Tuesday, March 30, 2021

A little "dg side-eye" directed at Crate & Barrel

I will admit to being a longtime customer of Crate & Barrel. So many purchases over the years! From housewares, to planters, to sheets, or even our sofa—C&B are well represented in our home. As such we get the paper catalogue from time to time and I was paging through the "late spring" issue when I found myself asking "What were you thinking!?"  (which may have actually came out as #FFS... or "what the..."). A photo from their website...
Although the actual pages (scanned) from the catalogue tell the story best. It's the Abaco collection photo spread that got me all worked up

I mean really! Would anyone actually do this?

Dig up an agave that is, roots and all, and then plop it down on your fancy (white) side table...

It's not like that little table is a potting bench and they'll be back in just a minute with soil and a container to pot that agave up, am I right? No it was placed there by some stylist who thought it looked, well, stylish. Good lord this has me thinking back to the time the Sundance catalogue shared an image of an agave plopped in a dish on a bedside table, however at least this one doesn't look like it would injure someone, sitting there on the end table. 

Then there's this awkward photo, ouch! I have a couple of those Lophocereus marginatus (Mexican fence post cactus) and while the spines are short I still wouldn't want to end up with them in my skin, and this chair is just too damn close for comfort! "Oh hey, why not squeeze in there next to the cactus, cozy up!"

On the other hand I really liked—loved—the spread for the Morocco collection...

I'd love a backdrop like that to my patio, rather than the bamboo stock tanks...

Seen any crazy garden photo shoots lately?

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Weather Diary, March 29: Hi 55, Low 37/ Precip .04 

All material © 2009-2021 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

12 comments:

  1. Not a single plant lover on that photo shoot set.
    (I bet no one would dare to grab a gold fish out of an aquarium and plop it down on a side table just to add a spot of color to the ambiance).

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    1. I had a good chuckle at your goldfish comparison!

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  2. I love the backdrop to many of these images. But that agave, roots and all? All horticultural issues aside, it's simply ugly like that!

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  3. I totally agree Loree! Here is another thing besides the poor Agave--I live in the Sonoran DESERT and the dusty sand here is everywhere in the house and outside. It just sifts in. And in the summer we have huge dust storms that cover everything! Those WHITE cushions would be a mess in no time! Unless, of course, you want to run out and bring them inside when you are not using them! Ugh, a nightmare! Oh, and you would have to roll those rugs up too or else have the vacuum sit near for another "decorative piece!" Ha!

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    1. You make several really good points Nancy, proving once again that reality does not sell like contrived beauty.

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  4. That's weird. An onsite stylist must have said "we need something green" and sent some poor intern to pull up an agave. Or maybe the seating arrangements are intended to keep unmasked visitors from actually sitting down and staying awhile.

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    1. "We need something green"... that sounds about right.

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  5. You can always tell when actual gardeners have been left out of the project.

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  6. Clearly, stylists aren't gardeners! My first thought was 'Who would actually sit out there in the blistering hot desert sun?'

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  7. The thing that gets me is keeping those white cushions clean in a desert environment, which is seriously dusty. And as Eliza said, sitting in blistering sun?!?

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