Photographer Creates Elegant Interiors with Kobey's Modern

by Elizabeth Anderson

Paul Nestor isn't a professional interior decorator but you wouldn't know it from the elegant interiors of his shingled beach front apartment located just off Oceanfront Walk in South Mission Beach. A photographer by trade, his favorite hobby is dabbling in modern collectibles and creating art-inspired decorating elements from interesting found objects.

Unlike many young professionals in his age group, Nestor doesn't find his inspiration at IKEA. Armed with a passionate knowledge of vintage furniture and an eye for art, he makes his way through Kobey's garage sale area every weekend and seldom leaves with his arms empty.

Nestor's decor could be described as high-brow kitsch, a combination of modern minimalism and over-the-top American nostalgia. Hardwood floors, crisp white walls and lots of sunlight compliment his eclectic hand-picked collection of furniture and objects from the 30's up through the 70's.

"A lot of places are really boring when you walk in. It's the same sterile sofa art," he explains about the motivation behind his decorating. "Like my photographs, I have an eye for off-the-wall stuff that's fun. Most people would just look at this stuff and say, what would I do with that? Sometimes you have to look at things totally different from what it was intended for. That's what's fun about it."

Besides having youthful energy, every room is impeccably arranged to bring out the uniqueness of each object. Garage sale addicts like Nestor usually get pegged as hopeless clutter collectors, but he avoids the stereotype by replacing things often, putting something away only to bring it out again later. This is not to ignore that his closets and garage are crammed with great stuff and potential projects.

Nestor is hooked on Kobey's not only because of the amazing finds, but also the great deals. Many items which he 's bought for a pittance at Kobey's, he's been able to resell ten-fold.

Such is the case with his set of rare, orange 1960's Italian airport lobby chairs. Streamline and comfortable, he paid $150 ($25 each) for a set of six. Knowing what they were worth, he kept four and turned around and sold the other two for $300, doubling his initial investment.

Chances are if something stands out or has hidden value, Nestor will spot it and snatch it up. He basically takes two approaches to the collectible objects he finds; he either restores them to their original condition or radically recreates them.

One of his favorite things is to gut old appliances and give them new uses. For example he turned an old Waring blender from the 50's (bought for $7) into a lamp. He installed light fixtures inside it and put a red light bulb in the base and a blue bulb in the glass, creating what he calls, a "patriotic blender." He's planning to turn a space helmet TV from the 70's into a fish bowl and mount a silver tea service onto its tray, install lights inside the vessels and hang it intact from the kitchen ceiling.

The transformations don't stop there. For example take Nestor's stars & stripes skateboard which he made himself from a water-ski manufactured for the bicentennial in 1976. He mounted the ski with trucks, wheels and a 1955 Buick hood ornament, its crowning glory. He claims it was the first longboard on the boardwalk. Does he get a lot of looks? "Hell, yeah!" he replies. "It's a real popular item."

"Since I was a kid I've been collecting everything in the world," he continues. "I know a lot about a lot of different things. When I go to Kobey's I never know what I'm going to run into. You just never know what someone will pull out of their garage, truck or car. Sometimes their parents have sent them out to get rid of this stuff and they don't think that something from the 50's, 60's or 70's is really collectible. But some of this stuff is really rare."

Nestor cites one of his happiest Kobey's finds as a 70's chrome-based wood-top table, a piece he really wanted and was looking for. The table, made by Knoll in the early to mid 60's until 1975, went for $3,000 at the time. One morning at Kobey's he couldn't believe what he saw coming out of the back of a truck.

He recalls, "I recognized the base [of the table] right away. I said, oh my god, this is the table I've been looking for! I figured if he didn't have the top for it, at least I had the base. But sure enough he pulls out the top to this table. It was the exact top which went with it. I went to the guy and said, tell me about the table. He says, well it 's a Knoll table. I thought, oh, he knows what it is so obviously he 's going to ask top dollar for it. Then I said, well how much do you want for it? He said, well, it was a very expensive table, but my wife doesn't like it. I figured if I offered a few hundred dollars he might just take it. It's worth $1500 to $2000. But I thought, let him make the price. I asked again, well how much do you want for it? He said, well, how about $25? I laughed! Then I said, how about $20?! I made some very big enemies when I walked it out of the swap meet because a lot of people really wanted it."

If the name Nestor sounds familiar, that's because Paul's father was one of the biggest photographers in town. Paul has been walking in his footsteps for eight years now, covering most of the major events in the city.

"My apartment is the same style as my pictures," he explains. "They're not your standard pictures. They're real off the wall, really fun, and capture the spirit of my subjects. Mostly it's a hobby, a hobby that's gotten very serious now. I do all the non-profits like the La Jolla Playhouse and the Old Globe. They don't pay much, but they throw great parties!"

A collection of four wall mounted CD cabinets (Found at Kobey's, $90) confirms Nestor's work. Instead of CD jackets, he's filled the sleeves with pictures of himself with notable celebrities such as Larry King, John Candy, Dana Carvey, Bob Dole and Mayor Golding. Hundreds of such pictures cover the wall.

Because of his Kobey's hobby and the impressive use of his finds, Nestor has developed a reputation as a sort of "thing finder" among his friends and family. He admits they send him out to Kobey's with lists of off-the-wall items. His success rate is good. "Within two weeks of them asking me for it, I've usually found the thing!" he concludes.

(Article taken from Kobey's Magazine, August 1998)