Sunday

If you have ever been to Los Angeles, more than likely you’ve traveled on LaCienega Boulevard.  This street extends South to the airport and runs North to Sunset Boulevard.  I am lucky to live 2 blocks away, near the corner of Melrose Place and LaCienega Blvd.  This area has long been known for wonderful Interior Design stores, fashion houses and of course the Pacific Design Center.  Some of my favorite shops on this street are Downtown www.downtown20.net , Blackman Cruz www.blackmancruz.com , Paul Marra www.paulmarradesign.com , and Mecox www.mecoxgardens.com .  LaCienega is also home to a few of my favorite restaurants such as Republic www.therepublicla.com , Koi www.koirestaurant.com and The Spanish Kitchen www.thespanishkitchen.com

But on Sunday afternoons you will find me at La Cienega Nursery, just tucked off of the main drag.  La Cienega Nursery is known for exotic plants, wonderful succulents, and my favorite orchids.  I love walking thru the crowded aisles just to see the colors, textures and wide variety of plants.  I often draw inspiration for my design projects while exploring their latest succulent inventory. In fact, when we shot the pilot episode of my show, we did a segment there that discussed my inspiration for the color palette (this segment was later edited out due to time constraints...did you know that in a 30 minute episode, you only see 22 minutes?  We often had over 4 hours of footage which was edited down to 22 minutes!)

In addition to finding inspiration from all of the plants today, I purchased a few orchids for my entry.  I work with Bernie who has a talent for arranging orchids in containters.  The key to purchasing orchids is to buy the ones with fewer blooms so that they will continue blooming in your home.  This way they will last longer.

LaCienega Nursery is just off Sherwood and LaCienega

Inspiration, Inspiration, Inspiration.

Inside the orchid greenhouse

Arranging the orchids

The new orchid arrangement in my entry

This arrangement in my dining area is over 6 weeks old.  When I brought it home, it had half of the blooms.  The plant adjusted to the light levels in my home and continues to produce new blooms