Jonathons Coastal Living

Only someone who grew up in the home interiors industry could have put together the surprising new showroom of Jonathons Coastal Living. At almost 14,000 square feet, by all rules of convention it should be a traditional furniture store. But owner Jamie Bernal has created a place filled with special high-end furniture pieces, yet so fabulously appointed with accessories meeting virtually every price point that it’s like discovering a covey of elegant little design boutiques, multiplied times ten.

That alone would be enough to establish Jonathons Coastal Living as a destination store for anyone wanting to beautify their home. Bernal has made it even more attractive by having a full-time floral design staff for a department dedicated solely to “permanent botanicals.” Had it come from anyone other than Bernal, the term would merely be a fancy way of saying “silk flowers.” But her second-generation connections in that particular specialty ensure that the extraordinarily life-like permanent botanicals from Jonathons Coastal Living are of a quality rarely seen anywhere else.

While stunning ready-made florals are always available for instant purchase, the department’s greatest attraction lies with designers adept at creating custom arrangements to match fabrics, décor, and themes. In fact, Jonathons Coastal Living, a showcase gallery for Hunter Douglas, the prestigious maker of innovative window treatments, has a full complement of designers and design services.

To Bernal’s delight, the new freeway-close showroom (off Interstate 405 at Euclid), which opened Feb. 3 and is about 30 percent larger than Jonathons Coastal Living’s former location in Huntington Beach, is spacious enough to accommodate several new furniture lines. They augment an already well-established collection of traditional styles that work beautifully in everything from cottages and bungalows to Tuscan estates and waterfront villas.

“One of the things I’m most excited about is the mid-century modern look our new location gives us space to carry,” says Bernal, who opened Jonathons Coastal Living in 2001 with her husband, Franco. “It’s retro-inspired with clean, simple lines that speak to the younger crowd and those in high-rise condo and metro-modern environments.”

An especially striking aspect of the new showroom is the enormous variety of accessories. Selecting and bringing them to the showroom is a favorite indulgence for Bernal. Her parents owned Jonathons Mercantile in Cypress, California, and were partners in a silk flower business in Florida; Bernal remembers accompanying her mother to trade shows at the age of 14, and lovingly arranging accessories in the store after school.

Bernal’s mission is to “help people be in love with their homes and in love with everything in their homes,” she says, adding that it’s more important than ever because the trend is for people to spend more time at home with their families.

“We’re a higher-end showroom in terms of our product quality, but we’re structured to help people meet their budgets,” she says.  “I’ll tell people, ‘No, don’t spend X amount on that coffee table when you can get something that will deliver just as high-end a look for half the cost.’ The whole staff is like that. This store is geared to help people get the best quality look for their dollars.”

The design services, which range from by-the-hour in-home consultations to full-service interior design, are carefully structured to give clients flexibility.

“Our job is not to impose our style on people, but to let individuals express their own style without making mistakes,” says Bernal. “We can help you as little or as much as you please.”