Pottery Barn Style Guide

Defining the Pottery Barn Home Style

Defining the Pottery Barn home decor style is not too difficult. Walking into any of their showroom floors, you can immediately feel the look: it’s cozy, comfortable, modern country, with a dash of Provincial French timeless classic overtones. You can feel the influence of rustic farmhouse styles, English cottage country house inspirations, and a hint of raw Industrial elements.

• Soft, warm neutral colors and muted shades.
• White-washed and weather-worn furnishings.
• A timeless traditional style with vintage features making a statement.
• With room for modern components to keep the overall look fresh and current.

Let’s break down the different features from color, furniture, accents, and everything in between to compile the Pottery Barn home style guide.

SEASONAL

Pottery Barn specializes in seasonal decor. They are known for putting out new interior accents to refresh your home’s decor with each season and several holidays as well. Many people enjoy a home decor seasonal refresh as well, matching a home’s interior to the changes in season that are happening in nature.

• Spring - is all about freshness, flowers, and plants, putting away winter’s heaviness, and bringing out more vibrant colors and lighter textures.
• Summer - move towards lighter fabrics, bright primary colors, and easy-care furniture coverings.
• Fall - the mood shifts to autumn colors, darker richer shades, and more cozy layers.
• Winter - usually inspired by holiday celebrations, the decor turns festive, set for group gatherings, warm fires, and entertaining.

COLOR

• Bright shades of white set the foundation.
• Warm wood tones in furnishings as well as wall color.
• Steel blue and gray trim and accent walls.

These are the overwhelming shades that set the tone for the neutral colors of a Pottery Barn home style. This allows soft furniture colors and contrasting accessories or decorations to take center stage.

• Mainly white walls set the stage for creative patterns and textures on your furniture pieces to shine.

ENTRYWAY

The foyer or entryway is your first chance to wow your guests and set the tone for the rest of your home. It’s also basically a practical space for storage of things you need coming and going in and out of the home.

• For practical purposes having a small console-type table to hold keys, mail, tote bags, etc. is ideal.
• A hook rack is another practical accessory for garment storage.
• Add a small bench or side chairs for the complete ensemble.
• With Pottery Barn furnishings your foyer can be both beautiful and functional.

FURNITURE

Pottery Barn makes heavy use of wood in their furniture products.

• The colors lean toward the lighter shades of tans and beiges.
• The fabrics are neutral shades such as whites, light browns, sand, and light gray.
• Natural fibers are found in Pottery Barn rugs, blankets, pillows, and upholstered furniture. You’ll find mostly wool, sisal, cashmere, silk, cotton, jute, and linen.
• Investing in solid foundational pieces like a Pottery Barn sofa, bedframe, or dining table allows you to change the accents and decor accessories with the seasons and holidays. Those strong underlying elements will last through time and always remain relevant.
• Pottery Barn pillows and throws with their pops of color and patterns and other accessories is where your creative flair comes in.
• Many Pottery Barn rooms will have matching wood tones in their coffee tables, side tables, chairs, and tv stands.

PILLOWS GALORE

One of the defining characteristics that make up a Pottery Barn room is the throw pillows.

• You’ll find accent and throw pillows in just about every Pottery Barn decorated room.
• Now’s the time to insert your seasonal creativity or more impressive pops of color and texture into a more neutral room.
• Since Pottery Barn is a classic timeless style, you will find a lot of stripes and checked patterns in their collections.
• Button detailing is also common and adds to the vintage charm.
• Have fun mixing and matching your pillows on sofas, lounge chairs, and piled in room corners.

LAYERING

From an interior design perspective, the definition of “layering” is defined as: “...layering means covering the room with various elements that cohesively blend with each other, and in turn, add a lot of depth and persona to the room. Layering includes flooring, windows, doors, and walls.”

• Pottery Barn style uses layering to create that welcome homey and cozy vibe that is seen in much of their room designs.
• Layer with color and texture.
• For example, you layer whites on whites, or a gradation of ivory to white to gray.
• For an autumn season layered look, you can bring in the rich jewel tones of fall with garnet reds, deep plums, and burnt oranges which would look fantastic layered on a brown leather sofa foundational piece.
• When using a minimal color palette add your layering with textures.

COMFORT

Can’t have a Pottery Barn style home without mentioning comfort. They have successfully gotten this look and feel down to a formula.

• Soft comfortable blanket throws.
• Ottomans for putting your feet up.
• Plenty of accent pillows with touchable textiles.
• Plush seating.
• Area rugs with a nice underfoot feel.

ACCESSORIES

Pottery Barn shines in the accent department! They specialize in collections of:

• Modern art and picture frames.
• Baskets.
• Book collections.
• Candles - have fun with unique shapes rather than your standard pillars.
• Lamps - another place to add some distinctive style and a splash of color.
• Plants & flowers.
• Signs with meaningful sayings.
• Trays - try contrasting colors for these accessories.
• Vases.

Rather than going overboard on your ornaments, take time to choose pieces that will add that sweet touch to a space and be noticed.

OUTDOOR

• Classic, timeless, all-weather wicker.
• Crafted wood that meets the standards of the Forest Stewardship Council® and concrete pieces.
• Fresh color sets for summer.
• Autumn color sets for fall.
• Accents same as inside the home: potted plants, baskets, candles, vases, throw pillows, and blankets.