Quick context note for readers who found this later: The headline “opens tomorrow” originally referred to the weekend of Saturday–Sunday, December 5–6, 2015. If you’re reading in a different year (hello, time travelers), use this as an evergreen field guide to how the Remodelista market worksand how to shop any great LA holiday market without ending up with nine “fun” mugs and zero gifts for your dad.
Los Angeles has never been short on places to shop, but holiday shopping in LA can feel like a three-act drama: Act I: “I’ll keep it simple this year.” Act II: “Why is parking a personality test?” Act III: “I bought one candle, two sweaters for myself, and a decorative bowl that’s somehow not returnable.”
Enter the Remodelista Holiday Market, a curated, design-forward maker market designed to spare you from wandering endless aisles of meh. When Remodelista hosts a market, it’s essentially the website stepping off the screen and into real lifebringing together favorite regional artisans, indie shops, and small studios for a one-stop weekend of gifts that feel personal (even when you bought them two days before the party).
What Is the Remodelista Holiday Market, Exactly?
Remodelista’s markets are built around a simple idea: shopping is better when it’s edited. Instead of thousands of options, you get a thoughtful lineup of makers and shop owners whose work fits a “considered home” point of viewclean lines, natural materials, and objects that quietly say, “Yes, I do fold my towels. Sometimes.”
In 2015, Remodelista doubled market hours and brought 30+ California maker-designers and indie store creators to Big Daddy’s Antiques near Culver City. The result: a warehouse full of handcrafted, design-driven giftslighting, textiles, tabletop goods, accessories, prints, and all the little things that make a home feel intentional.
Why This Market Hits Different (and Your Shopping List Will Notice)
It’s curated, not chaotic
Holiday markets can be incredibleor they can be a maze of booths where you’re 15 minutes in and already holding a necklace shaped like a grilled cheese. Remodelista’s version is more like an editorial spread you can walk through: fewer filler tables, more “wait, I’ve been looking for this exact thing.”
It rewards “shop small” energy
Buying from small businesses doesn’t just check a moral box; it usually gets you better stories, better craftsmanship, and better surprises. That’s why “shop small” campaigns exist in the first placebecause local makers and independent businesses are a big part of what keeps communities lively and distinct, especially during the holidays.
It’s a shortcut to gifts that feel personal
The best gifts aren’t always expensive; they’re specific. A hand-dyed textile tote for your friend who’s “not a purse person.” A sculptural sconce for the sibling who’s finally moving into a place with adult lighting (overhead LEDs don’t count). A beautifully printed photograph for someone whose walls have been “temporary” since 2018.
The Location: Big Daddy’s AntiquesA Warehouse That Thinks It’s a Living Room
The LA Remodelista Holiday Market has long been hosted at Big Daddy’s Antiques, a Los Angeles destination known for blending antiques with modern designand staging spaces like real rooms so you can actually picture how things might live together. It’s a fitting backdrop for a design market because it already speaks the Remodelista language: old meets new, curated not cluttered, collected not crammed.
The 2015 market details: Big Daddy’s Antiques, 3334 La Cienega Place, near Culver City, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. In prior years, admission has been listed as free and valet parking has been offeredtwo phrases that instantly raise any Angeleno’s heart rate (in a good way).
Who You’ll See: A Greatest-Hits Mix of LA Makers (Plus Friends from Up the Coast)
What makes this market especially strong is the variety: you can knock out gifts for the design lover, the “I only wear neutrals” person, the host-with-the-most, and the friend who’s starting to care about table linens like that’s a normal sentence to say out loud.
1) Lighting & objects that upgrade a room in one move
If you’ve ever looked around your place and thought, “This room needs… a vibe,” lighting is usually the fastest fix. One standout name tied to Remodelista markets is Brendan Ravenhill Studio, known for modern, craft-forward lighting and furniture with a built-to-last mindset. Pieces like this are gifts with long-range payoff: they don’t just sit on a shelfthey change how a room feels every day.
Gift idea: Instead of guessing someone’s taste in art, go for a well-designed objectan understated lamp, a clean-lined sconce, or even a small, sculptural home accessory. It’s like giving someone “good taste” without saying it out loud.
2) Tabletop & ceramics (because “we should have you over” becomes real)
Remodelista markets regularly spotlight handmade tablewarethe kind that makes weeknight leftovers look like you planned a menu. In 2015, vendors included makers like Ihako (blue-accented everyday tableware rooted in Japanese porcelain tradition), plus a broader lineup of potters and tabletop-focused brands highlighted in market previews.
Gift idea: Pair a small stack of cups or a single serving bowl with a note like, “For your future signature dish.” (It can be cereal. We won’t tell.)
3) Textiles & soft goods that make a home feel finished
Textiles are sneaky-great gifts because they’re practical and aesthetic at the same time. Markets have featured hand-dyed textiles (think marbled silk pillows and totes), linen napkins, and table linens designed to look equally right on a Tuesday and at a holiday dinner.
Gift idea: A set of linen napkins is the rare gift that says “I believe in you” while also being useful. Add a simple ribbon and you’re basically a holiday wizard.
4) Prints, photography, and wall-worthy “I remembered your taste” gifts
Art gifts can feel riskyuntil you choose something clean, well-made, and easy to live with. WAX Poster, for example, is known for curated images printed in California using archival processes and fade-resistant inks. That’s the sweet spot: visually strong, physically durable, and not dependent on the recipient having a gallery wall degree.
Gift idea: Choose a photograph with strong composition (architecture, landscapes, minimal portraits) and keep the frame simple. Your gift will look expensive even if your budget was… emotionally expensive.
5) Accessories & small luxuries for the “hard to shop for” crowd
This is where curated markets shine. You’ll often find leather goods, minimalist accessories, and well-designed small items that feel special without requiring you to know someone’s exact size, shade, or complicated skincare opinions. Past lineups have included everything from refined leather bags to minimalist accessories and wearable pieces.
Gift idea: The “small luxury” strategy: one beautifully made item (wallet, pouch, leather accessory, scent, or tabletop object) beats five random items every single time.
The Secret Sauce: Makers with a Point of View
One reason Remodelista markets have loyal fans is that many featured brands are grounded in clear design philosophies:
- Baum-kuchen blends Bauhaus and wabi-sabi sensibilitiesCalifornia practicality with Japanese restraint and German clarity.
- The Citizenry emphasizes globally inspired home goods made through a fair-trade process audited and guaranteed by the World Fair Trade Organization.
- Ravenhill Studio speaks directly to craft and durability, with an emphasis on timeless design and manufacturing resilience.
Even if you’re not buying from those exact brands, that mindset is the blueprint: buy fewer things, buy better things, and let them earn their space.
How to Shop Like a Pro (Even If You’re “Just Browsing”)
Go in with categories, not a rigid list
Instead of “I must find a gift for Uncle Steve,” try categories like: host gifts, under-$50 wins, one statement piece, stocking stuffers that don’t feel like filler.
Talk to the makers (it’s the whole point)
At curated markets, vendors are often the designers or founders. Ask what their best-selling item is, what’s new, and what they personally use at home. You’ll learn fastand you’ll buy smarter.
Buy “one for now, one for later”
If you find a perfect candle, textile, or small dish, grab a second as a backup gift. Future-you will be grateful when an invitation pops up and you suddenly need something that looks thoughtful.
Pack for success
Bring a reusable tote, wear shoes you can stand in, and keep your hands free. The best shopping tool isn’t your phoneit’s your ability to carry a fragile ceramic item without panic.
What to Expect When You Arrive
Expect a lively, design-savvy crowd, a warehouse environment full of beautiful objects, and the pleasant pressure of realizing you can actually finish your holiday shopping in one weekend. Arriving early helps if you want first pick of limited-run goods (especially ceramics and small-batch textiles).
And if you’re the type who hates “mall energy,” this is the opposite: you’re not fighting for a parking spot outside a chain storeyou’re discovering small studios, meeting people who make the things, and leaving with gifts that feel like you paid attention.
If You Can’t Make It, LA’s Holiday Market Scene Is Deep (In the Best Way)
One of the best things about Los Angeles is that there’s always another great market around the corner. Recent years have included big-name craft fairs and seasonal pop-upsevents like Renegade Craft, Unique Markets, museum-hosted marketplaces, and neighborhood holiday fairs. These markets tend to feature the same categories that make Remodelista’s market so useful: ceramics, jewelry, apothecary goods, prints, textiles, and small-batch home items.
Pro tip: Dates and locations change year to year. Use this article to shop smarter, then double-check the current calendar before you commit your Saturday to traffic and cheer.
Bottom Line: A One-Stop Shop for the Considered Home
The Remodelista Holiday Market (especially the classic LA edition at Big Daddy’s Antiques) is a reminder that holiday shopping can be fun when the options are good and the vibe is right. It’s curated without being precious, stylish without being intimidating, and practical enough that you’ll leave with gifts people actually use.
So whether you’re reading this on the eve of the market (as intended back in 2015) or planning your next holiday-market weekend in a totally different year, the strategy stays the same: shop small, buy fewer-but-better, and let the makers do what they do bestmake your gift list look brilliant.
Experience: What It Feels Like to Shop the Remodelista Holiday Market in LA (A 500-Word Play-by-Play)
You know that moment when you walk into a space and immediately feel like your own home could be “more pulled together,” but in an inspiring waynot a shamey way? That’s the Remodelista market effect. Big Daddy’s Antiques is already a wonderland of objects with history, and on market weekend it turns into something even better: a living catalog of actually good gift ideas.
First, there’s the sensory reset. Instead of fluorescent lighting and the faint despair of a big-box seasonal aisle, you get a warehouse full of warm materialslinen, leather, wood, clay, paper. You drift past tables that look like someone styled them on purpose (because they did), and suddenly you’re mentally rearranging your own kitchen counter. It’s fine. This is normal. This is what “design brain” does when it feels safe.
Then comes the best part: you realize how fast you can make progress when everything is curated. You start with a planmaybe “two host gifts and something for my sister”but the market gently upgrades your plan into a smarter one. You see a set of napkins that somehow look both everyday and holiday-ready, and you think, “This is the grown-up gift I’ve been trying to become.” A few steps later, you’re holding a small ceramic bowl that feels weighty in your hands, like it has a future. It’s not just a bowl; it’s the bowl your friend will use for olives at every gathering for the next decade. That’s a gift with a legacy.
You pause at a lighting booth and watch someone explain how a fixture is madehow the materials were chosen, why the proportions matter, why it’s built to last. Even if you don’t buy a big piece, the conversation rewires your standards. You start noticing quality in a new way: the stitching on a leather strap, the drape of a textile, the crispness of a print. This is the sneaky educational benefit of markets like this: you leave with gifts, but you also leave with better taste. (Don’t worryyou don’t have to announce it.)
Somewhere in the middle, you have your “I’m just browsing” phase, where you swear you’re not buying anything else. This is when the market gets you with the small luxuries: a perfectly designed pouch, a simple object for the desk, a print that feels personal without being too personal. You start building a little emergency stash in your headgifts you can keep on hand for last-minute invites. You feel responsible. You feel prepared. You feel like the kind of person who owns wrapping paper that isn’t crumpled.
By the time you leave, you’re carrying a bag that looks modest but powerful, like it contains solutions. You’ve checked off names, upgraded a few gifts into “wow” gifts, and picked up one thing for yourselfbecause the market also believes in self-care, and self-care sometimes looks like a linen tea towel that makes your kitchen feel calmer. You step back into LA sunlight, slightly shocked that holiday shopping can feel this… pleasant. Then you remember: it’s because someone did the editing for you. And honestly? Bless them for that.