L.A. at Home switches to Facebook comments system

L.A. at Home is switching to a new comments system today.

The system requires commenters to sign in through their Facebook accounts. People without Facebook accounts will not be able to leave comments.

Readers will have the option of posting their L.A. at Home comments on their Facebook walls, but that's not required.

So check out the new system. Leave some comments of your own. And let us know how you think the new system is working.

We love feedback, and it's our goal to create a lively, civil forum where readers can exchange news, advice and opinions.

-- The L.A. at Home crew

The bed that has readers losing sleep

Our recent photo gallery featuring the home of This Is Not IKEA co-founder Alexis Hadjopulos prompted several messages from readers wondering: Where did he get that bed?

You asked, we answer: That is the Edge bed from Environment Furniture. The wide frame provides a place to set glasses, books and remote control. Side drawers provide storage under the mattress. The wood is Brazilian peroba rosa and mahogany veneer. Price: $3,995 for queen, $4,395 for standard king or California king.

If that's beyond your budget, consider our recent post on Croft House. The store sells a Mossam platform bed that has a different silhouette but is similar in spirit. Price: $1,850. 

-- Craig Nakano

Photo: Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

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Bookmark it: More than 100 California homes in pictures

Reader Mail: '60s decor, grandkids, mice and more

Y'all aren't shy, that's for sure. Readers have been sounding off on home and garden articles, weighing in on parenting and grandparenting strategies, remodeling techniques, even the best places to buy agaves.

We published Al Martinez's first-person account of raising his unruly teenage granddaughter, prompting Joannie Flynn of Anaheim Hills to write in and call the teenager a "brainless twit" who needs some tough love.

After we profiled a Brentwood house whose owners sheathed the exterior in a new sun-reflective skin (headline: "Call It a Wrap"), Heidrun Mumper-Drumm of Pasadena slammed the concept and suggested we title the article, "Call It Trash." (But how do you really feel?)

And our feature on designers' timeless quest to build a better mousetrap prompted one reader to ask:  What's wrong with mice? We've posted these letters and others, all with links to the original articles. Keep reading ...

The Recyclist: Readers' questions answered

Do you need some motivation to stop buying potato chips? I sure do. So here goes: Most snack bags cannot be recycled. They're made of a compound material called paper foil -- you can tell by the shiny silver interior -- and they must be thrown in the trash.

I learned that while talking to Lisa Harris, Long Beach's recycling expert, who answered your questions (and a few of mine) about what can and cannot be recycled. I hoped for black-and-white answers, but quickly learned that recycling is complicated. It made me appreciate even more the comment that one reader, TC, made on the earlier post: "Remember that with the three R's -- reduce, reuse, recycle -- reduce and reuse come first. Buy disposable/recyclable products as your last resort."

Before we get down to the nitty gritty of your questions, just remember that Harris can speak only to residential curbside pickup within the city of Long Beach. There are other recycling avenues, such as the L.A. County Materials Exchange.  Harris urges everyone to locate (and bookmark) their city's recycling rules online, or call your city's recycling point person with unanswered questions. 

Can wine corks, Ziploc bags or water bottle caps be recycled? Answers to these questions and many, many more after the jump.

Reader Mail: Nice remodel, but where did they get that chair, lamp and fridge?

After my profile on the Venice home of Scott and Sharonne Trattner ran last month, I received so many e-mails that I wanted to offer an update here. While I largely focused on how architect Talbot McLanahan helped them transform a 900-square-foot beach cottage into a 1,600-square-foot family home by adding a simple, white-box addition, readers had lots of questions.

First among them: Who was their contractor? Glenn Lyons.

But most queries were about the couple's contemporary (and often inexpensive) interior decor. Where'd they get those gorgeous dining room chairs? The uniquely shaped antique mirrors? The contemporary curtain rods? One reader even wanted to know the make and model of their refrigerator. 

For a look inside, and the answers to your queries, go to the jump.

Reader Mail: The story behind that shower floor

Our recent profile of David and Jennifer Ritch's update of a 1906 cottage in Venice has turned out to be one of our most popular photo galleries of the year. Last week we fielded one question about the DIY fire bowl on the front deck. Now reader John Kroon of Lomita writes:

I have one question about the bathroom: What is on the shower floor? Is it tile or a wood drain system?

David Ritch says the shower floor is made of wood planks flush to the bathroom tile floor. "The water drains between the planks, into a drain in the shower pan below."

We've been profiling a lot of modestly sized homes recently, many of them older structures remodeled or redecorated with a distinctly contemporary flavor. If you missed them, check out:

• Atwater Village house uses unusual materials for a cool, budget-minded remodel.
• Costa Mesa couple turn an old barn into a rustic slice of loft-like living.
• Former "Design on a Dime" host Kristan Cunningham invests wisely in redecorating her rental.
• Young architects turn two Chinatown apartments into one live-work space.

-- Craig Nakano

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Reader Mail: The story behind that cool fire bowl

After seeing our story on the remodel of a 1906 Venice cottage, reader Donna Pungprechawat wrote:

I was interested in finding out the manufacturer of a fire pit that I saw in a story in this past Saturday’s Home section. The story was about a renovation that modernized a bungalow. I have attached an image of the fire pit and am interested in finding out where I can purchase this product. Please let me know what information you can find.

So, we asked owner David Ritch (pictured right with Jennifer Ritch, his wife), who is a principal in the design firm 5D.

He said the bowl is actually a concrete pot from the Marina del Rey Garden Center. They come in different sizes and finishes and have to be special-ordered. "The gas line fits nicely in the drain hole in bottom," Ritch said. "I drilled holes and bolted it into the deck to secure it."

The fire ring can be found online or at barbecue and fireplace stores.  

-- Craig Nakano

Photo: Ken Hively / Los Angeles Times

Bond & Bowery: vintage site, the second time around

Mea culpa: In my recent story about vintage and secondhand furniture shopping websites, I neglected the rather wonderful Bond & Bowery. (Full transparency: The site's founder Ben Spaisman alerted me to the error of my ways.) 

Bond & Bowery launched in 2007 as a more searchable and affordable alternative to the high-end site 1stdibs. Spaisman expects to have 180 sellers by the end of the year. For those concerned about the high price of shipping, nearly two dozen dealers are local, offering antiques and midcentury modern.

Some sellers, such as Empiric in Los Angeles, also sell new furniture designs alongside vintage finds. Items currently on the site include, from left: two Evelyn Ackerman-designed hand-hooked wool tapestries, $1,400; a 12-bulb chrome Helix table lamp designed in the 1970s, $195; and a pair of brass-trimmed John Widdicomb nightstands refinished in jungle-green lacquer, $690 each.

-- David A. Keeps

Photo credits: Bond & Bowery

Reader Mail: 3 Fish Studios artist gives cost-conscious framing tips

Home contributor Debra Prinzing saw my post on 3 Fish Studios and writes:

 "I ordered some modern chair prints and the artist Eric Rewitzer emailed me right away to say thanks."

Rewitzer also passed along some time- and money-saving pointers on how to frame his work, such as this linoleum cut of Frank O. Gehry's Wiggle chair, part of a series of prints that are sized to drop right into a standard frame:

"I got a tip for you regarding frames. I have a show up right now here in San Francisco, and I framed these chair prints in white wood frames with a bevelled matte. The good news is that the frames are readily available at Aaron Brothers for $15 each. Even better, for the next two days they are having a buy one, get the second one for a penny sale. Ask for the white Signature 8 x 10 frame with the 5 x 7 matte. You won't be disappointed."

-- David A. Keeps

Photo: 3 Fish Studios

Reader Mail: A low-water garden doesn't have to mean succulents, cactuses and rocks

 

In response to Emily Green's premiere Dry Gardening column, Olof Hult wrote in to tell us that he and his wife have been on a mission to show that "drought tolerant must not mean only rocks, cacti and succulents." Over the past year they replaced the grass lawns and rose garden that came with their midcentury home in Cheviot Hills with drought-tolerant trees, bushes, sages and ground cover. "We use only 33% of the new water allotment and have eliminated the need for mowing grass," he wrote.

You can see more pictures of Hult's lush low-water garden after the jump.