labor," says Rachel Winokur of her newly skimmed walls. "Even the Thai restaurant down the street gave us 10% off."

The designers have committed to helping four families who will live in the roughly 200- to 300-square- foot rooms for three-month stints. When the families leave, they will take the donated bedding and bath linens with them to a permanent home. Upward Bound House, a nonprofit based in Santa Monica, boasts a 95% success rate with helping families secure and retain permanent housing. 

To see more of the designers in action, go to the jump.