Crate and Barrel-University Village/Seattle

These are some outside lights in the trees at University Village in Seattle. The day was quite grey, but the deep red lights against the bare branches of the trees were simply magical. I think if you can decorate your store with only one product, inside or out, it should be with light. I think twinkling lights in a colour, or just clear white, puts everyone in a more relaxed frame of mind. Especially with our grey climate, lights work as a sort of pick me up...adding sparkle and shine to every space. When I had my store on Marine Drive in White Rock. I used to take 3 or 4 different strings of clear lights, different sizes and shapes, and hang them from a dowel behind my till. I instantly noticed how clear the colours of the clothing items appeared. When you have a store with fluorescent fixtures in the ceiling, that one type of light can be very 'flattening' to items and colours. Adding another type of light shows how under-lit most stores really are. It's always good to experiment with moving lights around...any time of the year!

When I was at University Village, I especially wanted to visit Crate and Barrel. I had been into their location in NYC in the Spring, and really liked it. This location was HUGE...but somehow was brought more into scale with a clever combination of lighting and merchandising. As the store was relatively new it was absolutely spotless. It reminded me of a new car that no one had ever sat in. It was decorated for Christmas in a variety of colours depending on the area. The colours were all jewel tones. Given the light oak floors and the sparkling white walls...these colours really 'POPPED'.

The store looked beautiful and festive,colourful and upbeat! Everything was touchable and appealing, and the colour blocks were strong and graphic. I would imagine that making this huge space look cozy and human-scaled must have been a real challenge but they did a great job. The Room-Sized Vignettes were outstanding...with special attention paid to colour and negative space(proportion). The store was full to the brim, with moms and dads,grandmas and grandpas. To round out the Holiday feel, there were lots of adorable children who looked as rosy-cheeked and well-fed as any little person of privilege should look on US Thanksgiving Sunday Afternoon. Had Norman Rockwell still been alive, he would have painted the scene I saw that day at Crate and Barrel.

www.crateandbarrel.com