Pottery Barn

Profile

Sublime, extreme domesticity awaits nesting shoppers at Pottery Barn, where bedspreads are fluffy and bright, rugs are lush and spotless, and knives always find their way into the right kitchen drawer. The stores’ interiors are a 3-D equivalent of the home décor titan’s modern, European-inspired catalog. In the bedroom area, dressers, headboards and consoles are draped with coordinating linens, set against complementary backdrops. Over in the living rooms, inviting leather armchairs and roomy armoires framed against big windows and blonde wood floors offer weary shoppers welcome respite. The kitchen section, outfitted with an array of tempting glassware, crockery and textiles, shows you how to stock a bar—and match your utensils to your cabinets—while the rug and upholstery selection, often folk-art-inspired and dyed in subtle, vegetable-hued tones, has coordinating curtains, carpets, and throw pillows. The store can be a mob scene on weekends, staffers recommend arriving when the doors open, or towards the end of the night. — Faran Alexis Krentcil

Extra

Pottery Barn Kids and PB Teens do not have New York City outlets; head to Garden City or surf on line.

Sales

Seasonal sales on Labor Day, the 4th of July, post-Thanksgiving and post-Christmas.

Key Departments

Registry

The originator of chic, affordable housewares is still a good bet for oversize, inexpensive dinner-plate settings, flatware, and stemware.