Michelle Boudreau Design Studio.
PHOTO COURTESY MICHELLE BOUDREAU DESIGN STUDIO
Designer Michelle Boudreau has been around the world, and she knows how to shop it. Many of her best finds, however, surface in Palm Springs, where she opened her design studio in the Uptown Design District earlier this year. For her clients’ projects, she sources from local, independent retailers for furnishings and objects as well as from local artists and artisans for custom paintings and sculpture, woodwork, millwork, and upholstery.
“Palm Springs is a playground of vintage décor shopping, steeped with a plethora of amazing boutiques,” the avid traveler says. “From flea-market finds to elevated, high-end designer pieces, it’s all available at your fingertips.”
This assertion comes from a talent who applied her education in fine art to a 20-year career in creative direction and retail design before pivoting to interiors. The decade she spent living, working, and traveling in some of Europe’s most design-forward cities, including London, Paris, and Tokyo, remains a powerful influence, rivaled only by the desert environs. A global blend of art, culture, music, and fashion influences her work.
Interior designer Michelle Boudreau lines the shelves of her Palm Springs design studio with a rotating display of sculptures and decorative accessories from her collection.
PHOT BY GEORGE DUCHANNES
Several stops on her regular shopping circuit occupy architecturally significant midcentury buildings designed by desert legends, ensuring you get your modernism fix while filling your trunk. “Along the way, I love chatting with the individual shop owners and learning what drew them to Palm Springs,” she says. “They’re happy to share the stories behind their pieces, which is important to me and to my clients.”
Take a cue from Boudreau’s favorite resources, revealed here, and tour her make-over of the House of Tomorrow (aka the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway and the Alexander Estate) during Modernism Week.
Palm Springs Must-Shops
Market Market
A vast space with a gallery feel and an elevated selection of vendors, suppliers, and artists, plus great clothing and a food market featuring organic and regional wines. I discovered macramé artist Jim Olarte there and reached out to him for custom work. Count on unique pieces you wouldn’t find elsewhere.
Mojave Flea Trading Post
A more casual version of Market Market by the same owners, it stocks goods for the kitchen, woven pieces, glassware, rattan, and work by local desert artists, artisans, and makers.
Haus of Rex
This large showroom is my place for original vintage and midcentury furniture that I can bring back to life with millwork updates or fabulous fabric reupholstery.
The Shops at Thirteen Forty-Five
You can’t beat this collective of independent boutiques to fulfill a designer’s palette. It’s great for gift shopping, too. I love the curation at L’INDY, where the owner has a real eye for special finds. Her obscure, artful objects make the perfect final touches for a project. The owner of Baldo Creative was a designer, so along with vintage and antique art and furnishings, she refinishes pieces with her own upholstery reinvigoration. I usually find a stool or a chair or something unique. I love the colors and textures at Soukie Modern, where I buy Moroccan throws and rugs. He has even made some custom rugs for me. The Backyard is so much fun for pots, vases, sculpture by Dustin Gimbel, ceramics, and even outdoor furnishings.
Baldo Creative at The Shops at Thirteen Forty-Five.
PHOTO COURTESY BALDO CREATIVE
Bon Vivant
My go-to for colorful glass, and my weakness: jewelry.
Boomerang for Modern
I’ve been shopping here a lot lately for refined midcentury pieces, always in beautiful condition. He carries new Knoll, too.
Phylum
Their new glassware caught my eye. I like the modernist shapes with a Scandinavian touch.
For Art
Heather James Fine Art
They’re very lovely and warm here, not fussy, and they’ve become an outstanding resource for our art-loving clients. Not a lot of people know about their archive, but they keep sculptures and works by Matisse, Picasso, Andy Warhol, and so many more in their other buildings. It’s like candy in there.
Palm Springs Vintage Market.
PHOTO BY ANNA KULA
Hedge.
PHOTO BY BRANDON HARMAN