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Sometimes a field trip is the answer to finding design inspiration. Ojai, located just a short drive from Santa Barbara, is well known as a mecca for the spiritually inclined. A fair share of Hollywood also has discovered the community’s charms and escapist offerings.
Thanks to several stores in Ojai, people in search of inspiration on the home front have a new reason to take the scenic drive along Highway 150.
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Fig, founded in 2013 and located at 327 E. Ojai Ave., has a fairly small presence on Ojai’s main road through town, but you will not want to miss it.
Guided down a narrow walkway by a hand-painted hopscotch game on the floor, one discovers one-of-a-kind hanging planters that resemble octopuses along with birdhouses and colorful outdoor furniture. At the end of the walkway, the space opens up to reveal the store itself — and a quirky collection of home, garden, jewelry, bath and baby products.
When Nooozhawk visited the store recently, Julia, the store manager, described the assorted products.
“We try to have a little something for everyone … and things we love,” she said. “We want the things in the store to work with Ojai’s style. If we can find things made locally that is great. If not, we look for things that are fair-trade made or homemade in the U.S.”
Whether it is repurposed old hotel silver or a colorful new doormat, Fig offers something for a home in need of a little funk, color and humor.
Fig is located at 327 E. Ojai Ave. Click here for more information, or call 805.646.6561.
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In its current location since 2000, Down Home Furnishings is an Ojai institution.
Located at 250 E. Ojai Ave., the store is nestled comfortably in Ojai’s famed colonnade. The store offers a uniquely curated assortment of products for the home.
Anne Carper, owner of Down Home, described her buying for the store as “… Only things I personally like and things you will not see anywhere else.”
Walking into the store, one has the feeling that one could move in. It is set up like a house with inviting arrangements of furniture, art on the walls and table-top goods that spark the curiosity.
The store offers full-decoration services, and many of the upholstered pieces are made uniquely for Down Home. Carper travels to Indonesia periodically to work with artisans to design the bronze furnishings scattered throughout the store.
Not catering to one style of home, Down Home is full of fresh ideas. It is impossible to leave without finding something that intrigues the eye and invites you to rethink your own home.
Down Home Furnishings is located at 250 E. Ojai Ave. Click here for more information, or call 805.640.7225.
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Located a block off Ojai Avenue at 306-B E. Matilija St. is ModernFolkLiving. The store has been in its present location for a little over three years and is set back from the street in a building that pulls you in by a few strategically placed, modern pieces outside.
Wanda Weller Sakai, owner of ModernFolkLiving, describes her store as “lifestyle goods for the conscious consumer.”
She explained that while working for Patagonia, the well-known and environmentally responsible adventure clothing company based in Ventura, she became interested in sourcing “local, small-crafted, fair-trade and ethically produced” products.
ModernFolkLiving is not big and is beautifully curated. Of particular draw were some stuffed toys for children made by a family-run business in Denmark called Maileg that feature pirates and mermaids and an adorable little fawn smiling on one side and sound asleep when flipped over.
Other products from Coral & Tusk in Brooklyn draw the eye as do an assortment of colorful candles on a central table.
Currently in the works for 2015 are a series of public workshops that will take place at the store. Often these workshops are done in conjunction with events at the art gallery located next door, Porch Gallery. Past workshops have included macramé, terrarium design, staghorn fern arranging and silk dyeing.
ModernFolkLiving is located at 306-B E. Matilija St. Click here for more information, or call 805.640.0678.
— Noozhawk contributing writer Hilary Doubleday can be reached at hdoubleday@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.