Strange Closets

After finally putting my newly stripped and shined tanker desk back together and stumbling upon the perfect little sofa at Broadway Antique Market, my den is nearly complete. Successfully refinishing the desk even inspired a couple additional DIY projects, and I’m pretty happy with everything. When I finally dot my i’s and cross my t’s, [...]

Praha owners Todd and David were busy getting the shop together when I stopped by the Lincoln Square store late in the afternoon earlier this week. Business has been good, and torrents of shoppers taking advantage of Praha’s inspired finds at low price points had left the store a bit disheveled. Big city shop owners [...]

Smythson Yeats owner Dick Rosen just received the container of goodies he bought during his recent European shopping trip (so help me God, if he complains about his job, I’m puttin’ my dukes up).   Take a look at this gorgeous antique buffet that was spirited out of a Paris flat (above), one of two priced [...]

“Tramp art,” the shop proprietor shouted, startling me as I examined a picture frame made out of a material I couldn’t quite identify. My brow furrowed, and his eyes widened – you could hear a pin drop; let the lesson begin.

Fans of retro mid-century furniture will want to check out Mod Life, a sleek Lincoln Square showroom, which offers a terrific selection of mid-century furniture and accessories, much of which has been refinished, reupholstered and otherwise gussied up to show better than new. The space – bright, light and airy – is accentuated with pops [...]

FourSided is the most recent addition to the small and independently owned framing company that Todd Mack began more than eight years ago when he opened a shop on Broadway in Lakeview. A third store, TwoSided (which I wrote about several months ago) does not provide framing services and is primarily a card and accessories [...]

Who wants a hand? Patina, an industrial-chic boutique, is one of those places that seems to hover just under the radar. Located in a slightly subterranean storefront on a slightly residential, slightly commercial stretch of North Damen in a neighborhood I can’t quite identify.