Here&There |
SHOP VISIT
The New Nostalgia Every object at Weston Table tells a unique tale.
BY ERIKA AYN FINCH
T
his story begins, fittingly, around an actual Weston table. Dianne O’Connor, a Montana native who’d had a career in finance before deciding to stay home with her five children, sat her family down one night in their Weston, Massachusetts, dining room and told them that she planned to dive back into the workforce—on her own terms.
O’Connor wanted to marry her love of decor, travel, and entertaining, but she didn’t want to give up being an involved mom. A year later, in 2015, she and her friend and business partner Kate Arnold launched an immersive online marketplace, westontable.com. The duo’s purpose is to encourage shoppers to slow down and purchase with intention. “We wanted to change the way you think about how you spend your hard-earned money,” recalls O’Connor, “and to teach people to buy with their heart. The site was designed to offer not only a product but an experience.” That experience includes anecdotes about the international roster of artisans Weston Table represents along with travel blogs, recipes, global restaurant recommendations, and a gift registry. The product photography on the site is noticeably different from most online boutiques. Eschewing silhouetted images, Arnold, who captures the majority of the photos, uses lifestyle shots to tell a story. Eyeing those Swedish-made oil
The shop showcases a mix of new items and one-of-a-kind antiques. A 1920s vintage fly-fishing creel found in Montana hangs next to an oil painting by American realist Sarah Lamb.
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10/16/19 5:25 PM