Award winning, international home furnishings designer Emma Gardner has stunning new digs, a first flagship store for the former New Yorker and her husband/design business President Patrick McDarrah.
Interior Design Magazine's Best of Year award winner for 2006, Gardner's exquisite creations have appeared in leading design and fashion magazines including Elle Décor, House Beautiful, Interior Design, Country Living, Traditional Home, Elle, O at Home, Glamour, Dwell, Western Interiors and In Style.
I've been keeping an eye on all the recent activity in the former Toys West store, located in a prime position, opposite Cinema West, at 151 Petaluma Boulevard, in the city's downtown's bustling Theater Square. Tastefully laid out with lots of natural light to showcase the artist's distinctive, world-class home wares, Emma Gardner Design's flagship store (Emma Gardner At Home) is currently in its 'soft' opening stage, delighting chance discoveries from passersby and raising the bar in the south county's quiet evolution as an emerging hub for sustainable home interior products.
The Gardner and McDarrah young family's personal and business welcome to Petaluma as recent East Coast transplants could not have been more encouraging. "People have been so generous, supportive and welcoming," said Gardner, during our informal interview for this story, kindly granted in response to my politely pestering the couple over the past few weeks for a first look and a local report before the big, national glossy mags inevitably come a calling.
Vividly colored rugs feature fish, flowers, vines and butterflies, employing a layered, Chinese cut-out effect. Geometric designs in bold, contrasting hues hang from white walls. It's a breathtaking revelation for home textile fans in the area. I'd take one of each! And surprisingly, the price range of furniture, rugs and accessories is not outlandish.
Following a successful career as a national magazine editor and illustrator, Gardner's celebrated sense of color and composition, channeling into her creation of original rugs, has produced robust sales over the past nine years through showrooms in 21 markets throughout the U.S and Toronto. The opening of a flagship store in Northern California has enabled the innovative, fun-loving design company to expand into a more varied, accessible range of home wares, including table textiles, throws, cushions, candles, furniture and lamps.
In fact, prices start at $85 for the decorative pillows featured in the photo collage, above. Perfect to my eye, McDarrah pointed out minuscule color defects in this specific range of seconds that failed to pass Gardner's scrutiny during quality control. Not surprisingly, these super designer pillows have been selling like hot cakes since doors opened a few days ago.
Small rugs start at $149, 6 foot by 9 foot rugs are priced in the $1,295 range and 8 foot by 11 foot rugs will set you back about $2,112. Considering the exclusivity of the design and hand crafting of child-labor-free certified GoodWeave International, Emma Gardner rugs are works of art that warrant a collector's investment.
Modern, minimalistic sofas and chairs featured in the store are crafted in Los Angeles and are made to order within six to eight weeks. Incredibly durable, soft, fluffy throws in all sorts of colors are crafted with 100% Baby Alpaca, double-stitched at the hem and available in store and online.
Long-burning (70 hour) soy candles in recycled containers, such as Emma Gardner Designs' prototype ginger citrus will be arriving in the store in the next few weeks, as will table top textiles. Mouth-blown, recycled glass lamps from Spain compliment the complete Emma At Home collection and are exclusive to the area.
A first collection of reproductions of Emma Gardner's original acrylic paintings, originally shown during Art Basel Miami 2010, is now available in a limited edition series of 125 giclees, printed to order on stretched canvas. Each piece is numbered and authenticated and available for immediate delivery.
If you are wondering why Petaluma for the sort of flagship design store you might expect to discover in San Francisco, or Mill Valley perhaps, Southern Sonoma County stalwarts will be happy to hear that the riverfront city won out over alternative wine country regional potentials such Healdsburg, Sebastopol and Sonoma.
Based on aesthetics and sales history, Sonoma County came up trumps on the enterprising couple's search for the ideal place to establish not only the flagship store, but also as a solid community in which to raise their children.
"Petaluma was the right place," said Gardner, who, in turn, welcomes window shoppers and browsers and looks forward, along with her family, to getting to know their neighbors.
Emma Gardner At Home is located at Suite 105, 151 Petaluma Boulevard South, Petaluma, CA 94952. Store Hours: 11 am to 7 pm Tues through Sat and Noon to 5 pm on Sundays. Tel 707 559 5022. Ample parking is free all day in the Theater District parking garage.
Southern Sonoma Country Life readers may take advantage of a limited time, introductory special offer for orders and purchases at Emma At Home prior to ribbon cutting ceremonies later this month.
OK! You got my attention! Will check it out the next time I make a pass at the Bovine Bakery!
Posted by: Frank Simpson | Saturday, May 14, 2026 at 10:23 AM