Some favorites from the latest West Elm catalog: resin tree stump side table, plastered aluminum pillar holders, driftwood table lamp, silver/natural linen gallery frames (This color combo is a nice alternative to the ubiquitous black and white gallery frame.)I seem to have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the mass chain stores. In a perfect world, I’d swear them off all together and instead opt only for the unique or antique or handmade or vintage, etc, etc… But I continually get sucked in by the great styling, and the (affordable) offerings are increasingly interesting.
But I find if I’m ruthless about buying only what I truly love (this usually involves forcing myself to institute a “cooling off” period after I first see it in the catalog or store before I take the plunge), and then I mix what I do end up buying with a liberal dose of the “obscure”, the mass pieces can feel surprisingly unique.
A great example of this in practice is from Tim Falle’s flickr (which I literally can’t get enough of.) That little blue and green pillow from West Elm sure looks far more interesting among his amazing finds doesn’t it?
Images via Tim Falle’s flickr stream
