Over the past couple of years, Restoration Hardware has been quietly changing its style, look, and approach. You might not have noticed the adjustments, but the Bay Area-based brand has slowly transformed itself from an upscale furniture store into a luxury design powerhouse. Take a closer look and you’ll realize that the contemporary overhaul is apparent in everything from its San Francisco design district showroom to its new initiatives to its name. Restoration Hardware has been replaced with RH and its launched an entirely new collection of furnishings, lighting, and decor—dubbed RH Modern—created in partnership with internationally renowned interior designers. Timothy Oulton, Jonathan Browning, Thomas Bina, and Ed Robinson are some of the artisans collaborating with RH Modern to craft fresh, compelling, and minimalist high-quality decor pieces.
There is no better way to get a sense of RH’s new look than by visiting its gorgeous gallery at 188 Henry Adams Street in the heart of SF’s design district. The stunning architectural masterpiece has a large outdoor garden and patio space filled with RH’s lounge chairs, bubbling fountains, and fragrant olive and lemon trees. The interior showroom is a series of massive rooms with 16-foot ceilings and filled with RH products. A giant white sectional sofa, RH’s unique Cloud Couch, which is so comfortable you’ll never want to get up (thanks to 8.2 pounds of down in each cushion), sits in the center of one of the rooms. Bold chandeliers hang from the ceiling like jewelry on a woman’s neck. African mud cloth throw pillows, brass trimmed mirrors, antique porcelain statues, giant crystals, sturdy coffee tables, inviting beds, glimmering hardware—every where you look it’s modern minimalist design heaven. Everything in the gallery is shoppable and much of it is customizable. There is a design atelier where homeowners can work with RH’s specialists to make the perfect sofa or bathroom. Spend just five minutes in the gallery and you’ll want to move in.
Although you won’t be able to live in RH Modern’s showroom, you can move into Eight Palms, the first completely designed and furnished RH Residence in Napa Valley. Two years ago the estate was purchased by the brand’s chairman and CEO Gary Friedman. Along with the help of RH’s design team, he restored, remodeled, and reimagined the property into what it is today—a beautiful home with vineyard views, a pool, guesthouse, green lawns, private gardens, and multiple suites. Eight Palms is the first of what RH hopes will be a flourishing new business category: fully furnished luxury homes. It’s a fascinating new concept and we’re curious to see how it continues to grow.
In other RH news, the brand launched its new outdoor collection—with lanterns by Browning, a rope collection by the Condos Brothers, textiles from Sunbrella—on March 1. If you’re looking to refresh a rooftop terrace or poolside deck, we highly recommend browsing the posh new products.
