YOUR PLACE THE WAY THEY USED TO PLAY HOUSE OF DESIGN'S SUITE SPACE FIRES UP KIDS' CREATIVITY.Byline: Patricia McFall Correspondent At the Pasadena Showcase House, which opens to visitors Sunday, Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. designer Sari Ehrenreich has banished most of the accouterments ac·cou·ter·ment or ac·cou·tre·ment n. 1. An accessory item of equipment or dress. Often used in the plural. 2. Military equipment other than uniforms and weapons. Often used in the plural. 3. modern children are supposed to crave from the kids' suite. There are no video games See video game console. , no television, no computer - in fact, no electronics. She calls it the ``Children's Theater of the Arts,'' and believes that kids will want to play there because, unlike scheduled and controlled activities it's all do-it-yourself. Want a show? Here are a stage and costumes. Want to play music? Here are instruments. Want to create something beautiful? Here's paint and canvas. Ehrenreich is serious in wanting to change the way kids play, calling on them to generate fun from their imaginations. She also wants to create spaces that are conducive con·du·cive adj. Tending to cause or bring about; contributive: working conditions not conducive to productivity. See Synonyms at favorable. to quality family time. ``Overscheduling parents work so hard to provide everything for their kids,'' said Ehrenreich, ``yet they spend almost no personal time with them. We're losing family time, the time to sit on Grandma's lap, hear stories and look at family pictures.'' She sees decorating as an extension of family life, in that some environments are inviting and cozy See COSE. , while others discourage interaction. Design choices are about more than just having pretty things The Pretty Things were a 1960s and 1970s rock and roll band from London. They pioneered a raw approach to rhythm and blues that influenced a number of key bands of the 1960s British invasion, particularly The Rolling Stones. put together well, and increasingly she works with clients as a lifestyle planner so they can ``live better in their homes.'' Ehrenreich's suite in the design house includes not only a small raised stage with a curtain, but also an Old World dressing room with many kinds of costumes and props, as well as work and performance areas for other arts and crafts arts and crafts, term for that general field of applied design in which hand fabrication is dominant. The term was coined in England in the late 19th cent. as a label for the then-current movement directed toward the revivifying of the decorative arts. . ``It's not a juvenile place,'' she emphasized. ``It's a formal, elegant, fantasy-filled place.'' In her view, too many parents choose ugly furnishings furnishings the extra type or quantity of hair on the head, tail, ears or legs, specified for a particular breed. For example, the feathers in setters, the beard in Bearded collies, the eyebrows in Schnauzers. from chain stores because they believe kids will destroy them. She points out that many attractive materials, including those used in the design room, can be cleaned easily. Some special features include having custom embroidery embroidery, ornamental needlework applied to all varieties of fabrics and worked with many sorts of thread—linen, cotton, wool, silk, gold, and even hair. Decorative objects, such as shells, feathers, beads, and jewels, are often sewn to the embroidered piece. done for the theater. Pairs of objects, such as the settees, lamps and lampshades in the dressing room, provide subliminal subliminal /sub·lim·i·nal/ (-lim´i-n'l) below the threshold of sensation or conscious awareness. sub·lim·i·nal adj. 1. Below the threshold of conscious perception. Used of stimuli. order for kids. ``My definition of success in a room is establishing a feeling. Individual items are less important than creating a mood. I want people being drawn in to a feeling.'' Even families who can't afford a suite for their kids can take some tips from Ehrenreich's approach to design, making the right setting for family that will lure kids away from electronics, foster creativity and encourage warmth. She tells parents, ``Never wait for kids to grow up before making your home beautiful, and don't wait for company to make it nice. Do it for your family.'' 2006 PASADENA SHOWCASE HOUSE OF DESIGN Where: Located in the estate area near Huntington Library. Parking and shuttle service at the Rose Bowl, 1001 Rose Bowl Drive, Pasadena. When: Showcase House opens Sunday. Hours are 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday; 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Through May 21. Tickets: $25 to $30 in advance. (714) 442-3872. www.pasadenashowcase.org. For more information: Call (626) 229-0840. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Get some decorating tips at the 2006 Pasadena Showcase House of Design, open for tours Sunday through May 21. (2 -- 3 -- color) Sari Ehrenreich's design for the children's suite, above, emphasizes creative play. Below, a colorful lamp adds interest to the costume-changing area. Walt Mancini/Staff Photographer |
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