Thoughts on Pottery Barn

By Do Je-hae

Editorial writer

I have always believed that the best time to start putting up Christmas decorations is immediately after Halloween. That way, I get to enjoy the pretty holiday decor, which has an immediate healing and uplifting effect, as early as possible. I usually start decorating for Christmas in early November and keep the decorations around the house until the end of March.

This year I decided to update my Christmas decoration collection, consisting mostly of stuff from the nation's favorite dollar-shop chain Daiso because I had got tired of recycling them every year. So right before Halloween, I did some major house cleaning and finally threw out all of the old Christmas decor I have hoarded for the last four years or so.

I enjoyed the Daiso holiday decor while I had them and will probably shop there again for more items during the holiday season as its price competitiveness is unmatched by any other lifestyle brand I know. But this time, I wanted to get some staples like a Christmas tree from a more upscale brand. That's when the U.S. home decor store Pottery Barn came to mind. It is one of the lifestyle brands owned by Williams Sonoma that was introduced to Korea by Hyundai Livart.

When I visited the Pottery Barn store in Nonhyeong-dong, Seoul, earlier this month, they were having a first-year anniversary sale. Pottery Barn is housed with other William Sonoma brands, such as Pottery Barn Kids and West Elm in an exclusive building in the "furniture district" of Nonhyeon-dong. The street where the building is located is filled with various home furnishing stores, including Kosney at Home, one of my longtime favorites.

I have known about the Pottery Barn building in Nonhyeon-dong for some time and meant to visit when it opened last year, but I did not have the chance to visit until the first weekend of this month. I happened to be running some errands nearby and decided to check out Pottery Barn.

I have always had a soft spot for it. It was a brand that Rachel and Phoebe used to buy from in the classic U.S. TV sitcom “Friends.”Any fan of the show would be familiar with it. I remember visiting the Pottery Barn website all those years ago and found a stool I really liked, but back in those days there was no Pottery Barn store in Korea. I inquired about overseas shipping and they said they did not offer shipping to Korea. That was way before the smartphone era and the online shopping craze. So I was really happy to learn that they had finally opened a store in Seoul, particularly since my favorite home decor brand Franc Franc withdrew from the Korean market a few years ago.

Did Pottery Barn live up to my expectations? To be frank, the answer is a big no. I visited all four or five floors of the building, but did not really find anything I liked. I think a lot of people in my living situation, consisting of a single person and a relatively small living space, would feel the same level of disappointment.

The display of the furniture and the wide range of kitchenware were very impressive. They would look fabulous for a magazine shoot for House Beautiful or Architectural Digest. But I'm not sure how many people in Korea would buy such huge and bulky kitchen tables or enormous salad bowls and dishes. Then I realized that a lot of the Pottery Barn items were more suitable for the U.S. lifestyle, where a lot of people live in houses and have backyards where they can have big family meals and host parties. In Korea, apartments are overwhelmingly the most common type of housing, and single households are increasingly becoming the norm. So that kind of heavy, big furniture or home decor items from Pottery Barn do not really fit in with Korean lifestyle and would look out of place in many Korean homes.

Another downside is price. Pottery Barn is probably not the best choice for price-conscious consumers looking to get a new bed or a couch. Even cheaper items, like their cushions, were way more expensive than the ones that I would find attractive at a local brand. And I did not feel that the design or the quality was worth that much money.

After my first trip to Pottery Barn, I walked out of the store thinking there probably will not be a next one for me. I did buy some wine glasses only because I was badly in need of new glasses for an upcoming holiday meal that I'll be hosting at my house. I have never hosted a Christmas dinner with my own cooking so that will be a story in itself. I'll talk about this in my next column.

Another reason I was disappointed with the store was that they did not offer a wide selection for Christmas even though there are lots of people like myself who jump into Christmas decorations right after Holloween.

So where did I go to replace my Christmas decorations? I ended up doing most of my Christmas decor shopping at Modern House, which recently opened near my home. They offer the cutest mini Christmas trees for small homes like mine. Also they are having a generous holiday sale, offering really high-quality items at a reasonable price. I would say a visit to Modern House is definitely worth it during this holiday season.

jhdo@koreatimes.co.kr