Feb 16, 2009

Edited chic: Living with fewer things, greater styleBy Barbara ThornburgChicagoTribune.com

Laguna Beach, Calif.—For Trey Russell, “less is more” is not just a Modernist creed but a way of life. In his boutique, Aris, and his second-story garden apartment behind the shop, there is a pared-down yet luxurious aesthetic on display.

Art books in home and store sit in low, color-coordinated stacks. A row of dark wood boxes in graduated sizes—think Russian nesting dolls—hides the clutter of DVDs, playing cards and remote controls. Objets d’art are deftly juxtaposed: a Nymphenburg porcelain rhinoceros and a grouping of black jacketless books; an Anne Ricketts sculpture of a bronze hand and a slender hourglass.

“Whether you’re displaying merchandise in a store or objects in your home, it’s important to give each object breathing room,” Russell says. “In a small space, you want everything to be important.”

For the engaging Russell, merchandising his gift store—a melange of home furnishings, high-end fashion, consignment clothing, jewelry, teas, chocolates and fresh flowers—is like putting together a big puzzle.

“Every day, I get deliveries of new merchandise,” he says. “I have to make it all fit in a small space and make it look attractive.”

Russell uses his 1,100-square-foot apartment overlooking the rooftops of north Laguna Beach as an extension of the store. It’s as minimalist and restrained as a Beverly Hills boutique. Lilac-gray and violet-slate walls create a perfect foil for his collection of well-edited furnishings, upholstered in a subtle palette of soothing alabaster, beige, gray and chocolate. Like his store, a stylish mix of affordable goods—Pottery Barn shelves, West Elm bookcases and Crate and Barrel chairs—keeps company with Christian Liaigre consoles and $3,000 Caleb Siemon art vases.

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