What a  great turn-out for the latest Apartment Therapy DC event at the CB2 store in Georgetown this week!

Jake and Steven

So…. the hip, upstart little sister of Crate & Barrel is cool, indeed.

The conundrum…where  exactly does this leave Crate & Barrel?  Are they suddenly…uncool?   That’s probably a bit harsh.  Crate & Barrel has always been a visionary (in terms of  delivering edited, really great design to the retail world).   I was a huge fan back in the early 80′s when I frequented its flagship store in Boston (think Marimekko wall-hangings).   So I get what they are doing with CB2…and there is definitely a gi-normous sea change happening in the world of design.  I’m guessing a “generational” re-calibration and also a shift,  born of the recession (the “undecorate” movement and all of that with the emphasis on function, thrift and “meaningful” decor).  Whatever.. it is a shift and…a good one.

So…on to the good (visual) stuff.  As a color person (with a camera) my eye immediately began taking in the showroom vignettes. Lots of saturated color.  As I entered the showroom, I first encountered the industrial gray thing…with red/orange .

Note the red/orange hair. And the orange ball.

Fabulous rugs, including an edited collection of FLOR (next post).

I  also learned that the CB2 “philosophy” centers on these things (all really good):

• design details
• the “refined industrial” aesthetic
• global texture
• dramatic scale
• one-of-a-kind-finds
• small spaces
• curated collections or “clusters”

“One-of-a Kind Finds”

And big kudos to CB2 for their “help-others” campaign.

And as I organized my photos for this post, they fell into two color categories.  The first is  gray/orange-red.

So here are the lovely servers from Cork Restaurant & Wine Bar who catered the event.  Orange details– were they styled?

So the palettes at CB2 are  bold and edgy.  And as I progressed to the back of the store, there was a shift to “gray + chartreuese” (next post).

Stay tuned~

Love u CB2!  Buying that fab “squirrel pillow” for myself and letting my “generation Y kids” roam for themselves. ; )