Retail Therapy: Atomic Garden

We all know that shopping "green" is a good thing -- but that doesn’t mean it’s always a fun thing. Happily, doing your part isn’t a chore at Atomic Garden, the brand-new green boutique in Oakland’s Rockridge neighborhood, where practically everything is sustainable, recycled, salvaged, organic, or handmade.

Business partners Jamie Kidson (a clothing designer who co-owns the Berkeley and South Park Jeremy’s shops as well) and Adrienne Armstrong (the wife of Green Day frontman Billie Joe and owner of the Adeline Street clothing company and Adeline Records music label) have created a gift, home goods, and clothing store that’s as pretty and fresh as it is eco-friendly and community minded.

The walls and floors are glazed bright white and the airy, high-ceilinged space is outfitted with beautiful reclaimed-wood shelves and display stands salvaged from the family farm of the carpenter who constructed them. Indeed, the most striking thing about the shop’s well-edited selection of ecological and socially conscious goods isn’t how virtuous it all is -- but just how lovely, and how hard it is to leave without taking all of it home with you. This is conscientious consumerism that doesn’t bludgeon you with its own righteousness.

“We try not to shout about the fact that we’re 'green,'" Kidson says. "We hope people will buy things here because they truly love them -- and if they also happen to have a positive impact on the environment and the community, all the better.” And while sustainable goods often come with price tags that can seem like a cruel joke to anyone on a budget, most everything at Atomic Garden is reasonably priced and much of it is downright affordable.

Among the items artfully displayed throughout the shop:

Sweetly simple art and textiles from Alena Hennessy ($20 and up) and handmade organic soaps, salves, and other potions redolent of fragrant botanicals and zesty citrus ($5.50 and up) from companies like Filthy Farmgirl and Farmaesthetics

Linen notebooks and pillows from Paper Cloud ($38 and $68) and cloth-covered journals made from vintage library books ($28) by Secret Leaves

Handscreened wall art from FluffyCo. ($35), Perch! ceramics, and recycled-glass bud vases by Couronne ($6)

Beeswax candles ($6 and up) from BeesWork, vessels made from repurposed beer bottles ($26) by the Green Glass Co., and brightly colored and surprisingly soft recycled plastic totes from Gypsystyle ($33)

Screenprinted hemp pillows from Emeryville’s Sharon Spain ($76)

Handmade letterpress cards ($2.50 and up) by the Paper Princess, Satsuma Press, Seraph, and others, more Alena Hennessy pillows, and hooked rugs ($179) from Be Sweet

Organic block-printed bedding from Les Indiennes ($65 to $582)

Winsome baby bedding by Pixel Organics ($59) and crocheted plushie by La Bête Handmade

Handmade, low-impact pottery from Perch! ($36 to $72)

Kidson and Armstrong will soon be adding items of their own design as well: blankets created from discarded cashmere sweaters, beeswax candles poured into vintage china cups, and organic cotton, fair-trade market bags ($19), gauze produce bags ($12), and 100-percent-recycled paper journals imprinted with the shop’s pretty bird-and-branch logo (using soy-based inks, of course).

What’s more, many of Atomic Garden’s wares are produced by women’s cooperatives around the world, who use the proceeds to better the lives of their members. There are sari-fabric pajamas ($28) from the International Princess Project, which works to help women and girls escape forced prostitution in India; sweet knitted critters (above, $23) from Kenana Knitters, a group of rural Kenyan women who spin the yarn on bicycle wheels and use their knitting skills to earn independent income; and bags and rugs from Be Sweet, which funds educational and job-creation programs for disadvantaged women in South Africa.

As Kidson says, "We want it to be a place that makes you feel good." That it does -- in more ways than one.

Atomic Garden is located at 5453 College Avenue in Oakland, and is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, and from noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

P.S. Click here for a "How To" on making a D.I.Y. snowflakes-and-oranges hanging like the beautiful one in Atomic Garden's front window.

Cool Stuff: Plastica

How did I manage to go this long before stumbling upon Plastica?

The Los Angeles boutique, along with its online store, features all kinds of things you never knew you wanted -- until you saw them, that is, and then just had to have them.

It's all silly but useful, happy and colorful, reasonably priced -- and much of it made out of (you guessed it) plastic.

My favorites:

Static Pillows, $52 each

Parkhaus Swallow Birds, $10 each

Expandable Flower Vases, $26 for two

Pappelina Liv Rugs, $120 and $155

Bento Boxes, $38 each

Marimekko Mugs, $17.50 each

Marimekko Tray, $21

Muistipeli Marimekko Matching Game, $23

Ludic Woollyhoodwinks, $30

Click here to check out the rest of Plastica's fun offerings.

Cool Stuff: Sarah Finn's Lasercut Designs

I just spotted this really lovely and intricate lasercut placemat at A+R, where it sells for $25. When I clicked through to find out more about it, I discovered that its creator, Sarah Finn, has a whole line of similarly delicate and beautiful lasercut wood products, which I immediately fell for as well.

Working in a converted farmhouse near the Alps, the German architect uses lasers to render highly detailed computer-generated patterns in maple, mahogany, and cherry veneers. The results are breathtaking and ethereal, but also have a sense of organic earthiness to them.

A selection of Finn's products (available in the U.S. through A+R):

Candle Holder, $56

Coasters, $40 for eight

"Coral" Coasters, $34 for four

Napkin Rings, $22 for six

Olion Table Light, $260

Find out more about the designer and her lovely lasercut creations here.

Retail Therapy: Mignonne

Oakland has its share of home-decor stores (though not nearly enough, IMHO). Until recently, though, they all seemed to be centered around College Avenue in Rockridge, with a smattering on Piedmont Avenue and in Montclair Village. But downtown Oakland -- and Old Oakland in particular -- was, for all of its stately historic architecture and hot new dining spots, lagging on the shopping front.


Enter Mignonne. Started last year by Francophiles (and mother-and-daughter team) Kimberlee and Johnelle Mancha, who make regular buying trips to France, the shop is part French flea market and part upscale gift bazaar, with just a dash of mod housewares store thrown in. (Johnelle and her fiance also own the uber-hip denim store Drift on nearby Washington Street.)



The offerings are eclectic -- and bountiful. Indeed, it's just the sort of jam-packed shop that has treasures waiting to be discovered around every corner. Even better, the prices range from bargain to quite reasonable, with a few splurge-worthy items mixed in for good measure.




Furnish-ings in-clude an antique, magenta-painted iron bed ($375), Depression-era metal garden chairs ($165 a pair), an upholstered-and-gilded Baroque armchair ($800), woven hampers from Bambou ($44), and modern colored acrylic stools and lamps from Kartell.





Linens and soft goods on display include gorgeous handprinted pillows from Erin Albin ($38 to $48), brightly colored throws from London's Designers Guild ($290), cheerful doormats from Kiss That Frog ($24), vintage French linen plus new artisan-produced tea towels, and dreamily soft PJs from Pine Cone Hill ($70).



Shelves and tables, as well as an enormous antique wall unit, are filled with an array of French toiletries that all smell delicious: Hand-milled soaps, creamy lotions, heady bath salts, and other intoxicating concoctions.



The store's aqua-sponged walls are punctuated with a revolving selection of paintings, prints, and linocuts from local artists such as Hannah Stouffer, Nicole Buffett, and Elise Morris, so you can pick up some original, locally produced art while you're there. Also offered are a selection of French posters, prints, and lithographs.




Continue perusing the pottery and glassware: During her most recent shopping expedition to France, Johnelle stocked up on vintage apertif and digestif glasses ($36 to $63 a set), which join a good selection of new and vintage pottery and glassware and papergoods, including rolls of gorgeous printed paper ($3.50 each, and as good for framing as for wrapping) and colorful printed placemats ($16 for a set of 25).


As Jonathan Adler would say, it's j'adorable.


Mignonne is open Tuesday to Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., and is located at 1000 Jefferson St., across from Lafayette Square in Old Oakland. Check out the Mignonne website here.

(Now, gotta do my bit for the Oakland Visitors Bureau: Continue the French -- actually, French-Vietnamese -- theme at Le Cheval around the corner from Mignonne, or visit the shop on a Friday before popping over to the nearby Old Oakland Farmers' Market at 9th and Clay or grabbing a quick bite from one of the food vendors at Swan's Marketplace. Finally, take a stroll through Preservation Park, with the Pardee Home Museum and other perfectly preserved turn-of-the-century structures.)