FERMOB..TRAVELS WITH CAMILLE

The Director of International sales for FERMOB
was here from France and I had the pleasure
of taking her around for a day.  Camille's
territory is everything outside of Europe.
I wanted to show her a cross section of
of Southern California so I picked her
up early and we headed to Solana Beach,
in San Diego.

CHICWEED is owned by mother and daughter, Susie and Melissa.  Camille is the one in the

middle admiring this very unique place.

This is primarily an outdoor store with only a

small covered cabana. Since they are

in one of the most consistent good

weather areas in the country this works well.

Only the rain decides what days they are closed.

They have created a very inviting place

to shop.  They love color and that is

a big selling point of the furniture

from FERMOB. 

I like the idea that they don't play

it safe when mixing colors.

I love this display of color provided by

the indoor outdoor rugs from

DASH & ALBERT

On the table behind the cute bistro

set is one of the outdoor rugs.

What a great idea for an outdoor

table cover since all you need to do

is hose it off.  This is my new favorite thing

to do with these very versatile rugs.

They plant up container gardens using mostly

succulents that are so popular here in

Southern California.

This store does not lack for unique items.

Here is a surf board turned into an outdoor

shower.  These can be made to match your

color theme.

Melissa and Susie are a great team

and they made this a nice start to our day.

We headed back north to Costa Mesa,

in Orange County to

MOLLY WOOD GARDEN DESIGN.

The fuchia bistro set from FERMOB looks great

in the front yard under the tree.

The retail showroom is on a beautiful

treelined street in a semi residential

area.  She has turned this charming house

into a place to showcase her creativity.

FERMOB furniture is not only for outdoors

this Rendez-vous set would be great in a

kitchen area or family room.  We are

also liking the colbalt blue, nice change.

The bar cart is stunning in carrot with

the matching garden torches.

A couple of years ago ELLE DECOR

listed it as one of The Top 10 Bar Carts.

You can't dispute that!

Molly carries many unique pieces,

like this fun driftwood plant stand.

Molly and her team of designers are

passionate about garden and landscape

design.  They are dedicated to

helping their clients realize their

dream gardens mixing new and

vintage garden furniture and ornaments.

These pretty smiling faces are

Jill, Jody, Molly Wood and Camille.

We left Orange County and headed

north to Los Angeles to the Los Felix

neighborhood to visit  POTTED.

This is considered the mecca for

design-loving garden enthusiasts in

this area, owned by two fun and talented

ladies, Mary and Annette.

We first got a tour to see all the

FERMOB.  The classic bistro set

in multi colors are a sure winner.

I just got my June 2012 issue of

ELLE DECOR  and they have

selected the bistro chair one of the

Top Ten Folding Chairs.

"This traditional French park chair,

which dates from the late 19th century,

is a perennial favorite.  It is perfect for

 dinner parties in the garden and is

easy to move around"

A nice selection of indoor outdoor

rugs from DASH & ALBERT

These glazed ceramic pots are

another way to add color to your garden. 

Vintage mixed with contemporary

make this wall inspiring.

Annette and Mary have designed

and developed a line of planters.

This is the Circle Pot, it has

a flat bottom so can sit as well as hang.

This is one of their newest creations, The

City Planter made of iron with a sealed

rust Patina.

Camille was such a great sport letting

me take her picture everywhere we went.

I thought I would get in one of these myself.

Me, Annette, Camille and Mary.

\

We took in a lot of ground, driving from Los Angeles,

to San Diego and back again but it was well

worth it.  Got a chance to show off some

great stores and nice people to my

new friend from France.

Chicweed

240 South Cedros Ave.

Solana Beach, Ca.

858 205 8083

Molly Wood Garden Designs

1660 Orange Ave.

Costa Mesa, Ca.

949 548 1611

Potted

3158 Los Feliz Blvd.

Los Angeles, Ca.

323 665 3801

SCOUT @ QUARTERS D

One of the great pleasures in what I do is
meeting and working with creative people.
Paul Scott Silvera is one of those people.
 With his talent and vision he has
created a fabulous new store in San Diego.

His store is part of a major restoration of the

former Naval Training Center in Point Loma.

The property has eight building and houses

 dating  back to 1920, some were used for barracks and

the house where SCOUT at QUARTERS D

is located was the Officer's home.  He is the

 flagship store and there will be other shops that will

make up the arts and cultural district.

On my first meeting with Paul the place was

in major construction and he had me wear

a hard hat on our tour of the house.

We actually had our meeting under

a big tree on the beautiful grounds.

To say I was excited to go to the opening

is an understatement.  I knew it was going

to be special and I wasn't disappointed.

As you walk up the driveway to the

garage entrance there was a cute

new Fiat 500 (which happens to be

my favorite car) greeting you.

Inside sticking out of the sun roof were

DASH AND ALBERT rugs.  I knew I

was in for a treat.

You entered through the garage with

a beautiful indoor outdoor rug on the

floor.  This is no ordinary garage.

On my first visit they were putting in the

windows and they really turned out well.

I think this was my favorite room,

the light coming in and making the

view part of the room.

I was also happy to have a nice showing

of AIDAN GRAY HOME through out

the house.  I will take you for a little tour.

He turned one of the bedrooms into

the DASH AND ALBERT rug room.

I love the way he used the swatch

displays in the four corners of

the room.  They take on a look of

a decorative accessory instead of a fixture.

Another one of the bedrooms is devoted
to FARROW AND BALL the prestigious
and well established English paint company.

A nice patio area leading out to the back

of the house.

Point Loma is at the southern part of San Diego

sitting on a hill and this property has

a spectacular view of the city along

with beautiful grounds.

I know in the weeks and months ahead you will be

reading about this project and also about the

store.  Paul also has a store in Berkeley

where he specializes in staging.

Scout @ Quarters D

2675 Rosecrans Ave.

San Diego, Ca. 92106

619 518 8374

Scout

3088 Claremont Ave.

Berkeley, Ca. 94705

510 595 3400