After pivoting from her original pandemic-era business model, Home Works owner Shawn Gibbons has transformed her Germantown Avenue design shop into a carefully curated space that celebrates global craftsmanship and community ties.

Gone is the focus on ergonomic furniture that facilitates working from a kitchen table or a desk in the den. In their place are the artful items that make home the comforting space that reflects the personality of the people living there. 

Now, Gibbons is preparing to host "Clay Culture," a special event on March 21 that launches Home Works’ new pottery garden, a celebration of pottery from around the world, and also reintroduces Home Works and its new mission on a block of Chestnut Hill that has undergone a business renaissance.

"This year our focus is on clay culture and really focusing on the global nature of all of the different pots that we're importing from all over the place," Gibbons explains. "We have pots from India, Vietnam, Mexico, and Indonesia. We wanted to use the evening to highlight the global nature."

The event will show off the store's recently renovated pottery garden courtyard, which has been transformed into a place where neighbors can sit down and take a quiet break. Music, food and specialty drinks also will be part of the gathering, one in a series that represents more than just a product showcase. A children’s face painting party follows on March 22 and a dog adoption event on March 23.

"This place should really be a way to host the community, to spend time, to get to know people, for people to have an experience and for us to provide that experience," Gibbons says.

She started Home Works in 2022, a project that is part of Gibbons’ entrepreneurial career that included starting her own company CI Solutions, LLC, a commercial interiors design firm she founded in 2009. When she opened Home Works with its original mission, the customer response was “Thanks, but no thanks,” Gibbons said.

"We made assumptions about where the world was heading,” amid a pandemic, Gibbons said. With limited interest in the shop, Gibbons faced a pivotal moment. "I was like, 'Oh my God, I've bought this building, I've invested in this community, I put all this money in. What in the world am I supposed to do?'" she said.

Gibbons’ husband offered simple yet transformative advice: "Buy what you like. People always love what you like. Look around your store and anything that you don't want in our house, take it out of there and start curating with things that you love and you're drawn to."

That shift changed everything. Home Works evolved into a carefully curated space that reflects Gibbons' personal aesthetic and her lifelong appreciation for hospitality, which she traces back to her childhood.

"My mother was a huge hostess and hospitality in one way or another was always a part of the way my parents [lived]," she recalls. "Whenever it was, there was always room at the table, and the table was always beautifully set. My mother believed everybody deserved an experience."

This philosophy is part of Home Works' approach to community engagement. The Clay Culture event will include neighboring businesses, with pottery artist presentations at the NoName Gallery and plant potting demonstrations by Foliage owner Yolanda Palmer. Treats from Bredenbeck’s Bakery will also be featured.

"It's a tough world with Amazon breathing down everybody's throat," Gibbons said, “But I feel like the more connected we are, the more integrated that we are, the stronger we are." 

The Clay Culture event weekend includes an afternoon tea sampling at 2 p.m. on March 20, the open house and launch party at 5 p.m., March 21; morning mimosas for parents and face painting for youngsters at 11 a.m. on March 22 and a Lucky Pups adoption event, at 1 p.m. March 23. Home Works is located at 8129 Germantown Avenue.