Heath House Numbers

Back in December, I was kicking around Heath Ceramics on Beverly and my heart skipped a beat. There in the back corner was a crate full of prototypes for Heath Ceramic House Numbers—in both Neutra and Eames number fonts (below photo via heathceramics.com):

I dug and I dug until I found our house numbers, snatching up the very last numero “2.” And then I wrapped up the tiles and put them under the Christmas tree for my husband. We are Heath fanatics, and I think I’ve mentioned before that our dishes inspired much of the color palette for the rest of the house—inside and out:

When he unwrapped the numbers on Christmas Eve, we didn’t know when we would be restuccoing our house but we were both seriously excited about putting these up when we did. And finally, just last week, we finished the stucco and the new trim. But best of all, we mounted the new numbers right into the stucco. Take a look at what they replaced:

The numbers, which are a collaboration between Heath Ceramics and House Industries, will be available for sale starting June 1 at Heath Ceramics. Here’s a look at the Eames as well (via heathceramics.com):

Ask the Foodinista: Holiday Shopping

Dear Foodinista,

Please bestow upon us your great wisdom…what the hell are you buying for all those little holiday gifts this season seems to suddenly require? The babysitter who only comes five times a year and the housekeeper and the twelve teachers at preschool? Gift cards always seem so crass, and I am stumped for something I can actually afford, that they will actually enjoy.

Signed, Venice Beach

Dear Venice Beach,

Your email arrived at a perfect time. I’ve been putting together some gift ideas for the holidays, which I will start to roll out this Monday. But let’s start today with a few ideas that won’t break the bank. If you run in foodie crowds, and I know you do, look no further for the perfect holiday gift: Rancho Gordo Heirloom Beans. The packaging is gorgeous—just wrap with a little rafia bow—and these heirloom beans are sure to make any cook simply giddy. And at $5 a bag, the price is right.

If you need to step it up a little, I’d hightail it over to Heath Ceramics on Beverly today or tomorrow as everything in the ENTIRE store is 20% off. Like these beautiful bud vases, $25 (less 20%). They come in any number of gorgeous Heath glazes. There were also charming tea towels, wooden servers and Weck jars (below). I stocked up on a bunch this morning, because it’s always important to remember yourself when shopping for others.

For the babysitters, teachers and others who make daily life all the more sweet, I’ll be heading to Valerie Confections. Valerie’s four-piece chocolate box ($13) is every bit as delicious as it is pretty. Or if chocolate isn’t their thing, check out this sweet little box of four petits fours. If Valerie or Stan is behind the counter, be sure to tell them the Foodinista said hello. And that she is cooking up her next excuse for ordering one of Valerie’s ludicrously divine rose petal cakes.

Vintage Heath

This post is so long overdue, it’s embarrassing. Earlier this spring, my in-laws were visiting from the East Coast. For Mother’s Day, my husband picked out a beautiful trio of Heath Ceramics bud vases in a chartreuse, aqua blue and natural for my mother-in-law to go in her “Florida room” at their home in Gulf Stream. We are nuts for Heath over here and based the entire color scheme for our home on my favorite Heath glaze, French Grey. My mother-in-law mentioned a few pieces of Heath she’d picked up several decades ago at a thrift shop that were more in our kitchen’s color scheme than hers. The next week, I opened a package from my mother-in-law containing this vintage pitcher, creamer and sugar set in a long-retired glaze that is heaven. I love the faintly mottled look of it, and the bright turquoise interior. Oh, and that we own a little piece of American history from this beloved Sausalito company.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I’ll post more later on last night’s raucous ramen affair, at the center of which was this beautiful arrangement in a red vase from Heath Ceramics. Mr Foodinista surprised me with this yesterday afternoon. I am in love. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Appetite for Design

Square plates are kinda 80s, I know, but I couldn’t resist these 6-inch-square plates from Heath Ceramics to use for hors d’oeuvres. Usually when friends come over for dinner, Mr. Foodinista jumps on the opportunity to get a round of his favorite gooey Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk Cheese, as well as some thinly sliced Fra Mani Toscano salami—fare that requires more than a paper cocktail napkin to handle. For years, I’ve been using some frumpy old Williams Sonoma hors d’oeuvres plates featuring French confiture labels that were a gift many lunes ago, but talk about 80s. (I’m hanging onto them though because it won’t be too long until they’re ironic.) As always, it’s the Heath glazes that make their pieces seem timeless. And I love mixing up the colors—I got a couple each of aqua, linen, matte brown and ruby red to complement our Heath dinnerware, which is French Grey.

Tea Off with a Birdie

I’ve always loved this Alessi tea kettle with the blue handle and a little red bird whistle, so was tickled to open a package from my parents containing one for my birthday. The bird looks great on top of our Wolf range, which has dark red knobs and the blue handle speaks to some of the light blue accent pieces of Heath Ceramics in our otherwise french gray kitchen.

Kitchen Confidential

A few of you have emailed asking about our kitchen tile backsplash, which is honestly my absolute favorite part of the design! It’s Heath Ceramics from Sausalito (one of the few remaining mid-century American pottery companies still running today). Incidentally, check out the new Heath store on Beverly, inside which my friend Adam Silverman also has a very cool pottery studio.

Even though it looks like there are several different shades of tile, it’s all the same glaze and just varies in warmth because it’s hand glazed! Our tile color is “greystone” and it is the same glaze as our dishes, also Heath, which are French Grey. Our dishes inspired the color palette for the kitchen, from the paint on the walls to the marble countertops (some are white with a brown vein, while the island is brown with a white vein). The design is the GENIUS of Mick de Giulio, who also is responsible for designing the SieMatic Beaux Arts Cabinets in here (and that groovy pot rack, and the plate rack) and consults for SubZero/Wolf. Mick started with a piece of the Heath tile and one of our dishes and went from there. I think the tile helps bridge some of the mid-century items in the kitchen, like the tables and chairs, with some of the more traditional elements, like the lines of the cabinets. The design nerd in me likes to think the binary pendant lamp, round kitchen table and sphere in the photograph on the wall behind the lamp are all having a conversation. Yeah, I know.

Since de Giulio Kitchen Design is based in Chicago, Mick did all of this sight unseen. Per his request I sent him some snaps of favorite architectural elements from around our house, which was built in 1921, so that the kitchen would feel like it belonged. One of my favorite recurring themes in our house is arches. Check out the arched entry window and front door, built-in book cases and cabinets in the living and dining rooms (not to mention Tiny G’s new Radio Flyer wagon boxed up by the door!):

In a nod to these elements, Mick added this totally great spice “rack” built into the wall:

And then I love this hit of copper for warmth in this deep undermount sink from Franke. In fact, it’s not copper, but copper-hued titanium so very durable and won’t patina. Seriously, this sink is awesome for washing huge pots and pans.

Thank you, Mick! The kitchen is hands-down our favorite room in the house, and where we spend most of our very best times.

This Bud’s for You

Here are a few of my favorite things: Heath Ceramics bud vases and lavender from our garden. Sometimes I’ll put sprigs of rosemary or sage in them instead. I love how the simplicity of freshly picked herbs complement the clean lines of these vases.

Triveting News

My biggest regret about our lovely marble countertops is not the chip my husband innocently took out of one while putting a beer bottle in the recycle bin or the acid from the lime juice I spilled while making margaritas that ended up eating the surface and leaving white blotches, but the fact that you can’t put hot pans down on it like you can with granite. My quick fix is this awesome Japanese wood trivet that I got yesterday for $10 at OK on Third Street. It’s so tactile. I love it! 

For those who aren’t familiar with OK, it is without doubt one of the most smartly edited stores in L.A., with everything from exquisitely etched sake glasses (one of my absolute favorite wedding gifts, from my friend Lizzie), Heath Ceramics, and groovy placemats to Anne Ricketts bronze sculptures, Max Bill clocks, recycled gold wedding bands and chic little Comme des Garçons wallets. The best news is that they recently launched an online store: okthestore.com. Happy surfing!