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Photo: Frank Di Piazza |
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At twigs & MOSS, the concept is simplicity done well.
"Most of what we do are custom arrangements," says Resito Pecson, the store's owner. "But we use botanicals that people aren't familiar with, so at first glance, it doesn't look artificial. It's hard to do a good artificial rose, but artificial chestnut pods? No one knows what a chestnut pod looks like." Nor are they all that well acquainted with 5-foot-tall cotton stems, olive branches or salt cedar — all found here.
Located at Clayton and Hanley, Mr. Pecson and his assistant, Nicholas Allen, sell elements such as flowers, wood, chrome and glass, all artfully arranged in an uncluttered way.
"We like to keep it simple — find a component you like and work with it," Mr. Pecson says.
Since opening in 2002, twigs & MOSS has attracted plenty of regulars. Garrison Salinas, of Columbus Design, uses Mr. Pecson's custom designs in both residential and commercial projects. "Of all the floral designers, Resito creates portable, compact, very authentic gardens," he says. "They're architecturally sensitive, too. When Resito comes in, he's actually building it to scale. It's a fingerprint design."
Prices of items for sale in the store range from $5 (for a tea light shaped like a lotus blossom) to $5,000 (for an 8-foot hall mirror). Not far away stands a collection of mirrors greened to look like old copper and priced at $95 apiece. The store is packed with stylish accessories and unique gifts — like the $55 decoupaged plates with pithy quotes of all sorts created by 27-year-old designer Ben Busko.
"We have a lot of reclaimed stuff," Mr. Pecson says, nodding upward to the chandelier made of wood and pointing to a planter made of reclaimed pine. But some of the store's best sellers are its spheres — covered in all varieties of artificial greenery. "You've got a vase and it's empty," Mr. Pecson says. Then he picks up a sphere and walks over to an empty urn to demonstrate. "So you put in a sphere and — it's done."
Work created at twigs & MOSS has been featured on the Clayton House Tour and at both the Ritz-Carlton and Neiman Marcus, but Mr. Pecson's collections speak louder than he does. "We don't like to talk about ourselves," he says frankly. "We're just a store."
