Welcome to DSM, West Elm

There is a now a go-to modern decor store in towwwwwwwnnnnn! And the locals are pumped.

West Elm threw down some roots in the East Village last Wednesday. They threw a party and officially opened their doors on Thursday morning.

I am so glad that they chose the space that they did - West Des Moines is personally not appealing for a weekend outing. Zach and I frequent our favorite East Village shops on cold lazy Saturdays.

I don't know that much about West Elm honestly - I don't browse through their online catalogue of items and I have really only ever gone through their space in Kansas City. As you know, I don't buy a lot of decor because our apartment doesn't require it. Our extra spaces are either full of something of use or enjoyed as a quiet blank space amongst a busy apartment. I also try my hardest to not buy a ton of cheaply made decor items that I will not enjoy in 3 seasons.

While West Elm has a lot of trendy decor pieces, I was curious about the sustainability piece that they boast highly of. The new CEO has set out to incorporate hand made quality pieces all the way down the line- from the furniture coming from FSC Certified (Forest Stewardship Council) wood to the straw and unique pieces being hand made in fair trade programs, they are trying to acknowledge the things that millennials are wanting from their purchases. And that I very much appreciate.

SOOOOOOO, Zach and I hopped down to the grand opening party last Wednesday. Zach was the actual best and brought along his camera. Which is a win win because he's way great and I like all of these photos x23422 above my photos and because I get to walk around with champagne and not worry about a thing :)

And it was packed. ALL sorts of people were there and everyone had a great time! There wasn't a lot of room to actually look at furniture, but it'll be there for next weekend's browsing.

They separated the big space into smaller rooms of the house - entertaining, plants, living, dining, etc. I did not know, but they also have a decor and interior design services counter for those lost in remodel or looking to get a second opinion.

There are a lot of wonderful pieces that I would be tempted to pick up for the right occasion- this is going to be a great stop to wander and daydream through as seasons change.

I was most looking forward to seeing the local products for sale! In accordance with their model to use sustainable, organic, and fair trade products, they also reach out to local artists in their communities and sell their goods. We have a lot of shops in Des Moines that do a phenomenal job at selling local products, but I was interested to see what a large company picked up. And it was good! Those bandana/scarves?! Genius.

Andddd the party continued! Macklemore kept coming out of the speakers, and the tiny hors d'oeurves made their way around the room. We found more friends and neighbors and co-workers and said hello and kept saying hello and then we headed back home :)