Goofing around at CB2

06. Feb, 2010 1 Comment

Do as I say, not as I do. That’s how much of my advice should be classified, especially when it comes to travel. You definitely should explore the local coffee houses rather than buy your Venti this-or-that at Starbucks or Peet’s Coffee and Tea. You should, but I don’t – at least not always. By the same token, when visiting fabulous cities, the last place design-o-philes need to visit is a chain like CB2. San Francisco’s chock full of interesting independent shops, antique and otherwise, so there’s really no excuse for hanging out at Pottery Barn.* Following that advice kept me away the CB2 in San Francisco’s Union Square until yesterday morning when their windows proved too seductive to resist.

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By the time mass market retailers roll out their new designs, the ideas that inspired them have either morphed, died or simply been co-opted by everybody at once, so their merchandise doesn’t often surprise. Black and white checkered plaid was everywhere when Michael J. Fox wore it in Back to the Future, and it’s everywhere again, but ubiquity’s a trend killer, so even though I was excited to see BW√ again, ho-hum’s all I got at this point. But CB2 stays in front of trends better than most, keeping their inventory stylish, interesting and relatively low-cost. What do you think?

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*There is now a big Pottery Barn in the Castro, and it just doesn’t seem like a good fit. I feel the same way about the Gap in Haight-Ashbury.

Cool right? Contemporary but vintage. Ding, ding.

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Painting trophies is an excellent way to give them a more contemporary look. I recently photographed a Logan Square home where the very creative owner spray-painted trophies a hot pink and assembled them together for a very cool look. In fact, I believe he knows people at Crate and Barrel corporate, so I wonder if he inspired this display in San Francisco? A butterfly flaps its wings . . .

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