La Dolce Vita offers home and garden ideas
La Dolce Vita, a new storefront in San Juan Bautista’s downtown,
has bath products, candles and home decor items. But more than that
it has Sandra Chodera, the owner, who can offer clients home and
garden ideas for any budget.
La Dolce Vita offers home and garden ideas
La Dolce Vita, a new storefront in San Juan Bautista’s downtown, has bath products, candles and home decor items. But more than that it has Sandra Chodera, the owner, who can offer clients home and garden ideas for any budget.
“I wanted a place, a small place,” she said, of moving her headquarters into the little shop on Third Street. “I was working out of my home for six years.”
After she left a high-tech sales job, she decided to put her effort into helping others decorate. She goes to clients’ homes to talk about what they want in terms of decorating any room in the house or a patio or garden area.
“If they don’t know what they want, I try to find products and stay in their price range,” she said.
She has contacts at a variety of furnishing companies so she can often get patio furniture or other items at a lower price than clients could find them on their own, and she said she can work with people who have any budget to stick to.
“I’d been holding a boutique at my house, and I had such an interest, some people suggested I should open a store,” she said.
Chodera first heard of the space in San Juan when she started working with a realtor. She eventually connected with Pat Riley, a realtor who had more space than she needed in her office.
The small space is packed with a lot of offerings, though Chodera still goes to clients’ homes to help them with bigger redecorating endeavors. Some of the items she sells are made by local artists. On one wall she has a bright quilt that was made by a San Juan resident. Paintings also hang on the wall by local artists.
Other items include perfume, hand lotions and other items to pamper oneself. She also has a pile of doormats near the front door that pays homage to the city around her – they feature roosters.
“I want to see the town get a little more activity,” she said.
La Dolce Vita is located at 308 Third Street in San Juan Bautista. It is open every day from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 408-710-2454.
