Home & Garden

At Les Arts Decoratifs in Paris, the summer crowds have gravitated to the Hussein Chalayan show and the exhibition of highlights from Ralph Lauren’s car collection. I was glad to see both on a recent trip, but I was also lucky to spot a sign for another, less-heralded exhibition at the museum. “Plastique Ludique” (“Playful Plastic”), which runs until Nov. 6, presents the work of the Czech toy designer Libuse Niklova (1934-1981), whose work with plastics, particularly in the 1960s and ’70s, changed the look – and the nature – of toys in her native country. Niklova believed that children should be able to play as creatively as possible, and the development of plastics after World War II offered a helpful tool. Her inflatable buffalo, giraffe and elephant, with their simplified, graphic silhouettes and bright, pop colors, could be used as chairs or pool toys for small children. (The three have been reissued in limited numbers and are for sale at the museum’s shop.) And Niklova’s ingenious use of pleated plastic piping produced animals with accordion-like midsections that squealed when squeezed. In contrast to the Chalayan and Lauren exhibitions, which are about the more expensive pleasures of the material world, “Plastique Ludique” offers a surprising, refreshing look at a more modest – yet no less inventive – endeavor.

^Spain’s housing market is reeling from the dual blows of the global financial crisis and the euro-zone debt crunch.

Home and garden events are listed below. Suggest your own via reader comments. Submissions must be fewer than 75 words and must be for one-time events with legitimate value to other readers. No store promotions and no frivolous links, please. L.A. at Home staff will determine which submissions will be made public.

Aug. 10: The Los Angeles Conservancy hosts a walking tour of City Hall, built in 1928. The tour includes a visit to the tower observation deck, subject to availability. Tours start at 5:30 p.m. and last about two hours. Tours are $5 for Los Angeles Conservancy members and children 12 and under; $10 for the general public. Reservations required: www.laconservancy.org.

Aug. 11: Mandala performs with Descanso Gardens’ summer Jazz Evenings. 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursdays through Aug. 25. Included in garden admission of $3 to $8. 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. (818) 949-4200.

Aug. 11: Alice Stiles talks about how to use plant groupings, found objects and other elements in the garden. Free. 2:30 p.m. Friends’ Hall, Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. No reservations needed. (626) 405-2100.

Aug. 13: Flower arranging: Flower Duet class focuses on colorful tropical blooms and traditional cut flowers. 10 a.m. to noon. Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino. $80-$90. Registration: (626) 405-2128.

Aug. 13: Companion planting: Rose expert Amanda Everett discusses plant selection, including companion planting for beauty, pest control, birds, butterflies and more. 10 a.m. $15, members only. Descanso Gardens, 1418 Descanso Drive, La Cañada Flintridge. Advance registration required. (818) 949-4200.

Aug. 13: The annual cactus show sponsored by the Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Gabriel Valley Cactus and Succulent Societies features hundreds of exotic plants. 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 13 and 14. Included in regular admission of $3 to $8. Ayres Hall, Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, 301 N. Baldwin Ave, Arcadia. (626) 821-3222.

Aug. 13: Horticulturist Lili Singer discusses the basics of gardening with California flora: the definition of a native plant, why natives are valuable, about plant communities, plus planting techniques, establishment, irrigation, pruning and ongoing maintenance. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Theodore Payne Foundation for Wildflowers & Native Plants, 10459 Tuxford St., Sun Valley. $40 to $50. (818) 768-1802.

ONGOING

Craft shows: “Ann Weber: Love and Other Audacities” is an exhibition of cardboard sculptures made with a stapler, box cutter and shellac. “Jennifer Angus: All Creatures Great and Small” is a wallpaper-like installation featuring about 3,500 brightly colored insects pinned to the wall. $5 to $7. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, noon to 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Ends Sept. 11. Craft and Folk Art Museum, 5814 Wilshire Blvd., L.A. (323) 937-4230.

Frederick Fisher: The architect has created a site-specific installation featuring literal and metaphorical ruins. Free. Otis Ben Maltz Gallery, first floor, Bronya and Andy Galef Center for Fine Arts, 9045 Lincoln Blvd., Los Angeles. Ends Sept. 1. (310) 665-6905; www.otis.edu (click on “public programs”).

- Lisa Boone

Photo credit: Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times

Please send announcements at least three weeks in advance to home@latimes.com or Home section, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, Ca 90012.


^A 1904 house in Richmond, Va.; a house on the Manatee River in Bradenton, Fla.; a cabin with a guest house on a Maine island.

For many, Fran Drescher is either laugh-out-loud funny or nails-on-a-chalkboard distracting. Love her or not, Drescher’s new TV Land sitcom “Happily Divorced,” about a Los Angeles florist who lives in a Hancock Park home with her gay husband even after he comes out of the closet, is a solid hit. The season finale airs Aug. 17, and the show has been renewed for a second season.

Set decorator Debra Lynn Combs explained the story behind one standout in the ex-couple’s living room: the sofa, above, which was reupholstered in a simple white fabric. “White tends to ‘bloom’ on digital television and become an amorphous glowing object,”  Combs said by email, explaining why she added a wide welt in a coral hue. “The piping grounds it to the earth.”

There’s another design take-away: The piping, Combs said, defines “the lovely feminine shape of the sofa.”

Pillows on the sofa below came from a variety of sources including Kathryn M. Ireland, Anthropologie and HD Buttercup.

Combs said the rest of the Mediterranean-style home is “postmodern California meets Castilian casual.”  Because the show, which airs new episodes on Wednesdays, is partly based on Drescher and her ex-husband, Peter Marc Jacobsen, “the furnishings reflect a collection of their personal experiences and tastes.” 

Working as a florist, Drescher’s character brings the outdoors in, using exterior furniture such as a glass-topped patio table in the dining room. Combs used sunny yellow, pink and coral textiles to add visual punch. The curtain fabric was purchased at F&S Fabrics in Los Angeles.

For an easy way to follow future installments of “Set Pieces,” join our Facebook page dedicated to home design.

– David A. Keeps

Photo credits: TV Land

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