Last week, I was in Los Angeles for meetings with various production companies about a possible TV show I’m thinking about doing.  Yes, it’s very “Hollywood,” but I’m still a Pennsylvania boy at heart when I’m traveling in LA.   I tend to fly in and fly out as quickly as possible, so I can get back home to the bucolic woods of my Pennsylvania home. 

But there are highlights and favorite spots that I do love.  One of them is Zelen Home (8055 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90048).  It’s owned and operated by Dan Zelen, who has a philosophy that his store only stock items you can’t find anywhere else.   Lots of one-of-a-kind pieces, a mix of vintage and new, just available at one store, in one state, in one city: Los Angeles.

The store is stocked with styling and decorating ideas, too.  Like taking a collection of paperback books and just simply tearing off the cover to reveal stacks of white books.  Stacked on a wall, it feels very Anthropologie meets library.  Sure, it works better in a store environment, but it does remind you that the best ideas don’t have to cost a lot.  It all comes down to the execution.

Here’s another idea.  Silverleafed pinecones.   I wish I could find that blog post I did years ago where I took shells, branches and other found objects in nature and silver leafed them.  I wanted to do it as a project for the now defunt Country Home magazine, but my colleagues passed on the idea.   Was I ahead of my time?

I was excited to see these ceramic peanut shell containers.  At a junk store a few months ago, I found one half of these peanut shells and wondered what on earth it was.   So, they DO have a matching top and they DO contain two “peanuts” on the inside.   If you can find these in your junk store adventures, pick ‘em up.  One of these is $80.

And I snapped this pic because, well, I just liked it.  It demonstrates Dan’s creative skills at putting a hodge podge of items together into a cohesive collection.   I talk all the time how I like to “curate” a home when I’m putting it together, picking and editing through everything and trying to make random objects just work together.   This is a great example of that.   Artwork…metal tools…random faux deer heads.

Tags: Los Angeles, Zelen Home

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