Athena Calderone Designs a Home Collection for Crate and Barrel
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As her Instagram bio—Author, Interior Designer, Culinary Storyteller, Entertaining Expert—makes clear, EyeSwoon founder Athena Calderone never does anything by half measures. So it comes as no surprise that her Athena Calderone for Crate and Barrel collaboration, launching today, features 137 beautiful pieces that span furniture, tabletop, and décor. “My world is so multifaceted between the kitchen, entertaining, furniture, and design, so I wanted to create an expansive collection that covers every ceremonial touchpoint,” she explains.
The author of Live Beautiful and the James Beard award-winning cookbook Cook Beautiful has spent more than two decades assembling the French mid-century modern and Italian 1970s antique finds that decorate her Greek Revival townhouse in historic Cobble Hill, Brooklyn. She wanted her Crate and Barrel collection—which features wrought iron chairs and bouclé curved sofas—to offer the same sense of discovery at a more accessible price point. “One of the things I’m most proud of is that the collection as a whole feels collected,” Calderone says. “It doesn’t feel like it’s all from one store or one period.”
Calderone’s favorite piece is the white oat dining table inspired by a trestle farm table, which features a deep groove around the edge meant to symbolize the creative connectivity of communal meals. “It sounds silly and kind of hokey, but I always say that the dining table is where I workshop ideas, where I workshop flavors, where I workshop relationships,” Calderone explains. “So we called the table Es Taller, which in Spanish means workshop.”
The collection includes an array of sculptural plinths and floor lamps and candelabras, a design choice Calderone says helps add dimension to any space by adding varying planes. “I always feel like one of the mistakes people make is everything being on a singular plane,” Calderone says. “You always want to raise the eye upward.” Fluted detailing on a parqueted oak cabinet, plaster-like pedestal, and etched glassware and ceramic mugs pick up on signature architectural details from her home.
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