Ochre Obsession

I found it. I found my favorite home furnishings store in SoHo. Welcome to Ochre Store - where vintage meets simple and sustainable style. It was like walking into a calm, eco-friendly and elegant oasis. Yet, I nearly hyperventilated when I walked through Ochre’s front door and experienced the store’s perfect aesthetics. My senses were overwhelmed by the abundance of organic textures, vintage patinas and earthy tones throughout the space.

I had so much fun chatting with Jonathan and Susan {the store’s buyers} while scouring the store with my camera in hand. They were so kind to let me take photos of their gorgeous displays {see my photos below}. It was quite difficult selecting only six items to feature in today’s post, but I’m thrilled to have found them so I can include Ochre Store’s selections in future posts.

I’m still so amazed that I stumbled upon this store yesterday - it was fate, I suppose!

Ochre offers a beautiful and unique mix of European antiques and vintage pieces, fair trade products, and homeware collections designed by artists from around the world.

Another reason to love Ochre is their growing commitment to fair trade and sustainably-crafted products.  Here’s how they explain this part of their story on their website:

“We increasingly focus on products made under fair trade as well as green principles – partly because it’s the only sustainable way to live in today’s world and partly because we have found talented craftspeople who use these principles and are glad to make unique pieces in small quantities from our designs. We love working with Aid to Artisans, a non profit organization that helps artisans in developing countries bring their products to the US and Europe.” 

Did you happen to drool over the cover of House Beautiful in April?  Then you, too, love Ochre style. Ochre owners, Harriet Maxwell MacDonald and Andrew Corrie, were interviewed by House Beautiful featuring their beach house on Shelter Island. It’s a great interview. My favorite answer is from Harriet when she describes how they went about “decorating” the beach house.

“It's pretty simple, not really "decorated." We kept all the fabrics to natural, muted tones, and it's all of the colors you see in the views — whites, grays, blues, a bit of pale pink. The main thing is we've got quite a lot of our products in here. Probably more from the Canvas line, http://www.canvashomestore.com/ but there are upholstery pieces by Ochre. So it's a mix: art from friends, first prototypes, damaged and rejected pieces.”

Here are six functional and sustainably-crafted pieces from Ochre Store that could create a calm and neutral space.

1. Porcelain Dinnerware collection
Simply beautiful hand thrown porcelain dinner pieces by UK based ceramicist Daniel Smith.

2. Vintage Linen Napkins
Hand-woven textiles from Transylvania made from the finest vintage, hand-processed, hand-spun, organic boiled linen woven on authentic hand-looms.

3. Salvage Cedar Table and Bench from the Canvas furniture line made from salvaged cedar from New York City water towers.

4. Syrian Glass Carafe with Cup
Handmade in the ancient tradition of Syria, this recycled glass carafe and cup set is perfect for bedside or desk top use.

5. Square Vine Basket
Sturdy and natural, these vine baskets are perfect for extra blankets and towels, magazines, even firewood.

6. Nettle fiber Pillows from Mali
As natural as it gets, you will love the sophisticated look of these black and white nettle fiber pillows. Two different weaves, one loose and airy, the other tight and sturdy, create a stunning contrast when paired.

{view more photos from my Ochre Store visit}