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Foliage Furniture and Interiors
Foliage Furniture and Interiors
When developer Mike Voight began wooing retailers to the EastLake Design District, his goal was to have national chains mix with neighborhood companies with loyal customers. Foliage Furniture & Interiors, owned by Michelle and Mike Larson, was on his short list.

Its a homegrown local success, Voight says. We felt it was important that Foliage be at EastLake.

Outgoing Michelle, the stores primary buyer, heads sales and a team of six designers. Mike handles operations and accompanies his wife on buying trips. The business has been a dream since before we got married, he says.

The Larsons work with more than 140 suppliers (numerous catalogs are in-store) with styles from country to urban to modern. The showroom is a Studio Rowe, featuring furniture and accessories from Rowe Furniture and samplings from other companies to show quality and finish. Theres rustic and traditional wood furniture from Dovetail, the Tuscan and Loft lines of Buus, the contemporary looks of Four Hands. Thousands of fabrics are available for furniture or custom draperies.

We do in-home consultations, Mike says, and then follow up in the store using PreVue room visualization software.

The accessoriesgifts, artwork, metal sculpture, iron dcor, candles, rugs, lamps, pillows, occasional tables, stools and vasesencourage repeat visits.

The Larsons, who live in EastLake with their three children, Ethan, 12, Jadon, 9, and Chloe, 7, met in college. Mike got into manufacturing and product design as an engineering major at San Diego State University. For a while, he had a store in downtown San Diego called Vast 500, which did custom metalwork and woodwork. Michelle studied interior design at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandisings downtown campus.

After they tied the knot in 1993, Mike worked as an engineer. Michelle began her career in interior design, and eventually began selling accessories. It got to the point where I left my job in March 2004 to join the business, Mike says.

In April, Foliage made the leap to the new design district. Bonus: The original store, just around the corner, remains as the outlet center, where floor models, factory closeouts and discontinued items are sold at reduced prices.

851 Showroom Place, Chula Vista, 619-397-4854; Outlet Center, 881 Kuhn Drive, Chula Vista, 619-216-1179; foliagefurniture.com.