West Elm Opens in Chicago

The first Chicago urban location of West Elm, the stylish furniture designers who offer affordable home goods that are chic and modern, has opened this February 3rd at 1000 West North Avenue in Lincoln Park. West Elm’s massive store features beautiful room examples to inspire shoppers for decorating, and carry on-site inventory to ensure that every customer walks out with what they need. They will also provide a Design Studio Center with interior design consultants to answer any design questions. We caught up with Creative Director Alex Bates to get her take on West Elm's must-haves, what's unique about the Chicago store and their partnership with The School of the Art Institute.

FACTIO MAGAZINE: What are top must-haves for any home?
You can never have enough Parsons ANYTHING. The simple, clean lines are the perfect solution for a multitude of uses + styles; it grows + goes with you wherever you go: The Parsons Desk: can fit any space – from a bedroom or living room, to a child's room, to a chic office. It can be used as the perfect console bar, hallway entry table, or I love it behind a sofa. The Parsons Dining Table: great as a dining table, desk, buffet. The new Parsons Side Table is the perfect bedside table in classic or modern rooms, or a chic side table in a living room by a sofa. Our Parsons Tower Bookshelf: works in the office, stacked with dishes/glasses/baskets in a kitchen, is great in a kids room, music room, or can be used to build a wall as a room divider.
 
Martini side tables: You can never have enough little side tables. You need at least one by your favorite chair or sofa for an extra place to put your drink or book. 
 
Stacks of pillows. My favorites are Handloomed Silk Pillows layered with a dash of Mongolian Lamb or Sheared Lambskin. Pick one or two fun prints, combine with texture and rotate covers with seasons to jazz up your room. And at West Elm our pillows don’t just look good, they do good – our Handloomed Silk Pillows are made in collaboration with Aid to Artisans by a women’s collective in India that supports economic sustainability and this incredible craft tradition.

Organic bedding. I do my best to buy organic but I don’t want to have to sacrifice style, comfort, or price. I keep this personal perspective in mind when designing for our customer. Check out our organic pin-tuck. You’ll sleep better. I promise.

Beautiful throws. I love our new Chunky Tassel. Layer them on beds or throw over a chair. They are great to curl up in and read.
 
Baskets + Trays: De-clutter and hide! Organize everything with baskets: our grey stained Kooboo and chunky woven naturals get you instantly organized. Plus, a little natural texture in a room always brings warmth and richness. One can never have enough trays, from lacquer to bone; use on dresser for bangles, a desktop for papers or a hall console to collect the mail + keys. Instant polish.
 
White dinnerware. It’s the perfect foundation to layer with accent plates and personal collections of vintage pieces. It looks especially chic mixed with recycled glass and natural woven placemats.
 
Cadman spine bookcase. A classic for us. It’s great to stack up all your favorite books, by the desk or by the bed. Create a wall of three towers and organize decorating books by the color of the spine for an instant sculpture.
 
Vases, bookends, lacquer boxes and books: A home is not a home without books. Arrange your favorites with clever bookends and witty objects. Gather your favorites over time to create a home that truly reflects your personality. 
 
Who is the West Elm customer? How are Chicago customers unique?
The West Elm customer is style-savvy, cares about design, functionality, quality and price. Sounds like Chicago, right? We know Chicago has an incredible design community and we’re excited to be a part of it. The city is home to some of the most amazing art museums and schools in the country, it has a thriving emerging artist scene, and we’re especially excited about our Lincoln Park neighborhood which looks to be emerging as the new ‘design district.’
 
What’s special about the new store?
It’s a big store – more than 20,000 sq. ft. with more than half of the space devoted to the sales floor.  The store’s size allows us to show our entire collection and house inventory on site so that customers can take their purchases home with them or arrange for immediate delivery. The Lincoln Park location also features an expanded version of our popular Design Lab for interior design consultations with our west elm design experts.
 
How did the partnership with School of the Art Institute of Chicago come about?
At West Elm, we have always been committed to supporting emerging artists and feel that one of the best ways to do so is by supporting arts education. In the past we’ve partnered with the Savannah College of Art and Design, and we have an exciting partnership going on right now with Pratt Institute in New York, and we knew immediately when we talked about opening this store in Chicago that we wanted to do something with the School of the Art Institute. We called them up as soon as we knew we were opening the store and brainstormed ideas of ways we could work together – they have been a great partner.
- Emily Ekern