By Sharon Cohoon, Sunset senior garden writer

Carpenteria already offers gardeners lots of rewards -- Seaside Gardens nursery, with their incredible demonstration gardens; exotic Island View Nursery, Eye of the Day for pots, fountains, and statuary, and several orchid greenhouses.  It even offers a great place to have lunch in a garden -- The Garden Market.

What Carpenteria didn't have, until recently, was a home/garden store.  Porch ends that. 

Owners Diane Doland and Christie Boyd describe their style as "rustic contemporary."  That means furniture with fairly classic lines but often made out of sustainable products such as bamboo or salvaged wood.  Lots of neutral colors.  Lots of natural materials -- straws, stone, shells.

It's a beautiful space, too.  Flooded with light, big, fat, exposed roof beams, and a concrete floor with a lovely patina.  It used to be a bank building.  The vault is still in place.  Boyd and Dolan have turned it into a miniature art gallery for local artists--a fun idea.

Porch is located at 5065 Carpenteria Ave, Carpenteria.  (805) 684-0300.