Garde, a shop on Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles that specializes in home furnishings and personal accessories, is as elegant as Scotti Sitz, its proprietor. When Sitz, a native Angeleno, moved back home after working in New York for many years (at fashion houses that included Calvin Klein and Giorgio Armani), she and her friends were frustrated that they couldn’t find a place to buy the perfect gift. Sitz took matters into her own hands and opened Garde in March.
Taking over a former electronics repair shop and stripping it down to its bones, Sitz created a light, airy space that she has filled with items by designers both American and international. “This is a good time for newness in architecture and design,” she says. “I’ve met most of the designers whose work I carry in the shop, and connecting with them and hearing the stories behind their work has given me a renewed passion for design.” Shoppers will find a variety of wares not available elsewhere in the city, including scented candles by Mad et Len of Marseille, strings of quirky ceramic “jingle” bells by Michele Quan, crisply comfortable “throw beds” by L.A.’s Hedgehouse, hand-blown glass pieces by Felicia Ferrone and Lindsey Adelman Studio, and ticking-striped pillows and quilts by Tine K of Denmark. Sitz calls her vision for Garde “modern natural,” and both the goods on offer and the elegant space she’s designed live up to that description. “The shop’s name is a play on both ‘en garde’ and ‘avant garde,’” Sitz explains. “Eventually it would be fun to do Garde Dog — so the name’s got legs.”
Garde is in good company on Beverly Boulevard, sharing the block with the wallpaper purveyor Walnut, Brenda Antin’s vintage home furnishings emporium and Jonathan Wright and Company, a specialty stationery store. It joins Heath Ceramics to the west and the relative newcomers NK Shop and ST&NDARD GOODS (the subject of the next Seeing Things column) to the east, making the stretch of Beverly between LaBrea and Fairfax Avenues L.A.’s new go-to spot for design-savvy shoppers.
Brands that our editor pick in order to put your house more comfortable:
