We dropped by the new Room & Board Design Studio over the weekend to gaze longingly at lamps, couches, comfy chairs, pillows, and a mountain of kitchen and bathroom furnishings, with store manager Carter White. The new location in Old Pasadena is a “satellite” of the 40-year old Minnesota-based retailer’s Culver City store.
The 5,400 square-foot retail Design Studio opened on October 10 at 42 De Lacey Street in Old Town Pasadena. The new concept for Room & Board, is focused on free design services, artisan-crafted home decor and select furniture items.
“Room & Board has had a presence in Southern California for the past 11 years and we’re excited to have this new Design Studio dedicated to high touch service for Pasadena and beyond. We love the wide-range of architectural home styles in this part of California and are looking forward to getting to know people in the area,” said Heather Neubauer, retail market manager for Los Angeles.
Think of it as an Apple Store for home furnishings and design. Sort of.
White walked us through the new store, and explained some of the things the unique store does, noting along the way that there are six full-time designers at the store available to do your design bidding.
“We do floor planning,” she said. “We give customers design advice. We also have a lot of boutique and one-off items that we don’t have in our other stores. It’s a boutique, but it’s also a design studio.”
Got a new place? Old place? Someplace you’re tired of looking at? The process goes like this:
“When you come in,” White began, “we ask that you bring in your measurements, photos, and floor plans, if you have them, and we’ll put it up on the computer, and we will give you suggestions, mood boards, floor plans, and talk about your needs, what you want, what you like, and then work with you to make that happen.
White also noted that the store “is filled with places where people can sit and talk and think about that stuff.”
She noted, walking along a rainbow-hued row of sofa materials, that, “We have all the leathers, the fabrics, and we have samples of everything.” And nearly 95% of the fabrics and materials are American-made, said White.
“You might say, ‘I want that sofa, but I want this material. We can do that for all. Everything is very customizable.”
There are also small rugs throughout the store and larger ones that can be ordered. The tightly organized avalanche of furnishing also features tables of all shapes and sizes, along with outdoor furniture and outdoor rugs.
Maybe just think of the store as your home’s blank canvas?
As White said, happily, “We can do your whole house or we can do one piece.”
Room & Board Pasadena Design Studio is at 42 S. De Lacey Avenue, Pasadena. For more call (626) 316-1500 or visit www.roomandboard.com.
