Shopping for Home Furnishing in Los Angeles
Los Angeles is not a walking town, and it is spread out quite a bit, so be prepared for a lot of driving (and parking and driving).
Most of the home furnishings stores in Los Angeles are concentrated in the following areas:
DESIGN DISTRICT
Beverly Blvd, La Brea, La Cienega, Melrose Ave and Robertson Boulevard.
Here you will find the Pacific Design Center, which is catered to the trade but anyone can get in.
TIPS-they have a buying service which charge you a percentage over "designer cost", but most of the showrooms will allow you to buy directly. Some might not
and you are better off being accompanied by a designer. Most the lines presented here are high end and very expensive. You'll find great inspirations here at the Pacific Design Center.
On Beverly Boulevard you will find modern home furnishing stores such as Twentieth, Modernica, Dialogica and many others.
North of Beverly, La Brea is full of antique stores, lighting, hardware and fabric stores. Here you will find Diamond Foam & Fabric, Liz's Antique Hardware, Plantation and a few others.
On La Cienega, you will find more antique, rugs, lighting and furniture stores. Here you will find Blackman & Cruz, a noted antique dealer, Rituals, Stonecast Designs, Details and many more.
Melrose Ave is full of antique stores, kitchen and bath, rugs, furniture stores and linen stores. Walker Zanger, a very nice tile store, is located here. Other notable stores include Waterworks (although you can find them almost anywhere), Peacock Alley (very high end linens), British Khaki furniture etc.
Melrose Place is a cute little street full of high brown antiques and galleries.
Robertson is the home to the famed Ivy restaurant (don't go there for the food-it's terribly over-priced and full of people hoping to see celebrities). It is also home to many antique stores, high end linens such as Anichini and Asian antiques.
CULVER CITY is an up and coming area for art galleries and home furnishing stores.
The one that got the most buzz is HD Buttercup, where the "manu-retailer" concept originates.
The idea is that the manufacturer sells directly to the consumers and passing the middle man-thus
providing the consumers with better pricing. We find this to be NOT the case. You can do better on store sales. It is a very fun place to shop,however,
and they are very nice to dogs. Nearby is the wonderful Beacon restaurant which has gotten rave reviews. HD Buttercup holds semi-annual sales where
you can find amazing deals on floor samples.
LA MART in downtown LA caters to the trade only and you will need to be
accompanied by a member of the trade to get in. We don't find the prices to be
particularly attractive unless you buy accessories (in many cases, minimun order
applies and you will need a resale license). In our opinion it is not worth the
trip or the hassle unless you are shopping for the entire house.
ABBOTT KINNEY Blvd in Venice is home to many one-of-a kind boutiques. You will not find any chain store here (with the exeption of Pink Berry-a
popular frozen yogurt chain). Most
stores are indenpendently owned and very small but unique in their own ways. Most notably are Digs, Plantation and Turquoise.
PASADENA-Located approximately 20 miles east of Los Angeles, Pasadena is home to stately homes, historic streets and beautiful museums. Most of the home
furnishing showrooms can be found on S. Fair Oaks Avenue, including Antiques & Objects, Revival Antiques, Tivoli Antiques and Pasadena Antique Center.