Olga Trehub
Left to right: Michael Ostrow, Grace, and Roger Stoker
Grace Home Furnishings in the Uptown Design District of Palm Springs turns interior design visions into reality. Grace is the namesake of the business. She is a chocolate Labrador Retriever (she’s actually Grace number three). She features prominently on the store’s website, in advertisements, and in the showroom. The aesthetic of the high-end furniture design shop exudes elegance, comfort, style, and grace. It is approachable, as well. That combination of style and livable experience is paramount to the husband and husband team of Michael Ostrow and Roger Stoker.
The two designers have been together for 27 years. They recently married at Claridge’s, Ostrow’s favorite place in the world. The “annex to Buckingham Palace,” as Claridge’s is sometimes known, is a five-star hotel in the exclusive Mayfair district. Ostrow and Stoker originally had to postpone their wedding because of COVID-19, but finally, they said their vows in British style.
The couple met in a furniture store where Ostrow worked in the mid-’90s. Stoker came in and put a nightstand on hold, and when he came back, Ostrow couldn’t find it. The rest is history; when the couple thought about starting a business together, Ostrow mused, “We can’t live together and work together.”
They opened their first showroom in Los Angeles in 1999 and the Palm Springs location in 2014. Each man has his skill sets and domain. Ostrow does the business side and Stoker handles marketing. Ostrow is a New Yorker and Stoker grew up in Iowa. The combination of sass and midwestern steadiness, as well as their complementary styles and personalities, apparently works. The couple bought a home in Palm Springs in 2012 and opened the desert showroom two years later.
As the LA store is open Monday through Friday and the Palm Springs store is busiest on weekends, the men work seven days a week. Still, Ostrow says, “It’s nice to look forward to going to work.”
I sat down with Ostrow, Stoker, and Grace in their showroom. They sat on a luscious lemon-yellow velvet couch — a ‘70s piece that perfectly encapsulates the sunny grace of life in the Coachella Valley. The 4,000-square-foot showroom in Palm Springs — formerly a bank — includes a photo gallery that features mid-century-modern icons like Slim Aarons.
Roger says, “Photography is more important in home decor these days.” The gallery is the authorized Getty Images dealer in Palm Springs. The two men say that while Grace Home Furnishings is a furniture store, it is also a design firm. The team draws on the California aesthetic and can design whatever they imagine. Though a great deal of American furniture manufacturing occurs in North Carolina, Ostrow and Stoker rely on California craftspeople with whom they have more control over sizing and customization.
Ostrow and Stoker say their line is more modern at the Palm Springs location than at their store in LA. They describe the style as “tradition with a twist … functional and livable.” Stoker explained that they often design in ash or walnut — a neutral tone — and then add color.
We talked about COVID, and Ostrow said that since Palm Springs was a “COVID flee city” and folks moved here from all over, they have been busier than ever. He thinks people pushed their five-year plans ahead and wanted desperately to make their nests flourish.
The Grace Home Furnishings team has designed interiors for high-profile clients, including Sutton Foster and Heidi Klum. Their work has been featured in House Beautiful, Traditional Home, Architectural Digest, Angeleno, Los Angeles Magazine, and the Los Angeles Times. In fact, certain pieces are named after clients. There’s the Sutton bed and the Amanda buffet, plus the Ambassador buffet (inspired by the late, great hotel in Los Angeles). The two designers say they honor clients' diverse personal styles and aesthetics, whether they come from Europe, the East Coast, Canada, or the Midwest. An indoor/outdoor desert aesthetic is infused in much of their work.
When not working, the couple loves to shop for vintage items and travel. Stoker says, “Every trip has to start or end in London,” though they did honeymoon in Capri, Italy. You will find the dapper duo and Grace on North Palm Canyon Drive, ready to help you furnish your nest.