Illustration by Julia Minamata
When it comes to design ideas, the Internet can be an inspiring source. Especially, says St. Louis interior designer Jacob Laws, for the obsessive-compulsive. One or two key taps, and the world opens up, ideas flood in.
“There’s so much out there now,” Laws says, referring to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. “They’re fantastic resources for anyone looking to beautify the home.”
Laws says he has a go-to list of sites, and some are St. Louis stores. One of them is the 16,000-square-foot Suttonwood Interiors & Antiques, on Gravois.
“It’s a great little shop of antique and contemporary artifacts from the Far East,” he says. (Tibetan cabinets, armoires, Foo dogs, ginger jars…) The Suttonwood website is impressive in its range of products and is an excellent hub for ideas.
The owner goes on buying trips three or four times a year. “Consequently, I check back obsessively,” Laws says.
KDR Designer Showrooms is another store Laws likes. “Designer products for the decorating do-it-yourselfer,” the website says. There’s no shopping cart to fill, but you can browse more than 150 home furnishing brands, then visit the showroomto feel the wares.
The beauty of websites, says Laws, is that the public can now sneak a peek into the trade world. In this way, he says, websites have become windows onto possibility. Maplewood’s Design & Detail, for instance, is a showroom and marketplace open to designers only, but its website offers a look behind the scenes. Design & Detail also has an excellent online archive of newsletters that contain interesting bits of product news.
Rocket Century launched in 2010 as an online-only shop. There’s now a walk-in store on South Grand, but Rocket Century maintains a solid online presence in its “Boutique Window,” where an extensive selection of Midcentury Modern furniture, lighting, art, and housewares can be ordered over the phone and billed by means of PayPal. Sign up for email alerts to special discounts, sales, and events. See a mod vintage faux-fur Scandi armchair but aren’t entirely sure it will go with your Louis XIV damask? Get the advice of a friend by pinning the item or liking it on Facebook.
A store with a similar feel is MoModerne, on Watson Road in Crestwood. Its furniture and accessories are all viewable and available for purchase at 1stdibs.com. The store will ship “anything anywhere” and will provide a quote once the staff knows the buyer’s location.
“1stdibs is my No. 1 site,” says Laws of this luxe online marketplace that connects dealers, shops, and galleries to collectors all over the world.
Design Within Reach used to have a showroom in the Central West End. Now the closest branch is Chicago, but the online store offers a wealth of goods at the touch of a screen. Shop the sale for big discounts, peruse new collections, and enjoy free shipping on all lighting orders.
As for Pinterest, Laws thinks it’s a wonderful tool. Not only is it a superb source for ideas, but also many of his clients make their own private boards and share them with him. In this way, he says, they become as obsessed as he is: “They are up until 2 a.m. looking at this stuff.”
Laws, meanwhile, has had some success with Etsy, where the search for items can be narrowed to the St. Louis area. He sounds especially pleased with a couple of purchases: a gilt wheat sheaf table and four leather barrel-back chairs with Sputnik legs. “They came originally from a Playboy
Club,” he says. “They don’t have bunny ears, but I like them.”
Laws is dizzied by the impact of the World Wide Web on his profession.
“The design world has exploded,” he says, “and you can’t stop the momentum.”
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Find smooth supermod concepts from this award-winning online design magazine. Content is updated daily, Monday through Friday.
