Flea Markets

The City Council has imposed a 45-day ban on the establishment of indoor swap meets or flea markets while the city staff draws up new regulations. The council acted after the staff reported that the opening of an indoor swap meet on Arrow Highway in an unincorporated area of Covina had triggered numerous inquiries about Azusa's swap-meet regulations.

A growing emphasis on conserving planet resources--combined with sheer nostalgia--is creating some of today's most inspired rooms. Retro interiors come from thrift stores, flea markets, garage sales and even the neighbors' trash. By its very nature, recycling develops new uses--a rusted Coke cooler topped with a slab of concrete driveway becomes a sideboard. A patio set from the Salvation Army, coated with bright paint, stands in for expensive dining furniture.

Artists, chefs and celebrities shop flea markets too. A few share with us some of their most cherished finds. Pamela Des Barres The author and former groupie plans to stop at European flea markets during her three-week book tour through Italy, France and Finland, which begins Monday. Her favorite find: a bolt of Chinese-motif fabric from the 1940s that she bought for $8 at the Pasadena City College swap meet.

Antennae: The Valley version of Neo-Ancestral and English comfy. An overstuffed armchair is slipcovered in a granny cherry-print tablecloth, $1,000. An unrestored white wicker chaise lounge has a cushion newly upholstered in a faded rose print, $800. A pair of matching armchairs covered in gold damask are $900. 13059 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, (818) 907-1810. A. N. Abell Auctions (often referred to as Abell's Auction House): Furniture auctions every Thursday.

The city soon may have indoor swap meets and flea markets. City Council members voted to amend ordinances to permit indoor swap meets and flea markets to operate in buildings of at least 100,000 square feet in commercial and industrial areas for a maximum period of 10 years. Triggering the council action was a request by officials of Frazer Tembley Enterprises to open an indoor swap meet in a vacant 200,000-square-foot building formerly occupied by the Weiser Lock Co.

Finding fixtures and lamps for period-influenced interiors can be just as important as choosing the furniture. "The biggest misconception I hear is that ‘I can't afford period lighting,' " Lara Spencer says. "But the truth is you can find really nice vintage fixtures for the same as or not much less than some mass-market reproductions if you just know where to look." She thinks of lighting as the "jewelry" that finishes a room — "a fun way to make a big statement," she says.

The Movie: "Pleasantville." The Setup: Siblings David (Tobey Maguire) and Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) accidentally step into a 1950s black-and-white television sitcom world, and their presence has a deep impact on the populace. The Costume Designer: Judianna Makovsky, whose credits include "Big," "Great Expectations," "A Little Princess," "Six Degrees of Separation," "Lolita" and the current release "Practical Magic."

A group of central business district merchants said they will sue the city if it approves plans for a retail store with as many as 35 tenants at the closed J.J. Newberry building. "It will kill all the business in Huntington Park," said Mary Carmen Medrano, who owns 25-year-old Medrano Jewelers, next to the site on Pacific Boulevard. "The people working in the swap meet sell very cheap merchandise for nothing. While they're there, they'll ruin the other merchants."

Is a flea market a swap meet and visa versa? Not exactly, though many people use the terms interchangeably. Flea markets, like at the Rose Bowl and Long Beach, pride themselves on antiques and collectible goods, whether that be Chippendale furniture, Deco lamps or metal gasoline station signs. In recent years, items from the 1970s, '80s and '90s--action figures and Beanie Babies to name a few--have elbowed their way in, though it's the old stuff that is still the main attraction.