Room & Board Fall Catalog

Room & Board gets personal in its latest catalog. Both online and on the hard pages, customers are sharing their stories of how they live and what they use to furnish how they live. It includes the lovely, modern Bay Area home of the Parkers family...featured front and center on the website and first on the catalog's pages (shown here), and furnished with several R&B pieces, of course.

Another "story" comes from Lanie, who lives in less than 500 sq. ft. in Manhattan and has an apartment outfitted with Pandora storage cubes, the Carmichael sectional, among other R&B pieces.

We, of course, love the idea of a big store sharing personal inspiration, an active web presence, and a walk through real homes (feels very Apartment Therapy, no?). Room & Board invites its customers to share their own stories, by submitting an online form and three interior shots that "showcase your Room & Board style." But we're betting many of our readers mix it up a little too much for a spot on a Room & Board catalog.

What do you think, AT-ers?

Comments (4)

I really think they're on to something!
Definately blurring the line of Shelter Magazine/infomercial/ and advertorial...this approach will be copied.
Expect to see more of this sort of thing.

Kudos to Room and Board for beating out CB1 and CB2 with this unique approach to showing furniture "in situ".

A brilliant piece of marketing/catalog/advertising/lifestyle- all rolled into one!

posted by ManofSteel on August 15th 2007 at 1:24pm
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I just received the new Room & Board Fall 07 catalogue, and although I think it is a nice piece, it reminds me of the many FLOR catalogues I have seen in the recent past. It is not a unique piece that Room & Board came up with on their own. I think credit should be given to the creative visionaries at FLOR.

posted by watersedgechris on August 15th 2007 at 3:39pm
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My only problem with this approach is that it makes me wonder if these people live in an R&B store or have live-in photo stylists. (I really would consider sprinkling those numbered dots around my living room, however). Judging from the Parkers's Trucker, Lanie's Blue, and the Bruesses' Fred, if you want to get into this catalog, you'd better get yourself a dog.

posted by tonepome on August 16th 2007 at 4:29am
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i'm with tonepome ... as i flipped through, i had serious doubts that these people really buy 90 percent of their furnishings/accessories from r&b.

and i think flor still has all of these other catalogs beat in terms of styling. i often find more inspiration in their catalogs than i do in the monthly shelter magazines.

posted by anh-minh on August 16th 2007 at 6:43am
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