los angeles times times home and garden articles

While John Goodman tinkers with cars and Emile Hirsch races one in the Wachowski brothers' movie, Owen Paterson's bold colors and automobile paraphernalia surround them.

IN THE Wachowski brothers' new movie, "Speed Racer," the eponymous main character (Emile Hirsch) and his family seem to live in a modern ranch house in midcentury suburbia. The hallmarks of the era are there: graphic wallpaper, bold colors, bamboo accents and streamlined furniture upholstered in nubby fabric. But there's also a futuristic television and a spotless workshop where Speed's dad, Pops (John Goodman), makes battery-operated race cars that can defy gravity.

Forget the mini shampoo bottles and mints on the pillow. Three new hotels are loaded with fresh ideas to take home distinctive looks and money-saving tricks that can work in your living spaces.

Hotels have long been fantasy fodder for do-it-yourself designers. Just as Kelly Wearstler's Viceroy and Maison 140 hotels goosed the Hollywood Regency trend, the look of three new local lodgings can lend similar inspiration to Southern California homes. "There's an emerging backlash against nightclub-inspired interiors and a move toward a more authentic and comfortable residential feeling," says David Collins, who transformed the Bel Age on Sunset Boulevard into the London West Hollywood. Here's a look at how designers have exuded a strong sense of place in very different ways.

The Smithsonian branch's annual honors recognize innovative work in various disciplines, including a nod to design that blends with the environment.

AN ARCHITECT who built guesthouses on wheels and the landscape team behind a sculpture garden at the Getty Center are among the winners of the annual National Design Awards announced today by the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York.

She found no inspiration after cleaning out. Then Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman, authors of 'A Perfect Mess,' offered some perspective.

MY KINGDOM for a Martha Stewart shed, for a Smith & Hawken potting table, a cream-colored pegboard with the perfectly hung tools, an enameled and labeled can with fluffy potting soil and an alphabetized seed file -- how I long to be as proper as the gardeners in magazines and on TV programs.

Kiersten Hathcock's experience as a marketing executive proved useful when she decided to launch Mod Mom Furniture, a line of handmade midcentury modern-inspired furnishings for kids. After leaving a corporate job at A&E and the History Channel to spend more time with her children, the self-taught carpenter did some market research and found a lack of modern furnishings for kids (translation: furniture that grown-ups like too). So she built some prototypes for family and friends and then created a website to show them, "just so I could get into some stores," says Hathcock in her garage workshop in L.A. To her surprise, she began receiving inquiries from as far away as Italy, France and London. Her plywood toy boxes such as Bertie Box, $250, shown here, began selling. Now she's having a hard time keeping up with production. "I'm booked through July." Her clients tell her they are drawn to Mod Mom because the products are hand-drawn, hand-cut and built by a mom in her garage. Production isn't always easy. Hathcock says a typical day might include production (cutting heavy sheets of plywood), coercion (getting a preschooler to tag along to buy wood) and hospitalization (landing in the emergency room after being cut by a biscuit joiner). "I think there is a lot of value in my kids seeing me work," she says of tackling a male-dominated profession. "I don't have to lose my femininity just because I know how to use a saw," she adds, laughing. Indeed. $250 to $550; www.modmomfurniture.com .

The 1970s redux doesn't mean having to be as funky as some looks of the era. Take air plants, known botanically as tillandsia, which are back in sleek and sculptural arrangements. The plants, which draw moisture from the air, can be tucked in nooks and crannies of natural wood as in this arrangement ($590) from Rolling Greens nursery. That's a good three decades of design away from the varnished driftwood of that era. The plants are exotic, long lasting and low maintenance -- and they reflect the water-saving consciousness of our times. The arrangements come in small, medium, large and extra large, with prices starting from $75. 9528 Jefferson Blvd., Culver City, (310) 559-8656, www.rollinggreensnursery.com .

Jewels for the house? The idea has intrigued designer since the days long ago when he was making jewelry. His ring-like design for the side table shown here, $5,740, glistens with a hand-cast glass atop polished bronze. The Jewel line, which includes custom coffee tables, from $19,080, is available at Randolph & Hein , 8687 Melrose Ave., Suite B-528, West Hollywood, (310) 855-1222; Magni Collection, www.magni.com .

AND I THOUGHT last week's party for 80 teenagers was bad (it was). Now I'm hosting a party for 30 adults. Each week, the celebrations get smaller, more polished, more demanding.

Landscapes designed by Nancy Goslee Power, Sandy Koepke, Schwentker Watts Design, Pamela Volante, and Jim Yoch and Tim Scott are included.

SIX PRIVATE gardens in Westwood and Beverly Hills, open to the public during Saturday's Garden Conservancy sponsored tour, offer an opportunity to see the work of local designers. The Open Day tour includes landscapes by Nancy Goslee Power, Sandy Koepke, Schwentker Watts Design, Pamela Volante, and Jim Yoch and Tim Scott. Admission is $5 for each garden, or $25 for six visits, and no reservations are required. The self-guided tours start at Greystone Mansion, where tickets can be purchased starting at 9:30 a.m. on tour day. Tours begin at 10 a.m. and end at 4 p.m., rain or shine. Greystone Mansion & Park is at 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills. For more information, visit www.gardenconservancy.org and click on "Open Days."

Review: 'Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House,' text by Daniel P Gregory, photography by Joe Fletcher.

Cliff May and the Modern Ranch House Text by Daniel P. Gregory, photography by Joe Fletcher Rizzoli International Publications, $60