After a year of living in a standalone apartment with vaulted ceilings in South Pasadena and nothing but a mirror and out-of-sync dining table to show for it, Melanie Tomanov had had enough.

As an attorney working on the Westside with a 10-year-old daughter, there wasn't much time left in her single-mother schedule for shopping at Mood fabrics or high-end furniture showrooms. And even if there was, she wouldn't know where to begin.

“I had a lot of ideas, but I had no idea how to execute them,” Tomanov said.

She also didn't have a massive budget. Continue reading >>

At the Brewery, a former brewing and bottling plant turned artist colony in Downtown L.A., countless international creatives have emerged, fashion designers regularly converge, and a penchant for invention thrives.

Perhaps it's no surprise then that the live/work community recently birthed Lumi Co., a new printing technology penetrating eco-conscious furniture design. Nascent designers Jesse Genet, 23, and her partner Stephan Angoulvant, 25, are the engineers behind what they call the “Lumi Process.” With their newly developed technology, the Art Center College of Design students are able to print vivid, photo-realistic images on natural materials such as denim, wood and raw leather without any chemical treatment or processing. What makes this remarkable is this direct printing method was previously thought to be impossible in the design world. Continue reading >>

We saw styles that were dated, frumpy and just plain ugly. We sat upon the lumpy, the squishy and the hard-as-rock. The quest? To find the ultimate low-cost couch.

In the end, we came upon one simple truth: You get what you pay for. The trade-off for “Mad Men” good looks might be a lower level of comfort or do-it-yourself assembly.

The five sofas after the jump represent the best values we found on a thrifty budget of $600.

Newsworthy wallpaper is made from strips of newspaper that have been hand-loomed with nylon thread.

Carrying a pup in a Louis Vuitton pet carrier? It's as dated as the Paris Hilton phenomenon. In this new era of organic vegetable gardens and streamlined minimalism, dogs -- and by extension, their owners -- would look ridiculous in a fluffy pink sweater. We still want to go all out for our pets, but the approach has changed to better match our morphing lifestyle. Of course, there's the new Facebook-style Hipster Puppies site www.hipsterpuppies.tumblr.com for looking at photos of shaggy dogs wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses and Chihuahuas in hoodies. Another indicator falls in the realm of home decor.

Urban Pet Haus' "Sunk Pet Dwelling" could pass as a side table thanks to good looks that pair natural wood with silver tubing. The company's goal: "To match your pet's living and sleeping needs with your own modern decor." The Arizona-based company  is also developing a line of chic crates that could double as bedside tables; stairs that are miniature versions of what you'd find in a modern home; and sleek pet beds that'll surely be mistaken for ottomans. The "Sunk" house is available for $274.99  at www.urbanpethaus.com. Select products such  as pet stairs are also available locally at shops  Pussy & Pooch and the Urban Pet.

--Alexandra Le Tellier

Photos: courtesy Urban Pet Haus

Designed by Ronan & Erwan Bouroullec for Vitra, the Self Shelf gets its name from the concept that owners can customize and assemble the piece themselves. The shelves are grooved, allowing polycarbonate sheets in nine colors to be placed in a variety of positions as back panels or as sectional dividers.

$1,225, basic modular set (two shelf panels and nine dividers); $3,760, as shown here;  www.vitra.com

-- David A. Keeps

Photo: Hans Hansen/Vitra

Would you use a beauty product that contained snail serum or whale vomit? What about washing your hair with shampoo made with bull sperm or placenta? Are you willing to brave a little slime if it means a thick, shiny mane, or would you rather stick with your tried and true hair products? Lather up and tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Want an eco-friendly way to celebrate this holiday season? Then this should be right up your chimney. Scott Martin, the founder of The Living Christmas Company in Redondo Beach rents living Christmas trees to environmentally conscious Angelenos. Martin, a landscape architect, came up with the idea while volunteering to deliver Christmas trees and seeing how happy it made the recipients. Martin was also concerned about the amount of trees being thrown into landfills.

When the holiday is over, Martin will take the potted tree off your hands and then tend it throughout the following year for use during the next Christmas season. We're told that some of the trees have a bit of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" look to them, but this adds extra personality as far as we're concerned.

Orders for the living trees are placed online and Martin's bio-diesel truck will deliver one straight to your door and pick it up after the holidays are over.

--Richard Metzger

Photo: Scott Martin; Courtesy of The Living Christmas Company