Between Sips of Cab, Try a Wine Country Design Crawl
Author:Christina JulianWhen the sweet scent of harvest gets too heady to handle, crawl into some of our favorite Wine Country shops. In Napa, Cake Plate’s colorful display of accessories and fashions border on delectable. St. Helena uncorks a chic spin on home and garden goods at the new Acres boutique. Keep trucking down the main drag of town to Steed, a designer’s paradise masquerading as an equestrian tack shop.
Acres Home & Garden, one of the newest additions to the St. Helena strip, is a playful paradise where a pyramid of pitchforks reign alongside skull throw pillows, slick gardening and rain gear, and a random smattering of things for the home.
Cake Plate in Napa
At Cake Plate sister owners Lindsay Kroll and Paige Smith serve up a delectable dish of a space that pops with playful scenes. Taking cues from Audrey Hepburn and inspiration from vintage photographs and antique flea markets, these girly-girls went for an aesthetic that is “lady like with a modern, cheeky edge,” says stylist Smith. Deep dish designer duds from the likes of Milly, Kate Spade and Trina Turk sweeten the scene. The succulent spread of designer frocks is rivaled with dashing décor that softens the industrial look with splashes of color in all the right places. Touches like the zig-zag wall spread and pink and purple furniture forever remind us that girls really do just want to have fun.
Steed Fine Hoarding & Tack
Steed Fine Hoarding & Tack stands in a class all its own. What started as a trade furniture and lighting store, ultimately morphed into what owner-designer Dione Herself (formerly creative director and buyer for Erin Martin’s St. Helena showroom), dubs the anti-store. “It’s kind of like a chick fortress. It’s the stuff I dig and hopefully other people dig too.” The shop carries everything from consignment tack (equestrian gear) to driftwood art and vintage riding attire. According to Herself, the shop caters to a mixed bag crowd of equestrians, fashionistas and designers. “It’s really great because designers come in and see tack with a completely different eye. They look at reins and show ropes and see them as curtain pulls and draws. They look at bits and see how you could make a lamp.” She’s even got a chair made of English stirrup leather and a vintage Japanese bike from the 1930s. The inventory is ever-changing so you never know what you’re going to get, but most definitely an eyeful.
