Current Obsessions: LA on Our Minds

This week we are reminded that home is not just a structure but a collection of memories, a connection to what we love, a safe space to retreat to, where years of planning and life savings take the tangible form of walls and floors and rooms. Our hearts are in California and with all who have lost their houses, belongings, and loved ones. If you are able, the LA Times has a list of ways to help; here are a few more, spotted via friends:

• Airbnb is offering free stays to those displaced by the fires; if you’re in the area and have a spare room, you can sign up here to host.
• Shoppe Amber Interiors’s Pacific Palisades was lost perished in the fires this week. Its founder, Amber Lewis, has gathered a great list of local places that are accepting material donations for those affected.
• Garde is donating a percentage of proceeds to organizations helping with relief efforts all month long.
• Alder & Co. in upstate NY is collecting clothes this weekend to send to LA; info here.
• If you’re in LA and in need, Rudy Jude is bundling sample and past-season clothes for those who need it. Info via @rudyjudeco Instagram Stories.
• April Valencia is also organizing a clothing and bedding drive (clothes for babies, kids, and adults; towels and sheets; suitcases and bags; clothing gift cards; and more). To contribute, check @april_valencia‘s Instagram Stories.
• For those outside LA, WildLather is collecting clothes and “anything useful or that brings comfort” for those affected; DM @wildlather for mailing address.

To all our LA readers and design community, take care. If you’re in need of a bright spot, read on:

• Hands down, the most beautiful stone steps we’ve ever seen.
• The annual Winter Lecture Series at the NYBG starts this month. Ready, set, register.
• For those who are bonkers for birding, this feeder takes the pastime to a whole new level.
• Women-owned, Lisbon-based A Vida Portuguesa pops up at MoMA Design Store. (See also: Margot’s Armchair Souvenir Shopping.)
• Something to make doing laundry just a little more enjoyable? Three good-looking drying racks, courtesy of Steele Canvas x Pennsylvania Woodworks.
• CB2’s Design Legends sale celebrates iconic makers, now through January 15.
• This week in New York, Forom takes over a vacant showroom with the exhibit “Aire De Jeux” (French for “playground”). Pop by.
• Breaking news: a favorite maker of fixtures is opening a showroom in London.
• For those looking to move slower in the new year, a clock “that renders time as a subtle suggestion behind frosted glass.”
• McGee & Co.’s Bedroom Event is on through January 20, with 25 percent off select bedding, bath, lighting, rugs, and mirrors.
• If looking at tidy, compact kitchens is your thing (we get it!), be sure to check out 10 Tiny NYC Kitchens from the Archives over on Remodelista.
• Newly noted—and admired—all over: wool blankets and throws in cheerfully bold abstract patterns.
• Charming quirks and English sensibility in a small, serene NYC flat.