Founded by Audrey Gelman in early 2022, The Six Bells is a self-described “New Old Country Store” with a storefront in Brooklyn and a robust online shop. Leaning more country than cottagecore, more sturdy than quaint, The Six Bells stocks antiques, linens and textiles, charming handcrafted tchotchkes, and a huge variety of other home goods with built-in kitsch and a playful, lighthearted energy. The overall approach for the store is an air of escapism, Gelman says. “What we’re trying to do is, when people open the door from the street, they feel like they’re walking into not only a different environment and feeling but also a different time,” she tells Better Homes & Gardens. “We want people to feel like they’re not in the city when they walk into the store.” For the holidays—this is the store’s first holiday season—The Six Bells is taking that air of escape to a new level with a festive makeover of the store itself, plus a holiday village pop-up in a reconstruction of a 17th-century home in Brooklyn. The made-over store is fully decked out in rich colors, layered textures, and a carefully curated selection of products from the makers Gelman sources from. The result? A perfect blend of country kitsch, vintage materials, and traditional and contemporary handicraft. “It was definitely kind of an escapism when we were going into this,” says Lindsay Jones, a floral, event, and interior designer and creative director of The Six Bells store makeover. She says Gelman’s inspiration for the holiday makeover originally came from the magical holiday feasts depicted in the Harry Potter series. “‘If I can bring that magic into my store, that’s what I want people to feel like,’” Jones says of Gelman’s goal for the space. “I really honed in on that imagery, specifically, and I think when starting to think about the design and the details, there had to be lots of textural moments.” Those textural moments look like ribbon, thick garlands, and layered textiles. There’s also a lot of warmth, Gelman says, and vintage materials, including tinsel on the store’s tree and ornaments sourced from antique malls across the country. The decor both incorporates and highlights the products Gelman has sourced for the holiday season, with everything from delicate egg ornaments to wreaths to hand-painted candles on display and available for purchase. Gelman calls the store’s selection slow decor—it’s a blend of antiques, vintage items, and products made by individual makers using traditional methods, and while the holiday collection includes classic items such as ornaments and stockings, it’s interspersed with new products that work equally well as holiday, seasonal, and even year-round decor (plus gifts, of course, including candles from a The Six Bells x Cottagecore Black Folks collaboration). Plus, Gelman says, it’s all made to last decades. Between the gorgeous selection of egg ornaments and playful cross stitch pillows (and many other items), The Six Bells offers a specific, curated selection of holiday goods that is perfectly aligned with many other holiday trends centered around handicraft and an appreciation for well-made, homey decor—all with a spirited twist. “We sort of embrace the fun and almost campiness of the concept, but then obviously the beauty and specialness of the products themselves,” Gelman says.
Trying The Six Bells Approach at Home
For those wanting to mimic some of the magic of The Six Bells holiday makeover at home, Gelman suggests focusing on three key components: rich colors, a more-is-more attitude, and scent. “I don’t think you’ll find a lot of things in The Six Bells that are pastels or really light colors,” she says. “You’ll find rich textures, dark reds, dark greens, mustard yellows, and I think that that’s a core part of the aesthetic. It’s not super light and airy.” Whether you consider yourself more of a maximalist or you’re leaning into grandmillenial decor, there are plenty of reasons to ditch minimalist approaches and put all the items you love on display—even if they don’t always “go together” in a matchy-matchy sense. “We embrace a little bit of a more-is-more aesthetic,” Gelman says. “I think the thing that’s so warm and disarming about walking into a country home is that you don’t have to be so precious about it. If there’s a stain from a glass on a counter, it only adds to the lived-in quality, the depth, the warmth. [We’re] definitely using the philosophy of not being too precious, nothing has to have a perfect place, and getting comfortable with that.” And finally, when it comes creating that immersive holiday experience at home, Gelman says to consider the smell of your space as much as you consider visual details. “Scent is almost equally important when you’re transforming your home for the holiday season and winter as decor,” she says. “It’s such a core part of decor and decorating.” You can shop the holiday collection from The Six Bells online. To see the country holiday magic in person, you can visit The Six Bells storefront in Brooklyn or the holiday pop-up (also in Brooklyn) December 2 and 3.
