A fresh new interior store brings old and new to the Oil Center Gardens in a space that’s modernly minded.
Tucked in the Oil Center Gardens where visions of old Lafayette waft the boulevard like well-dressed ghosts appears an utterly modern mélange of old and new. Filled with modern antiques (that’s right, modern and antique) and an aesthetic that recalls the clean lines of New York sits Mixology.
“Mixology is the blend of everything,” says curator Johanna Villarreal. “Of contemporary with modern antiques — tables from reclaimed wood from Canada.”
A hallmark of the new store, the unique tables are made by Brad Colgin, who once helmed Mélange in Sunset, where he also sold antique wood; in fact, he’s still representing those wood sales from the new Oil Center store. The beams used to make the Mixology sign as well as their countertop come from that reclaimed wood.
“It’s gorgeous, one-of-a-kind,” Johanna says. And she’s not just referring to the woods.
“We went to market and handpicked different things,” she says.
Among the handpicked offerings are reclaimed pieces — like those from an artist who converts army footlockers into ottomans. Or the Italian import chairs upholstered in burlap or crates with burlap cushions on them. These are placed among items like modern metal chairs and modern lamps.
The diversity of pieces also bleeds into the art Mixology carries in its dedicated gallery space — including work from Michael Eble, who recently finished a fellowship in France in a fishing village, to Stephanie Warner, who brings contemporary abstract art. There is Naomi Celestin’s jewelry from reclaimed guitar strings and a corner of the store filled with products made entirely of organic items.
“It’s a big mixture of very different, very fine things,” Villarreal says. — AB
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