SFBayStyle

Shopping at the Allied Arts Guild

There's a hidden gem in Menlo Park, though it has been in existence since the late 1920s and lends it's name to an entire (and I might add very charming) neighborhood, well off the beaten path but literally a stone's throw from Stanford Shopping Center.  It's the Allied Arts Guild, home to unique shops, artists' studios, beautiful gardens and a lovely cafe.  Each of the 7 shops/studios that I visited yesterday (there are a few more but one or two were closed) only carries items that are handcrafted or otherwise created by artists, so you can find some really special items there.

Sample Sale Season at the SF Design Center

It's that time of year again when the leaves are falling, the air is getting crisp and, best of all, the showrooms at the San Francisco Design Center and the San Francisco Mart are making way for next year's inventory. It's a great opportunity to pick up a few new things for your house in time for the holidays, and there are some great deals to be found for bargain hunters.  Remember, these showrooms represent the best brands in the home decor business, where only the finest craftsmanship and most luxurious materials are found...this ain't K-Mart.

Here's a quick summary of a few of the items I saw yesterday while shopping...from Dunkirk, which specializes in outdoor furniture...4 bright orange dining chairs with 2 matching lounge chairs,  a  very pretty teak "Lyutens" style bench, and a lovely Henry Hall teak and steel  bench. Henredon has lots of merchandise available, as does the Schumacher showroom. It's well worth a walk-around, and to make it easy, many showrooms have put their sample sale pieces in the hallways with prices clearly marked.

The Design Center is  open on weekdays from 9-5.  While many showrooms only sell "to-the-trade", sample sales are generally open to anyone interested in purchasing. 

New Isaac Mizrahi Fabric Collection Now Available

The fabulous Isaac Mizrahi, award winning couture designer and the original "make it affordable and available at Target" designer has just introduced his first collection of fabrics for use in home decor.  I was lucky enough to be invited to a luncheon at the S. Harris showroom in the San Francisco Design Center earlier this week, where I was treated to a wonderful presentation of this new collection, as well as a delicious lunch.

The fabrics in the collection are incredibly unique and fresh, and you see many of the bold colors that he favors on the runway show up....vivid reds, oranges and greens appear in a wildly over-scaled chintz, and then reappear in both delicate sheer linen and a beautifully detailed medallion metlasse.  Metallics also showed up in unusual places...woven into a cotton twill, washed over a richly colored linen, and flecked through a chenille.  It's a really interesting and fresh take on decorative fabrics, and I hope to be able to use some of them soon for a client or two. I love the connection between fashion and design, which really makes this collection different from more traditional fabric collections.

Like all the best fabrics, these are only available "to the trade" through the S. Harris company, so call your Interior Designer if you want to take a closer look.  I've noticed that most of the design magazines have mentioned the new collection, and I'm sure it will be widely advertised in the coming months, so keep your eyes peeled for some pretty pictures.