STORE TOUR: WEST ELM FALL TRANSITION

Happy Monday! I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful weekend. Although I didn't work on any home improvement projects over the weekend, I did mange to go check out some fave stores, to see how they are transitioning from Summer to Fall. Yes, the thermometers may be rising, but for retailers, it's time to start thinking Fall sets, and even start planning Holiday sets for their stores. Since West Elm recently sent out a new catalog, I wanted to see if their stores reflected the newness... and as usual, they did not disappoint! The only bit of summer spotted was one lounge chair with some sale items. The rest of the store featured more neutralized displays, and a bit of color-blocking in red, orange, green and still some blue. Here's what I shot for you...

Beautiful graphic telling the story of the store set...

PATTERN & PALETTE

Refreshing - a pop of brick RED for an accent paired with neutrals...

Noticed several grapevine branches - here and another store.

Great piece to add a little organic touch to your decor.

LOVE the look!

(however, since they also do sell books, this can be confusing to a custome)

Great idea to frame - tear sheets from a book - or even a newspaper - to add artistic texture to a gallery style collection.

Great color statement.

And to help "fill" shelves working with less merchandise they did a "top down fill"

and left the bottom empty.

 

From this perspective, you don't even notice.

This picture frame wall looked great.

Three vertical statements with merchandise right below.

Noticed a lot of silver, especially the antiqued mercury and even mixed with bronze...

LOVE when store graphics coordinate with the catalogs and online.

Total synergy for branding!!

Great color and lifestyle story to still have a coastal statement...

Cinnamon & paprika are always a fall fave combo...

Go green - seasonless and always refreshing...

Although there was some clearance, it was as full and heavy as seasons past. This is because stores are buy more narrow & deep assortments based on customer buying trends. They still make some profit on markdowns, but not nearly as much as the regular or "sale" merch. These printed flameless candles were a good deal though - 6.97 for the large and 3.97 for the small. Hmmm... May need to pop back in to pick up three of the large. Could look nice in the glass cylinders I already have, and change the shell fillers for black river rock or black sand =) They even had some metallic charcoal napkins on clearance that could work great for Thanksgiving or Holiday...

Noticing more wooden turned leg

 styles popping up in furnishings... Here, the ottoman is wrapped in a Dhurrie.

Turned legs work well for a collected style mix...

The ottoman works great as a coffee table.

Pops of white accessories are still strong - Fresh & Modern

This was a nice clean statement, but it did look a little flat - no chandy or no centerpiece.

Great printed table linens...

They may have still been setting one area - bedding. The one feature wall they usually have set in a deep "ben" color was bare - it was primer white.

BM = Benjamin Moore - Click to see paint colors

Hopefully they are painting it SOOT (It is what it says it is - think off black. I'm totally infatuated with the color. Would LOVE to use in the dining room.)

After touring this store (and a few others I'll be sharing Tuesday & Wednesday), I'm inspired to start pulling down and packing away summer. Not to go Fall just yet, but I do like to neutralize the house before setting another season. It gives time to packing up one season (neatly for next year) without wreaking havoc on our home with a mess of trying to set another.

Overall, the store looked great!

Have you been to a West Elm store or their site lately??

Must stop by to check them out - especially the new Fall Preview & arrivals!

Tomorrow, I'll show the tour of Crate & Barrel.

Wednesday will be Z GALLERIE (i heart!)