We love coming to this arts & crafts fair every time we're in Santa Barbara. It's located on…read moreCabrillo Blvd, west of Stearns Wharf. There's tons of handmade treasures by local artisans. There's beautiful paintings, drawings, graphics, sculptures, pottery, photography, jewelry and more. Our favorite was YIN PING ZHENG, he specializes in traditional Chinese brush painting & calligraphy. His paintings were AMAZING! They were very affordable, all originals, even the small ones. They're made with watercolors on rice paper. He demonstrated an art piece for us, he had so much control, he made it look so easy. We ended buying 2 vertical paintings of plum blossoms which included frames. He was so humble, nice & friendly, he even offered for us to sit & he let a lady sit & wait for her daughter to pick her up. Make sure you drop by to say hi & check out his art pieces!!

On a cloudy Sunday morning, I stumbled upon Santa Barbara Arts and Craft Show on Cabrillo…read moreBoulevard. The show starts just after the boardwalk and lines the Cabrillo Blvd. I learned that this show is every Sunday from 10:00am-6:00pm. The show features arts and crafts including paintings, sculptures, jewelry, pottery and more. It was a delight to talk to the artist about their work in a very causal setting. Truly some unique pieces of art can be found at this show. Definitely worth a stroll if you are in town and heading to the beach. Parking can be found on Cabrillo Blvd or in the public parking areas. Note summertime can be very busy and tough for parking.

We drive by the Big Yellow House countless times a year. Today, I saw a beautiful rug draped over…read morethe balcony along with a simple sign reading 'RUGS". I continued north to do business, but upon my southern return to my home I decided to get off the 101 to check out this store which now occupies the Yellow House. I was very pleasantly greeted and made to feel extremely comfortable, even as I said I had only a "limited budget" to spend. I plan to put aside a portion of my money to invest (again) in their incredible inventory. The quality is absolutely admirable....and desirable. My husband and I walked away with a 8x10 vintage Turkish woven neutral colored rug. Rem, the owner and his wife are from Istanbul and have been in the business for many years and are educated on all the various types , styles and origins of quality hand made rugs. check them out!

Definitely, I recommend Jan. She had a large sectional and another sofa made for me and I'm going…read moreto have a chair and ottoman redone soon.

We stumbled across a Jan Bixler ad in the SB News-Press classifieds when the paper was still worth…read morehaving, and so glad we did! This was 2003. Now, 20 years later, my two sons are grown, so it is just my husband (with two dogs and two cats) who slouches, eats and watches television on our beautiful yet practical microfiber sectional. It has held up remarkably well over time and I was so pleased to find out that our cats preferred their scratch pads to this fabric. Recently I looked up Jan's design studio, as a classmate and I had been discussing sofas and where to get one around here. I was so pleased to see that she is still in Carpinteria! Yay! Made my classmate happy, and maybe I will need another piece of furniture someday. Attached is our 20 year-old sectional.. Still lookin good!

I LOVE the gorgeous custom-made couches we ordered through Michelle at COUCH. One is an incredible…read moresea-green, just the right depth with a matching striped ottoman (soft in tone); the other is an amazing retro hot pink couch (also one long cushion) for the bedroom seating area. Working with Michelle was a pleasure, as she listens to what you want, offers helpful suggestions and insights, and assists to meet your decorating needs. You make an appointment, so you are not interrupted every five minutes as often happens at chain retail outlets. At COUCH you receive undivided attention. Plus the prices are reasonable. A + for COUCH.

This is an update of my previous review. Michele is now…read morerefusing delivery of my small claims summons. This is truly unprofessional !!! If Michele feels she doesn't have any responsibility for what happened to my couch she should be more than willing to explain herself in small claims court to the judge and let the judge decide. Please see photo of attempts at service! Updates as of 11/18/22 11 am Michele that is a blatant lie that you have not been contacted about the service of the small claims summons! I can't serve you myself as that is against the law. I hired a process sever to serve you and I have documentation from them that you canceled their appointment and refused to reschedule . They have left you multiple emails and phone messages regarding the delivery of legal paperwork which you have not responded to. ( please see attached photo)I am happy to put you in contact with them so they can arrange delivery of the summons-.

Wonderful selection of home furnishings and home decor all under the wonderful roof of Santa…read moreBarbara Design Center.

We purchased a recliner back in June 2019. The chair is great, but was delivered without any…read morepaperwork at all or anything identifying the chair manufacturer. I called and they said that they would send me the warranty. I thought that this would include info. on the chair maker too. They did, but it was just a note from the Santa Barbara Design Center saying that their firm offered the warranty. That's nice, but I wrote a note to them and asked them to provide information on the chair manufacturer. No response. More calls and emails. Three months later and I get a rude note from Michael Kourosh basically saying that he would have the manufacturer provide a lesser warranty since I had said that his wasn't good enough. I never said that. He still didn't identify the chair maker! Nothing is wrong with SB Design Centers' warranty and I had never said that. I spent over $4,000 on a chair and they won't let me know who made it! Not only that, but they threaten me with reducing my warranty because I asked the question! Unbelievable.

You can't really tell what this place is from the outside. It looks like it could be a restaurant…read more Once you enter the gated doors, you stumble upon a charming store full of handmade stone fountains, unique outdoor decorations. There are 2 "cabins" that have bedroom furniture, distressed cabinets, rugs, vases, and the like. Many of these are one-of-a-kind and beautiful. Of course, the prices are astronomical for a regular person such as myself but I spent an hour pretending I was shopping for Oprah! LOL! There were a few vases and plant containers made out of oyster shells and such that I absolutely loved. Next time I come back, I'm going to have saved some money to get one of those shell vases!! Beautiful spot to find some unique pieces for your garden.

The Well Summerland is a magical place to shop for Luxury inside / outdoor garden finds . Shane is…read moremasterful with his unique style making The Well Summerland so special and an enchanting experience .

If you love air plants or just want to check out how amazing they grow, make this a stop on your…read moretrip. When we arrived, we were a bit confused on where the entrance was located. The nursery was closed and locked up. I turned around and followed another yelpers advice and opened the large metal sliding door with the open sign above. Inside you'll find an amazing amount of air plants with varying sizes and prices. It took us awhile to choose, but we left with three beautiful hanging air plant arrangements. The staff was friendly and she provided us with care instructions. She also told us that the nursery across the parking lot may open this summer. Definitely a unique stop that was fun to browse.

Y'all...I had never heard of an air plant ever in my LIFE, and when I arrived here, the concept was…read morestill unfathomable. What? A PLANT THAT NEEDS NO SOIL!?????! NONE AT ALL!?!!! Give me an aspirin. I was too tired to figure it out. Just accept. But I fell in love like I had found THE ONE. All my life, I've killed plants. They would come to my home to die, but this one...this one hits different (-ly). When you KNOW, you KNOW! So I went into my pocket and bought five of these miniature little things in various beautiful colors and put together my own hanging arrangement. Then I took it home with me to live, not to die. I am over the moon. We are going to ride out into the sunset together, little plants. The staff is incredibly helpful. Brian is extremely passionate to a fault, but it is better than someone with no passion. Come here and jump on the air plant train. This concept, trend, whatever you want to call it, isn't going to die any time soon. With our world trying to be more conservative, this right here is the way of the future. Embrace it. Get you some air plants.

I really was becoming exasperated in looking for the right wedding invitation for me and my…read morefiancé's wedding. I searched the web, I looked through hundreds of samples, I ordered samples, I called, I chatted online, I went to different locations, spoke with different reps, and for the life of me, I couldn't find the help or service or the design I wanted. Then one day I got an email from Paper Star/Diane. I yelped her business but it showed up "Closed". I was a bit disappointed because she was the only one with 5 stars. So with some confusion, I replied her email asking for her business status. She explained that she is in business but no longer on State Street. She now works out of her home for the time being having to commute to another city. But right away, she was interested in what I might be looking for. She shared a little bit about herself and business in Santa Barbara, then she asked me about my wedding, which was refreshing. She asked about my theme/colors, my dress, guests and location. She then said she'll get some samples over to me, and she did with a very quick turn around. I liked what she showed me right away but I wanted to see more options. When I got to her place, she bought out some catalogues and it had SO MANY beautiful options to choose from! Diane guided me through all the different things to look for, asking what I would like all along the way. There were so many choices, I just loved it! I was really impressed with her diligence and her sincere passion in finding the perfect wedding invitation that expresses what Brad and I both want, which is Rustic Elegance. She's a straight shooter, speaking her mind on what she thinks it's best, what she'd recommend and if you want something else, she's diligent in finding that for you too! Diane is awesome. She's professional but very personal and just warm hearted all the way. She's gone beyond just offering her expertise in wedding invitations and into seamstress and wedding planning services. And she'd often end our conversation with the reminder of calling her if I have any questions about wedding planning and she will direct me to different sources with no charge, just something extra she does for her brides. She made me feel so special, like a special bride :)) She has beautiful jewelry to choose from too, and the sweetest doggy to greet you at the door! :) I would highly recommend Diane for wedding planning in all areas and not just wedding invitations because she's so well connected to all the wedding sources in Santa Barbara, being in business here for over 20 years. I feel like I'm working with a friend who truly cares about my wedding! Love her!