Color is your guide at Tom Hammond Studio, where a meticulously curated collection of décor and design accents from around the world are sorted by hue into a rainbow of furnishings. Proprietor Tom Hammond prides himself on curating pieces that clients won’t find elsewhere, providing a treasure trove of pieces for interior designers as well as sophisticated retail customers. Here, Hammond shares what brought him to the desert and what drives his studio experience.
How did Tom Hammond Studio come to be?
It started life as a contemporary furniture showroom at the Pacific Design Center in L.A. We carried a couple lines of East Indian artifacts, as well as a few other things. I started looking at the items that were being brought in and thinking that there was so much more out there. So I started going to merchandise shows and bringing merchandise back. Little by little, it just kept growing. When I saw a huge rent increase coming at me in L.A., I decided I was going to do something different in the showroom and opened it here a few months later.
SHAPES by Soffi Studio.
Jaden Urn.
How have you liked the desert?
I’ve been here eight years — I really like it very much. There’s so much to do here. There are plenty of restaurants and great places to go for a walk or a hike. And there are 100,000 people here instead of 10 million in L.A. It’s a nicer existence in the desert to a great extent.
What sets Tom Hammond Studios apart?
I provide merchandise for people who are interested in having something that’s not in every store on the street. I spend a lot of time looking to see what other stores have and then going in a different direction. Most of my product comes from Europe, as well as ceramics and blown glass from Brazil.
Balanced by Marc Caelenberghe.
How do you select the pieces that end up in your showroom?
I’m always trying to find something new because when a designer is working on a project, very often they’re working on multiple projects — and they can’t do the same thing in multiple homes. So if I’m looking for something very contemporary with clean lines, I might look for something organic. With textured lines, I might look for something with a textured finish that has an interesting shape. These pieces then can be blended together to make a custom presentation.
Many of your clients are interior designers. Why do they enjoy working with you?
I try to think like an interior designer so that I make their lives as easy as possible. For example, my showroom is done by color. One shelving unit is all in blue, and another is in gray, or black and white. So when a designer is working with a particular palette, such as a blue, they can go right to those shelving units and see what I have in that kind of color palette. Interior designers don’t have to spend a lot of time weeding through a presentation with pieces all over the place. I want interior designers to feel that they have a partner when they work with me.