A Day at Hawthorne with Pottery Barn

May 20, 2016

When the kind folks at Pottery Barn asked me to style and shoot some of their Summer 2016 Collection at Hawthorne we were delighted. We knew how fun it would be to mix & match some of those new goods with things we already had–that to me has always been the beauty of PB. Their monogramming service is what I was immediately drawn to as I perused the catalog. Monogramming to me highly personalizes an outfit, a table top, a tote, so I knew it would be really cool to add it to many of the goods for the shoot. Of course green would also play a large roll, as it always does, a little ‘Ghent Green’ as our friend Catherine calls it. So we were off and running! From pillows, to napkins, to runners and glassware, the Hawthorne “H” became the running theme.

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20160520-073515.jpg The first table set for a lunch outside in the backyard on our new oversized picnic table. Super lemony orzo pasta, a recipe from Style & Simplicity along with a tomato salad and baguette was on the menu, joined by one of our favorite rosé. The white lilacs looking stellar in the clear Pottery Barn heavy glass vases/cylinders I used in each vignette. Incredibly versatile vessels. The roped hurricanes adding a little candle action to the table along with the votives. Even in sunshine, I love a little flicker of candles. The wine glasses and napkins all adorned with an “H” which personalizes it all so. The placemats, dinnerware, silverware, and wood platters the baguettes are sitting on are all PB. It was a perfect day for an al fresco meal.

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20160520-074734.jpg Next up was an afternoon lounging in the living room. The “H” pillows just a fun, whimsical addition to our existing PB white sectional sofa that we do everything from nap on, read on, and watch movies. So extra pillows are always handy along with a blanket to curl up with. I set out the asparagus & Gruyere tart I wrote about last week and whipped up a tea cocktail, perfect for lounging on a sunny afternoon. The PB container the perfect receptacle for serving the drink. A Diptyque candle flickered away next to a geranium we picked up earlier in the week–two of my favorites, while songs by Diana Krall filled the air.

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20160520-075855.jpg Then a country supper. Mister Sive made corn chowder, a kale salad with strawberries and peach & blueberry cobbler. We set out a variety of cheeses on the very cool PB crisp and clean white platters so guests could get up and stretch their legs a bit and try variations of the jams and honeys with the cheeses. I used a simple bunch of yellow spray roses and filled that nifty glass vessel with lemons. The lemony yellow adding a happy brightness to it all. Again, the “H” on the glasses and the napkins pulling the monogram theme together. The plates, linen tablecloth & runner, silverware, votives and white console table, all Pottery Barn. The wine, Waterbrook Sauvignon Blanc I wrote about the other day, which we also served at the birthday party we hosted on Sunday. Yummy stuff. The votives flickering away as the sun went down with the sound of Miles Davis wafting about.

It was a fun, busy, full few days of pulling it all together for the shoot. Such an honor to be asked, and really cool to see all the fine wares in action in our beloved New York home. See the full story, posted sometime today on the Pottery Barn blog