Stephen Block is the owner of Inner Gardens, he is an exterior landscape designer, antiques dealer and a practitioner of wabi-sabi. What is wabi-sabi you may ask. It’s the practice of finding the art in imperfection. It’s way more than that actually, but that is a basic explanation and I will let Stephen explain it further. 

I spent a day with Stephen at the Inner Gardens showroom in Culver City. It is an oasis, literally and figuratively. You walk in off busy Fairfax or busier LaCienega and the world seems to stand still as you enter a calm serene environment surrounded by pottery, foliage, trees and amazing objects at every turn.

It takes a master of landscapes to do this, especially as the concrete jungle grows around you, literally, from one week to the next. Stephen and I talked about a lot. I broke the conversation down into segments so you can hear Block’s story, directly from him. This is Stephen Block.

So this is how Stephen got started. More now on his philosophy on design. Important to note that Stephen has a firm understanding of what he is looking for in his own design, I think this makes him a tremendous asset to others who might not be so sure. Clients and designers alike. This is Stephen Block explaining that philosophy.

From finding perfection in an imperfect career comes an a love for finding art in the imperfections around us. Stephen discusses his love for wabi-sari and how he applies it to life and work. I love this and I hope you do too.

So there you go. Now you know Stephen Block of Inner Gardens. Go meet him and talk to him about wabi-sabi and let him show you around the Inner Gardens showroom. That is a wrap on this episode of Convo By Design, thank you Stephen for the time, thank you Snyder Diamond and SubZero Wolf for your continued support and of course, thank you for listening because if not for you, there would be know Convo By Design. Until next week, keep creating.