...about holiday trends: West Elm holiday preview.

If it's August, it must be Christmas. That's the retail rule that cranks up the calendar so we all have time to plan ahead, and figure out what style we want when we finally get our merry on. I was lucky to be invited to the West Elm headquarters, in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge on a hot July day, to preview their fall and holiday collections. 

What West Elm does, they do really well, and their holiday collection of tabletop, home, kitchen and cool-season introductions proved to be more of the same: collaborative endeavors, smart and stylish packaging, great staples, an "evident hand" and seasonal accent that have a shelf life past the red letter day. And throughout, the seasonal introductions build on collections and Christmases past (the dotted penguins are back!), allowing you to continue to layer on and tell your own home and holiday tale. Here are my highlights...

Gifts of the Manguy

For those stumped by man-shopping, West Elm has you covered with items you won't need to save the gift receipt for. Grooming and bar-stocking seemed the center of the gifting, and standouts included a chic prepackaged sake set that looks like way more money than it is. 

No guys on your gift list? Not to worry... the individual decanters with turned-wood-ball stoppers, agate-slice coasters (FINALLY, available in all one-color or mix and match!) and more seasonally-themed items (peppermint-striped paper straws, felted reindeer and penguin coasters) make ideal host or hostess gifts... or make you look like the perfect host or hostess.

Gifted for Good

With the success of past giving campaigns with St. Jude's, West Elm once agains shows its charitable side, this season with a new collection of mugs benefitting St. Jude's, the SPCA, AmFar and other worthy causes.

Menagerie, a Trois

West Elm continues to explore whimsical animal themes, and new additions give the streamlined ceramic menagerie of Jonathan Adler a run for the money... for a lot less money. While they look wintry now, most will survive the season. I know a few Bears who'd love to be on the gift list this year, lined up for the polar bear cake plate and cookie jar. I'd use the fox or squirrel in a nursery to stash away smaller items.

Tree Alternatives

West Elm has always addressed the challenges of small-space living, even with holiday additions. This year's introductions include a flat-pack tree, with classic Nordic roots and cool graphic style. It could hold its own without a single ornament.

Smart Kitchen

They've continued to stock the pantry over in the West Elm kitchen section since its recent introduction, part of the company's attempt to create more one-stop shopped for brides-to-be and first apartment furnishers. Especially of note, these chic and sleek knife blocks. Designed with that headsmack of "Why didn't anyone think of this before?" their cylindrical design takes up vastly less space on a New York countertop. And thank you, West Elm: knives and blocks are sold separately if its just the wood you want to get your hands on.

Patchwood

Speaking of wood, long gone are the days when the only flavor of wood over at West Elm was Chocolate. New introductions for Fall and beyond show a playful, artisanal approach to wood. The patchwork dresser is the first piece in a coming collection, but even on its own, it's the dream piece to knit together an existing room's worth of mismatched wood tones. 

Are We All Lit?

On almost any interior job I do, a lamp from West Elm manages to make it onto a table, nightstand and into the portfolio picture. Their unique designs and pocket-friendly price tags make them both standouts and go-to pieces. Two new introductions give great shine and shimmer to country home or city boudoir. The cast twig lamp also shows that shine is not emasculating. I'd love it in a deep-cola or navy men's study or master bedroom. Use that one as a single to capitalize on its found quality, but use the stacked silvered glass lamp in pairs: it's perfectly nightstand-scaled.

Well Seasoned

West Elm continues its collaboration with Allegra Hicks, and her newest bedding looks nicely icy when surrounded by snow-covered trees, but I'd gladly slip into this printed and embroidered bedding when trying to keep my August cool. Pillows also easily find their way into a living room, and the duvet alone creates a dreamy palette for an entire bedroom.

Menswear and Modern

The new Victor chair was already a welcome addition to the West Elm custom upholstery collection, but the style quotient has been haberdashed way up in this straight-from-the-design-buildings menswear flannel check. Bulky knits also made more than one appearance throughout all the collections, even used as a printed motif on serveware.

Tree Trends

Icy, woodsy and colorful: these were the three main tree stories, with collections that prove one-stop tree trimming doesn't have to end up looking cookie cutter. The signature mix of handmade, organic, and a dusting of holiday bling made each tree look collected and quaint. And lots of the ornaments would also be perfect table-top accents or gift wrapping trim.

Wood Luxe

I've always loved the wintry mix that West Elm serves up: like Elves at the disco, Studio 25th of December, with birch bark, snow and glitz in a winter wonderland. And the tablescapes of West Elm's holiday collections aren't just for Christmas: they'd go all the way from Winter Solstice to the perfect New Year's Eve fete, feast or festival. And again, don't let the setting fool you: most pieces can stand on their own year 'round. 

 

Good Look for the Money

West Elm manages to get a lot of look for the money, and these glass shapes (perfectly and beautifully packed for giving) are no exception. 

Fall, for Bronze

I've often joked that my favorite season is "Retail Fall," and although West Elm's big brother Pottery Barn does it best, West Elm does fall with warmth, modernity, and a global air. Bronzes, moroccan lighting, foxed mirror, metallic glazes and custom tableware designed by Laura Zindel will all cast a far eastern and Indian summer glow from living room to dining table.

 

Modern (Color) Family

Not all fall and holiday colors are deep... a sand-washed palette, more Santa Fe than Santa Claus (perfect for a mid-century-a-phile) worked its way into hand-blocked textiles and a growing collection of seeded-glass vessels that look like they came from a gallery or craft fair, not mall or catalog.

Square Biz

I also can't wait to get my hands on the new and untrimmed preserved box wood wreaths: fresh and modern in a square shape, manageable in price and size (enough to easily consider multiples), and the perfect backdrop for a custom wreath design.

Color Blocked

From rubber-dipped canvas totes to linen and velvet pillows, West Elm doesn't shy away from color, and gives you lots of colorful ammunition whether upping the color ante for a holiday party, or giving a white-walled rental or color-fearful some easy-to-change hue and dash.

I left West Elm, indigo-dipped goody bag in hand (including the clever Mason-jar martini shaker!), whistling a holiday tune (okay, humming. I can't really whistle). Who knew, in the dazzling summer sun, we need a little Christmas now? Thanks West Elm! Counting the days! 

What West Elm look are you most excited about? How would you use it in your home! Tell me!!

Get social! Follow West Elm on Facebook, and follow their blog, Front & Main.

... about Rachel Doriss.

Listen in on my conversation with Rachel Doriss, textile designer and Creative Director of Pollack Fabrics, as she talks to Apartment Therapy about the Bed Stuy apartment she shares with her music-producer husband Joel and daughter Coco, about where she finds inspiration, and her deeply embedded love of the textile arts, just one of the many gifts she's plucked from her family tree.



See the whole Tour over on Apartment Therapy.

...about theme decorating: out to the ballgame!

Theme decorating (especially when it’s a sports theme) can get a bad rap. And for some very good reason.  The celebration of sport, interior design-wise, is not always pretty, and it’s often a point of division (and not just of the Yankees/Mets variety), when one resident is more a fan than the other. Rather than arrive at a design compromise, many times “the sports room” becomes the den or home office that gets closed off when company comes unless they’re coming for game day. It doesn't have to be.

Clockwise from upper left: Relief Pitchers, Elizabethton, TN, David Deal; Maya Romanoff “Stitched II, Vinyl Wallcovering; Swan Chair, Fritz Hansen; Tim Thumb, Andrea Modica, “Minor League;” Cherner Task Chair; Stratus Mini Pendant, Fredrick Ramond; Segreto Desk, Potrona Frau Andree Putman.

There’re the rooms designed to be a mini-museum of photos, memorabilia. Then there’s the little league: kids bedrooms built around a favorite sport or team... done right, a great inspiring space that’s positioned to grow as team loyalties change. Done not-so-great, these rooms can look a little like a birthday party exploded. 

Is it possible to create a tasteful room built on team spirit? I got ideas, how ‘bout YOU?! Warning: mixed sports metaphors ahead. And I will say "balls" a lot. Balls.

Relief Pitchers, Elizabethon TN, 1999, David Deal, from "Prospects: A Portrait of Minor League Baseball"

Inspired By the Game

I love the idea of peeling away the layers of a theme, and applying some design principles to make rooms that fanatic and non-fan can share without having to call in the ump. Any sport, its equipment and the places it's played present a whole toolbox of texture, color and shape from which to build, whether basement rec room or nursery. I love the idea of building a room from that toolbox, with shapes evocative of a sport, and not necessarily actual items or theme-y, literal and team-branded pieces by novelty makers. The sport of baseball is great source for these kinds of material inspiration: leather gloves and balls, exposed metal, simple shapes. And there are great pieces where the context makes the piece sport-driven. 

Above: Random Light Suspension Lamp, Moooi
Below: No. 46, by Don Hamerman

The Random pendant is seen without any obvious sports connection in many a contemporary interior, but against a blue backdrop of seamed wall covering from Maya Romanoff, and suddenly you’ve got yourself the start of a sports story. Add a Bertoia chair, and you’ve made a subtle reference to a catcher’s mask. Okay, maybe not sooooo subtle, but you get the idea. The bonus is that since these rooms are often the repository of lots of branded and busy memorabilia, these bigger, simplified shapes create a great backdrop and keep the shell of the room quieter, letting the treasured ball or bat or jersey stay the star.

Bertoia Side Chair with Cushion

Interior designer Joe Cangelosi agrees that it’s all about inspiration, not piracy: “Take elements of the client's favorite team. For example, Yankee pinstripes on the walls. Or use team colors as accents in your accessories.”

Like I advise in any design plan to keep a room cohesive, sports-themed or not, make sure anything you bring in has something in common with what’s already there. If you know the room will house signed red and white baseballs and autographed wood bats from your favorite Yankees, then you’ve already got your room’s palette: White, red and blue, with wood and leather (and the plexi of the display cubes) your potential materials.

Clockwise from upper left: Artifort 585 Chair, Geoffrey Harcourt; Baseball Chair, YoonJung Heo; Nut Pendant, LZF; Ball in Hand, David Deal; Maya Romanoff “Stitched II, Vinyl Wallcovering; “Rawlings,” Don Hamerman; Center, Bertoia Chair with Cushion.

Head Office

I like the idea of tackling a sports-inspired room as the design for a sports front office instead of a sports bar. Instead of a throw-away directors chair emblazoned with a team logo, make more grown up choices (like that classic Bertoia chair). Suddenly, you go from farm league to the majors, and even the non-sporting group will start to feel comfortable in the room, too. 

Clockwise from upper left: Bats, Amarillo TX, David Deal; Random Light Suspension Lamp, Moooi; Maya Romanoff Braided Hemp Wallcovering; Clybourn Desk, Crate & Barrel; No. 46, Don Hamerman; Bob End Table, Poltrona Frau; Bertoia Bench; Placentero Chair, Batti

New Jerseys

I love framed jerseys... IF they are framed well. Forego the multiple mats, color-matched frames and logo embellishments. A great jersey (or ticket or baseball card) looks best in a clean presentation... floated in a plexi box, or shadow-boxed in a warm walnut or black-stained frame. Modern, clean and simple is the best way to slide into home.

Ball in Hands, David Deal, from "Prospects: A Portrait of Minor League Baseball"

Framed Art

If you want to deck the wall of a room to honor Sport, but you’re not a collector of signed photos, look outside the sports memorabilia shops and turn to galleries and fine artists for images to anchor the space. There are some gorgeous images of players and places by some talented, exhibited photographers... Andrea Modica and David Deal show off their amazing eye and love of the game in pictures of farm league players. David’s images work at any size, but absolutely soar when blown up to three or more feet wide. The bonus of some of David’s outdoor images, especially when used large, is the illusion of adding a window to rooms typically devoid of them (basements and home offices). Home run. (I warned you.)

Bob Coffee Table, Poltrona Frau 

Color Coverage

Team colors are always big players in sports-themed rooms. Here in New York, we’re lucky to have two blue-and-white teams, easy to work with in large or small doses. But when your team colors are something a little more loud than you want the room to be, use them in smaller doses, tempered with lots of white, silver, wood and black. A purple and yellow jersey in a largely white room looks like a grown-up lives there. A purple and yellow room, notsomuch. So, like the Bud you down in the bleachers, know when to say when, or you end up with a sloppy mess.

Stratus Mini Pendant by Fredrick Ramond

But if you are adding team color, remember that color doesn’t just come from paint. I love the idea of a colored lighting fixture, like the Stratus Mini-pendant. But again, steer clear of the lamp made of a stack of baseballs. Save up for the collectors signed ball instead. In this executive office or mogul's media room, it’s about class, not kitsch.

Baseball-inspired Table and Chair, YoongJung Heo

The Thing’s the Thing

If the room’s destined for a serious collector and not just a fan, remember that the accessories will be the collectibles themselves, so go light on anything else you bring in, however tempting. Jim Fairfax, of Fairfax Designs, gives an example: “I worked with an attorney several years ago obsessed with baseball. The design for her home study became about the display of her collection rather than any sports references like team colors or patterns.” How did he make that happen? “Custom cabinets, spot lights on important pieces.” That included some pieces bigger than Jim had planned on. “During the design of this room the old Yankee Stadium began offering the physical stadium seats for sale. Guess where her season seats ended up? Front and center in the room. Those two seats were as important to her as someone else's 15th century collection of jade carvings.”

Bats, Amarillo TX, David Deal, from "Prospects: A Portrait of Minor League Baseball" 

Go Old Team

If your room is just meant to celebrate the love of sport, and not necessarily a favorite team, interior designer and blogger Brion R. Judge, of B.R. Judge Design and Bastion & Lark, thinks old is new: “I've only had one client that wanted a sports-theme room of any kind (thank god for little favors!) My solution was to find vintage sports pieces, old boxing gloves, a vintage basketball outfit ... a great vintage leather football helmet and things of that nature.” Plus, he notes, “these type of pieces help bring a bit of heritage into a space.” Aside from adding great texture and warmth, Brion likes them for what they don’t bring: “Most of these things generally don't have vivid, bright or gaudy colors (much unlike current sports gear) so they become neutrals in the space while still being focal points.”

While all these ideas are meant to make rooms where taste levels rival team spirit, ultimately they're meant to be rooms built on fun, spirit and personal style, and Jim doesn’t disagree that it's okay if spirit trumps style. “Design for me is always about creating spaces that celebrate a client's passions. If sports touches someone's heart, the theme isn't important. It's all about the celebration. Why not put it on display?”

Whether it's sports-, travel- or, well, anything related, there are plenty of ways to keep themed décor stylish, grown-up, and in a room you'll be happy to keep open all year long. So maybe "theme décor" isn't an oxymoron after all. Balls.

Get social! Find Fairfax Studios, Joe Cangelosi Design, and B.R. Judge Design on Facebook.