NEW CANAAN’S SITTING PRETTY: WORLDLY GOODS, ONE FLIGHT UP
NEW CANAAN — Laura Mason, owner of the Sitting Pretty home decor store, had so many locals visiting her Westport shop that she recently decided to move it to New Canaan.
“I came here because I had a lot of great customers from New Canaan,” Mason said. “This town has a wonderful downtown with stores owned by individuals, so every store has their own style and charm — very personal.”
Sitting Pretty has a new second floor shop at 111 Elm St. in with colorful items from far corners of the world and right nearby.
Mason said she curates a wide array of personal and household items from local artists as well as from the Netherlands, Italy, Morocco, Japan and France. She sells furniture, sweaters from France, lamps, puzzle cards, trays, gifts, ottomans and much more.
Prior to COVID-19, she traveled widely, bringing back items from her trips that
she brought back to her store in Sconset Square in Westport.
Many of those items were sold to people from New Canaan.
The Westport native is excited about moving her store to New Canaan.
“I like the idea of being in a town like that,” Mason said. “The people here are very aware of creating a good vibe.”
Mason, an experienced designer, educated in interior design at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, said she likes the designer Epice from Paris and carries many of the designer’s items. She started at first with Epice scarves.
Traveling to France, “I discovered they had a home line. I was excited,” because “I don’t see these products anywhere else. I was glad to bring back something more unusual.”
She helps people shop for items to add flair to their homes, by looking at pictures of their rooms on their phones.
“I tell them the truth if the item won’t work,” Mason said.
Among her many other offerings are furniture by interior designer Bunny Williams, paisley pillows by English fashion designer Matthew Williamson, Palm Beach-style chinoiserie prints, accessories from Italy, and needlepoint weekender tote bags from Stubbs & Wootton.
Sitting Pretty New Canaan will be featuring signed and numbered fine art prints from selected artists that the shop can order from her “look book,” including Harrison Howard.
Mason said she was inspired to name her shop Sitting Pretty because it symbolized being in a great place in life, or well-seated.
Besides studying design, she also majored in art history at the University of Connecticut, decorated homes in Palm Beach County and had her own design studio at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Her shop will be open five days a week, Tuesday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. She may extend her hours if business requires it.
She is also planning on starting up an e-commerce site.