Paula Smail
Henry Road is a Los Angeles-based design studio and store. Its collection of textiles, designed by Paula Smail, are featured on bright pillows, tablecloths, bags, and whimsical lampshades. The fabric would make fantastic curtains! The boutique also carries an eclectic, fun collection of home goods and gifts. Open for only one year, the bright turquoise storefront lights up Studio City, and is a special place to find that perfect gift.
Paula has traveled extensively and has lived in London, Paris, New York, and South Africa, where she grew up on Henry Street. A self-taught designer, she has been a waitress, an au pair, and a publicist. She has also sailed the high seas of the Caribbean as crew on a yacht and earned her business credentials as a corporate executive.
Her design aesthetic of bold color and charming patterns was influenced by the famed Finnish Marimekko designs, women wrapped in swathes of stunning African cloth, the work of artist Mark Rothko, and his contemporaries. Paula’s style is a happily eclectic mix of color, eras and ethnicities fueled by a life spent rearranging furniture, scouring flea markets around the world and reading piles of design magazines. Her designs appear regularly in publications from Elle Décor and Bon Appetit to Blueprint and O Magazine.
Your favorite place in LA to have a cocktail?
I like the intimacy of the Whisky Bar at the Sunset Marquis Hotel in the early evening before the crush.
Your favorite LA place for bargain shopping?
Pasadena Community College Flea Market on first Sunday of the month.
You could change one thing about LA - what would it be?
15 degrees cooler in the Valley during the summer.
You’ve always wanted to go to this LA spot – but just haven’t made it there yet?
I have friends who rave about Mozza (both the Osteria and the Pizzeria). I know I will get there eventually...
Your favorite LA extravagance?
Iced coffee nearly every morning from The Coffee Bean. Anything at the Hollywood Bowl.
Your favorite neighborhood haunt?
The newsagent on Hancock Ave (just off Santa Monica Blvd) in West Hollywood -- can't do without a regular design magazine fix and they carry a good selection from around the world.
Your favorite local getaway?
A couple of hours on Huntington Dog Beach make me feel as though I have been on vacation for a week.
Your favorite place for cheap eats?
Any farmers market. The Studio City and Hollywood markets are my favorites.
You always take out of town guests to this spot?
I love taking people hiking in Runyon Canyon, Fryman Canyon or Griffith Park -- they are small, unexpected havens in a big city. Other regular stops that I love are the Getty Center, Huntington Gardens, Malibu Country Mart, and window shopping on Rodeo Drive at night.
You're most connected to this charity or your last volunteer experience?
Chiva-Africa – I’m so proud of my friend Karyn, who started an organization to provide training and mentoring to healthcare professionals who work with children with HIV in KwaZulu, South Africa. (
http://chiva-africa.org/home)
