True colors: Dema Grim's vivid designs reflect her style
For anyone who knows her eponymously named Valencia Street boutique, or worn her brightly colored, vintage-inspired clothing, it's no surprise the most interesting house on the block would be hers.
Tucked back on a tiny street in Bernal Heights, the house's purple and chartreuse green facade opens up to an interior clearly reflecting the clothing designer's aesthetic: punk meets mod dashed with world fusion.
Atomic-era light fixtures illuminate furniture covered in Grim's favored African prints.
While much of the two-story home has been remodeled and updated, it's the two dozen colors brightening the walls, ranging from avocado to pumpkin, that give the place pop.
She shares the house with her partner, Todd Cote, a talent agent in the music business, and another couple with a 6-year-old.
The self-taught clothing designer, who has weathered three economic downturns, is witnessing the revival of the Mission from a very close vantage point; her shop, between 21st and 22nd streets, is nearly ground zero for the Mission's recent explosion of restaurants and bars.
Unfortunately, she says, the sudden surge of growth of the neighborhood has been hard on some of the smaller retailers.
An active member of the Valencia Merchants Association, Grim is engaged in supporting indie shopkeepers so that the economic growth in the neighborhood positively affects mom-and-pop creative types.
Opening one's mind to other cultures is essential to have a well-rounded view of planet Earth.
Three-foot plastic bears from Japan used as marketing tools.
First love is the deepest: "The first dogs you have as an adult are so meaningful."
Why? A poor girl goes to the store to buy bread for the family; on the way home, she steps on the loaf to save her shoes from mud and as a result sinks into hell: "Her vanity was her downfall - Andersen was a harsh guy."