Outside of the Box

I am obsessed with Pottery Barn.  Very few days pass when I don't peruse the website, looking for new pillows, sheet sets, accent pieces, and the latest sale items or those with free shipping.  My heart races with anticipation before I enter a store to watch the pages of the catalogue and Internet come alive.  I always want to curl up in the beautifully made beds with a good book (wrapped in one of their cable knit throws, of course) or have afternoon tea at one of the perfectly set tables.  It's a little like Christmas morning for me, no joke.  I unabashedly buy into the lifestyle that this store is in the business to sell.

Thank goodness for the Pottery Barns of the world.  Aside from the merchandise, such stores are great places for design and furniture arrangement ideas.  Pottery Barn, for instance, has long had links to small room ideas, outdoor living designs, or bedroom decorating tips.  For me, these catalogues become my decorating magazines.



These wooden blocks are actually prints created by local
artist, Karen Dean.  A Show of Hands carries her designs, which
change with the seasons.  These prints are in our guest bedroom,
paired with a Pottery Barn lamp, of course. 

But, there are only so many mass produced items that a home can take.  My fascination with chain decorating stores is this:  I want my home to look like a page out of the Pottery Barn catalogue in the feel and style of the room, not be an exact replicate. I think that is where a lot of people go wrong in decorating.  Too many people create rooms that could be in a magazine or catalogue, but are void of feeling or personality because all the items that make up the room will be in the homes of thousands, maybe millions, of other people.

The solution: blend the mass produced with the unique.  And you cannot get more unique than local art. 

Del Ray, and Alexandria more generally, take pride their art communities.  It's a really good thing.  Old Town is home to the famed Torpedo Factory along the Potomac River, which is a large warehouse of artisan rooms where you purchase works, take art classes, and watch the artisans in action.  Del Ray is not only host to one of the best area art shows each October and home to the Del Ray Artisans - offering a cheerful gallery to make and buy local art - but it boosts an entire store that pays tribute to the work of local artists: A Show of Hands.  This store masterfully showcases a range of local artisan work from photography to watercolors, glass designs to fabrics, jewelry to kitchenware.  If only more communities had places like this that celebrate art in all its forms and salute the work of  neighbors.  For me, the only thing better than the art in this store, is finding myself lost in admiration of the artists. 

No matter where I travel I am always on a mission to find something that celebrates that area's local flare.  Sometimes it is a painting, or a piece of pottery, maybe bench or chair. Then, I'll likely go to the Pottery Barn website to see if I can find a pillow to match.