lounge around

i've really liked the direction restoration hardware has been going over the last year or so, so i was more than pleased to hear that the 2010 collection of restoration hardware garden was on its way. since i generally find rh baby & child to be uninspired (with the exception of the plush collection you might remember from the honey gift files), i was happy that this garden collection proved much more exciting.

i really, really love several of the furniture collections - they epitomize a certain type of timeless grace and class that makes me really happy. they're so nicely designed - like real, beautiful furniture - which i think so much outdoor furniture forgets to be.

the provence collection, above and below, made of all-weather wicker is a more current take on a traditional french country look, with a rustic elegance that i appreciate for something as perennial as an outdoor living space. i love the way the weathered grey wicker looks with the reclaimed teak tables in the collection - such a fresh, inspired touch. doesn't it just look like an enchanted garden?

i also like the hampshire collection, below. i love the way it shares so much DNA with traditional outdoor furniture of yore, but is unmistakably elegant and polished in a way that so much old wicker furniture is not. part of it is the weathered grey finish, but the sweeping shape of the pieces and the large scale suggests a certain modernity as well.

if you like the wicker look, but these are too traditional, the antigua, the del mar and the la jolla are more modern takes.

with its chippendale roots but overall contemporary look, i'm mildly obsessed with the kingston collection. traditional by some standards and more modern by others, i think it's a really nice, balanced look. love teak, don't you?


um, may i please live here?

similar to the kingston, but with rounded details, is the leagrave collection, another winner.


i adore the leagrave chaise. it's just so perfect. i want to sit on it with a magazine and sunglasses and an iced coffee and just be fab.

in a curvier, more ornate teak style, i love the lutyens bench, which conjures images of beautiful gardens and an utterly elegant outdoor experience.

but it's really the sleeker, more modern collections that make my heart sing. they feel like what you'd find at devastatingly amazing mid-century homes like this one. and i want to go to there.

i give you the belvedere collection...

but the collection that just slays me is the st. barts. in all its mid-century glory, i think it's just perfection. and the stone fire table? yes please.

looking at this collection reminds me of admiring someone who is beyond a normal level of glamour and intrigue. (sigh).

and then there are the daybeds. loving this trend in outdoor living, a truly resort-inspired addition to the category. my favorites are the ones which provide shade, since that's always a priority to me. the spartan is transporting in its style - it's insta-vacation, as far as i'm concerned. although i'd like if there were some other pieces in the collection, besides the daybed itself.

there's also the antibes, above, perfect because it provides propping up as well, and the del mar (below). to me, these both need some sprucing. love the bones, but that's all there is.

which brings me to the textiles. i think they did a great job with their collection of all-weather pillows, towels and totes (love that they included totes, though i wasn't knocked out by them). interesting prints, strong and varied color schemes and an all-around synergy, i think, between the textiles and the furniture collections.

i love the mix-and-matchability of it all -the towels and pillows are grouped by pattern - medallion, awning stripe and solid and woodcut, stripe and solid.

in a slightly separate category but still coordinating, there's the regent collection, which i love for its beautifully washed-out colors.

i also really like a couple of their outdoor rugs, namely the tapestry border rug and the valencia striped rug, both shown below.

i think you can probably tell i'm a fan. i find the whole effort to be very stylish, and totally uncynical, if that makes sense. the choices in material, design and color are strong and definite and unafraid to be too this or that.

i love that they offer so many different styles -- way more than most sources, and i only showed you a handful, so definitely check them all out. i really love the idea of the outside of a home as an extension of living space in the months where weather permits, so it's nice to see a true array of options to choose from, not just a few variations on the standard-issue deck furniture we all know so well.

big fan. BIG.

what do you think?

photos from www.restorationhardware.com