Earlier this week, I attended the Homesense designer preview of the much-anticipated home furnishings store in Framingham, Massachusetts.
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TO AN EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW OF HOMESENSE
Mix, mingle, sip & savor with fellow home decor professionals, bloggers &
influencers while you explore a new home store designed to inspire.
Lots of staff, management, and executives of TJX greeted me throughout the entire store. I caught up with a few design and blogging friends. That was the mix and mingle part. I skipped the sip and savor. Who had time? You want a sneak peek, right? I took tons of photos for you.
Homesense Designer Preview
The huge, and I mean massively huge, lighting selection is at the front right of the store. Well, that’s where it begins. There are so many drop-dead super fantabulous chandeliers, pendants and hanging fixtures that they extend almost all the way to the back of the store!
The lamps, many of them in pairs, are by style. Modern, traditional, golds, blue and white, lucite, ceramic, marble…a lamp for every style. There is a large array of wall sconces too.
Every light fixture is set up and most are on. Not a single fixture is still in its box. Each of the hanging fixtures can be lowered to see the details. Can you say my favorite word “motorization”? One of the Homesense gals enthusiastically told me about how they assembled each piece themselves. Now that’s product knowledge!
There are curated vignettes throughout the store. The pieces themselves are beautiful but now they show you how to put them all together. Hmm, exactly how a designer would.
Seriously, I’m ready to just purchase this for my new studio space. The curved white leather love seat, those pink floral chairs, the modern glass coffee table with an artfully curved lucite base and the PINK books on the table are all items I would put together for a client.
The Curated Corner
The first thing you see when entering the store is the “curated corner”. They pull together a harmonious collection of the current tribal design trend. Homesense employees tell me that the theme is going to change out about every six weeks. All the more reason to come back and shop often!
Indigenous design and craft from around the world are featured. Upholstered furniture, pillows, baskets, side tables, water jugs and all sorts of accessories are available.
Accessory Heaven
Not a fan of the current “curated corner”? No worries, there are so many accessories for every design style. Oriental blue and white is forever classic. There are accent pieces to liven up every stale corner of your home.
There is an abundant selection of design and lifestyle books. Great for reading and inspiration. I see books as a flexible accessory to style a coffee table or bookcase. Stack a few of these, add a vase on top and you have created a nice balance to a tall lamp on a console table.
Pillows are an inexpensive way to add style and comfort to a sofa or chair. Homesense does not disappoint with an extremely large selection of pillows. It’s a pillow party! I love how they are artfully displayed by color. Fabric, texture and pattern vary.
The rainbow of pillows continues with the blue and gray section. How about a few new pillows on your bed?
Large Selection of Furniture
One thing that stands out in my Homesense designer preview is the large selection of each merchandise category. There isn’t just a couple of this and a few of that. There is A LOT of everything! Available for you to take home immediately. No ordering and waiting weeks.
The seating section was enormous for a home decor store. There were love seats, sofas, sectionals, and sleepers from mid-century modern to Hollywood glam. Notice the lighting section continues over the furniture area. Yes, it’s that large.
Side tables, nightstands and cocktail tables are neatly nestled into these cubbies on one wall. Again they offer a wide variety of styles, finishes, and sizes.
Floor and Wall Decor
Rugs, rugs and more rugs in every size, style and weave. This is just a small sampling of the accent rugs. As you can see behind, there are several racks where large rugs hang vertically on wings. The holidays are coming, now there is no excuse to not have a rug under the dining room table, living room, hallway and guest bedroom for that matter.
The wall art selection is quite large. Style and size vary. In typical Homesense style, there were several massively large pieces to fill your big old empty walls.
They even have a beautiful array of smaller unframed prints. Pick up one of their picture frames and a few prints and you have art accents for the different seasons.
Here is my Alice in Wonderland selfie. These mirrors are larger than life. I’m in love with them! Do you have a room that always seems dark? Prop one of these mirrors opposite the windows to reflect more light into the room. Is your living room long and narrow? Add one of these mirrors on the narrow side of the room and it will appear wider.
Cook and Dine
Like its little sister Home Goods, Homesense has a substantial area dedicated to the kitchen, tabletop and food.
Pots, pans and specialty cookware are offered from quality name brands. If you look closely toward the top left of the photo, you’ll see an oversized whisk. It’s about 24″ long. Just what you need, right?
The curated Italian Market has a tempting assortment of food from Italy and the cookware to go with it.
Several dinnerware patterns are presented on heavy duty wire racks. Buy a service for 18 or pick up a few patterned plates to use as an accent. Take note of the stand to the far left. It holds a clip board with Homesense How To tip sheets on The Right Way To Set The Table. Tear one off and take it home with your new dishes. You’ll know how to set the table for everyday, casual and formal dinners.
Homesense How To sheets are available throughout the store. There are tips on creating a gallery wall, arranging a living room, selecting the right size rug and several more. An absolutely genius idea, Homesense! Helpful to the consumer while making selections in the store and furthering satisfaction while at home. I wrote a similar tip post on arranging a family room.
General Store and Celebrate
Two sections not to be missed is the General Store and Celebrate/Party. I was too busy trying to take it all in, I didn’t get great photos.
General Store is just what the name implies. There are so many small items for the home that you never knew you needed. Tape measures, desk accessories, trash cans, trinket boxes, extension cords, knobs, hangers, signs and so much more. Of course, they had large items too, like a free standing bath tub….seriously.
The Celebrate section is party and gifting central. All occasions have their own well-curated space. There are collections for wedding, baby, anniversary, birthday, children, gifts for him and gifts for her. To wrap them all up, there is beautiful wrapping paper, boxes, bows, cards and everything you would ever need to make a special presentation.
Homesense Designer Preview Wrapup
The grand opening of the first Homesense store in the United States is Thursday, August 17.
Homesense in Framingham, Massachusetts is located between Route 9 and Route 30. It’s the old Shoppers World location.
How is Homesense different? It’s like you gave Home Goods massive amounts of Miracle Grow.
How do you get those sofas, sectionals and enormous mirrors home? Delivery is available for large items. Wow!
The pricing follows the TJX model of up to 60% off manufacturers suggested retail. In other words, Homesense is very reasonable.
Homesense is already in Canada and England. My international designer friends have been raving about it for years.
Three more Homesense stores are scheduled to open this year. Next up are two in New Jersey. The Westwood, Massachusetts locations is scheduled for opening November 9. I had a lovely conversation with the Westwood manager, Michelle. She assures me that the Westwood location will be just as fabulous.
Pricing is really good, are things last seasons leftovers? Definitely not! I spotted many things that are right “on trend” with the design markets for this year. I already have another blog post begun on Homesense Trend Spotting.
For everything Homsense, visit their site.
Message to Homesense
Thank you for giving me, and about 300 other design professionals, an opportunity to get a sneak peek. Homesense will give my clients an affordable source for those extra decorating pieces.
Special thanks for the swag bag. I’ll be coming back soon and often.
Message to Readers
I have one thing to say about Homesense. YOU NEED TO GO!
If you’re afraid of being overwhelmed by so much home decor beauty, I’m available for “Shop with a Pro”. Please Contact me.
This is a long and detailed post. I feel the need to point out that I, in no way, am an affiliate of Homesense or TJX companies. I wrote this out of my enthusiasm for an inspiring home decor business. My clients and readers are who I serve. They need to know how great of a place this is.
