It was time. Actually, it might have gone a bit past time, but I so loved the window with the vintage black & white photos pinned to the wall, that it was a bit tough taking it down. It made me smile each time I walked past it. But yes, it was time.

It was a bit comical being up in the window as the stream of folks passed by on the sidewalk as I was pulling out hundreds of numbered push-pins that were holding the photos in place. Ahhh, what we do for beauty.

For this new window, I wanted to use the sheets from a really old dictionary we found in Asheville last year. Many of the pages were falling out, so it seemed like a good way to put them to use. Create a sort of ‘wallpaper’ with the pages.

This window I wanted to be a nod to nature, with subtle usage of greens and browns. An early Spring thought.

Tons of terra cotta pots would become the base of the window. Adding the vintage pages to them, a sort of grass field was created. Windows should have a bit of fantasy to them. A bit of whimsy. When else do you get to see a hundred garden pots filled with vintage paper? Display windows can do just that. With a little singing bird pulling it all together.

It has been 2 solid days of non-stop display work, so by now you all know, I have been in complete heaven. While Nicole, Sarah & Mihae unpacked boxes and priced the copious amount of goods that arrived in the last few days, Heather and I took apart the old window displays and put a fresh spin on them.

I have been finding tons of old vintage photos on my buying adventures and really wanted to incorporate them into one of the windows. Now was the time. We used the black headed push pins that have numbers on them that we sell and I created a photo collage with the old photos. Kind of a photo wallpaper.

From there we start pulling things from the shop floor that has a similar vibe. The black and white photos of the horse show I found on our last trip to New York. They would be perfect in the ‘photo’ window, as well as old cameras and other vintage-y preppy stuff. The tiny white pumpkin an ode to the season.

Once done with the first window we worked our way over to the second. I am still crazy about the vintage maps we used in the previous window, so those stayed and became the wallpaper to this window setting. I really wanted this to be an earthy, natural window.

This set of vintage European amber apothecary bottles makes me weak in the knees. Seriously. They would be what I wanted the entire window based around. This collection becomes a piece of art when grouped together.

From there we just start pulling what we think works. It is a bit of a treasure hunt, but incredibly fun. I think windows should make you stop and think a bit. Be a tad clever, and make you look at each element, but have all the elements work together. A collective whole. Once done, it was then onto sprucing up the shop and weaving in all the new product that has arrived in the last few days. As I said above, pure heaven.

Summer has kicked into high gear in Seattle. Ahhhh, what a delightful sentence to type out. The windows at the First Avenue shop needed a little refreshing for all the new eyes that would be coming to town for a little July fun. With a nod to Wimbledon and many other Summertime activities, a side window was filled with vintage equipment and glove molds. Let the games begin!

Speaking of let the games begin. We could not do a window and not have a bit of London take center stage. The countdown has begun for the Olympics, and we could not be more excited! What also excites me are these incredible trunks–glorious, just glorious.

And we would be remiss if we did not include some sort of bird theme in at least one window. I love watching trends come and go. For us, birds have always played a part of the mix at Watson Kennedy. The trend may end, but our birds will never go away. TPS found that amazing barnacle encrusted branch on the beach when he was taking Bailey for a walk a few years back. It has found a permanent home in that side window, adding a natural element to any display it graces.

A relaxing Sunday to you all. TKW

It was an early morning start yesterday, as our goal was to give both windows at the Home store a complete re-do. Display & design are 2 aspects of owning retail stores that get my heart racing the quickest. To be able to create a completely new look in a matter of hours–I just love it!

With Amy & Heather by my side, we raced right through getting the windows emptied and cleaned. Now onto the fun part. For the first window, I really wanted to have the new console take center stage, and treat it like a desk. The Lucite ghost chair working perfectly to almost just disappear, and not block things. The vintage charts and maps are a new find. More on those for a later post. I acquired 100′s of them, so I really wanted to highlight these too. We treated them almost like wallpaper, covering the entire wall. The Lucite based vintage glove mold lamps had been waiting for just the right spot, as well as the vintage typewriter. I like to create a story for each window in my head, before it begins. It ended up just as I had pictured it.

We did the same wall treatment for the second window. The coloring of the maps working nicely with the fabric on the vintage chairs.

The little side tables are new. I found these at the show in New York last month. They are holding lamps made from vintage soldering irons.

A set of green vintage Harvard Classics books were set about, as well as vintage floats.

Fresh windows just re-energizes things. I love how customers come in and mention them right away. It was a perfect way to start a Friday morning. A few flower stems were added, and we were off and running.