Rutherford’s
5647 W. Lovers Ln. 214-357-0888.
Robert Rutherford produces some of the most intriguing trims, tassels, and beads in the city. And it’s not only the trims, which range from antique military braid to miniature spools in every color, but also the application of these ornaments that boggle the mind—check out the lampshade turned chapeau on our model Amber. We also fell in love with the pillow in her arms, which has a story of its own. Drop by and ask Robert to tell you sometime.
 |
BEST CURTAINS AS COUTURE
David Sutherland
1025 N. Stemmons Fwy., Ste. 340. 214-742-6501.
Amber is wearing a sarong of curtain fabric from David Sutherland that as many fashion designers as interior designers bought this year. “I sold as much couture as I did curtains with these fabrics,” Beau Black says of the gorgeous Archive line of silks, velvets, and sheers. Sutherland also carries fabulous furnishings, such as the Regentina chair by Lx Rossi that Amber is perched upon.
 |
| Hanging glass Candleholders from Istanbul are some of the exotic finds at Another Time and Place. |
BEST EXOTIC TREASURES
Another Time and Place
2815 N. Henderson Ave. 214-824-1875.
In her divorce, owner Lisa Raymer ceded Articles in Deep Ellum to her ex for a fresh start. And fresh it is—wonderful, ethnic pieces from around the world assembled in a cozy little shop on Henderson. During her travels, Lisa has found a myriad of colorful textiles from Uzbekistan; antiqued, hanging brass-and-blown-glass candleholders from Istanbul; and vintage kimonos and haoris (fingertip-length, kimono-style jackets) from Japan. The haoris range from dressy to casual, but the linings are so interesting that chic customers wear the jackets inside out.
BEST BUD CUTTERS FOR YOUR BONSAI
Dallas Bonsai Garden
4460 W. Walnut St., Ste. 218, Garland. 800-982-1223. www.dallasbonsai.com.
Admit it. You didn’t know that Dallas boasts the most complete bonsai supply store in the Western Hemisphere. Direct importers from China and Japan since 1965, owners Fred and Elizabeth Meyer sell a mere handful of the midget plants—such as 75-year-old, masterpiece Japanese maples at $10,000 a clip—but all of the accessories. Not even Japan has a store with their depth of bonsai tools, pots, seeds, and decorations—from black, metal pine bud cutters to antique, inches-high, china mud-men figurines.
Lady Primrose’s
500 Crescent Court, Ste. 154. 214-871-8333.
If you’re an Anglophile aching to fall through a rabbit hole into a trellised Victorian rose garden where tea is served on chintz tablecloths, this shop’s for you. Beneath the tearoom, a Gothic refectory table groans with chased silver stag goblets. Nearby, a vitrine showcases delicious-smelling soaps cradled in silver scallop shells. This store combines Caroline Rose Hunt’s fantasy of Brittania and Vivian Young’s brilliant “gift within a gift” concept, where the container is a gift in and of itself. And don’t dismiss the contributions of VP Hallie Few, master merchant and visual merchandiser extraordinaire.
Worldwide Foods
1907 Greenville Ave. 214-824-8860.
You’ve just returned from Mykonos and are craving moussaka. Or you’d love to re-create the veggie dolmas (rice-stuffed, marinated grape leaves) you relished last week at Cafe Izmir. Then go directly to Worldwide Foods. This well-stocked emporium specializes in Greek, Italian, and Middle Eastern foods, both packaged and takeout. Tabbouleh, taramasalata? Buy them fresh here and serve to guests on pita-bread triangles with champagne or a chilled pinot grigio.
BEST FIESTA WARES
La Mariposa
2813 N. Henderson Ave. 877-826-0069. www.lamariposaimports.com.
This 25-year-old Dallas mainstay purveys Mexican fashion, folk art, and party goods. We swear by their tile and tin-rimmed Talavera mirrors; they work in almost any room. A half dozen of their enormous, handmade crepe-paper poppies floated down a long table affords instant décor and wonderful favors. (Martha Stewart’s office ordered a passel of them.) One Dallasite we know converted huge, hand-loomed, rainbow-striped table runners into curtains.
 |
| Haute Dogs and Fat Cats will keep your pampered pooch in the style she’s accustomed to. |
BEST CREATURE COMFORTS
Haute Dogs and Fat Cats
4500 Lovers Ln. 214-368-6870.
If your pet rules, treat him to a denim or animal-print bed with his very own royal crest. Already has one? What about his portrait in oil or a hand-painted bowl, stand included? Sales associate Tiffany (of course) tells us the hot sellers are lime green and pink leather leads and sweaters by designer Michael Simon.
Wild Birds Unlimited
4300 Lovers Ln. 214-891-9793; 6333 E. Mockingbird Ln. 214-821-7400.
After 10 years on Lovers Lane, they recently opened store No. 2, appropriately on Mockingbird. Sorry, they don’t sell birds. Except for the sky, they do carry everything a bird’s heart could desire—from basics (simple, wooden birdhouses) to luxuries (elaborate, colonial condos for purple martens). And from the Austrian crystal-maker come Swarovski binoculars, one of the finest bird-watching optics on the market.
The Linen Gallery
7001 Preston Rd., Ste. 100. 214-522-6700.
As interior designer Dorothy Draper put it, “You can’t scrimp on quality.” No scrimping here; only the finest of the fine linens for milady—100 percent Egyptian cotton or silk sheets and Hungarian goose down duvets and pillows. And just so you know: bedspreads are out. The look is pillows on top of Italian cotton coverlets overlaying duvets.
Paciugo
5509 W. Lovers Ln. 214-956-7979; 32 Highland Park Village. 214-219-6161; 3699 McKinney Ave. 214-219-2665.
Fuhgeddabout Howard Johnson’s 28 ice cream flavors. Paciugo claims more than 150 recipes for gelato, the lust-inducing Italian ice cream, in such intriguing flavors as Rokere (chocolate almond) and Fiordilatte-Berry Swirl. Owners Ugo and Cristiana Ginatta picked Dallas for their first gelateria artigianale because of our reputation as a restaurant town. We bet liras to doughnuts these shops will be as ubiquitous as Starbucks.
You don’t have to be British to love their authentic English cakes and ale, cheddar cheese and Devon cream, beer, bangers, and biscuits. If proprietors Liz and Rosemarie Oates have their way, there will always be a bite of England for sale in Dallas. “About 75 percent of our customers are English,” says Liz. “People come in for a taste of home,
really.” Jolly kind of them to provide an outpost of the Empire here on Lower Greenville.
BEST BET FOR BRATS
Kuby’s Sausage House
6601 Snider Plaza. 214-363-2231. www.kubys.com.
At 41, Kuby’s is smokin’—venison, moose, elk, and eland, that is. They not only smoke it, but they also carve it for sausages, chili, and tamales. The main shop is a first-class market, selling top-of-the-line, aged meats and a variety of package goods from Europe. Their cafe features all the wurst German specialties. Another business began with their preparing simple luncheon platters for customers and segued into tenderloins, steamship rounds, and standing rib roasts for some of the city’s best-known caterers.
 |
| Smink’s collection of modern furniture, such as the Charles daybed, sets minimalist hearts aflutter. |
(STILL) BEST EDITED MODERN FURNITURE STORE
Smink
5370 W. Lovers Ln., Ste. 1314. 214-350-0542. www.sminkinc.com.
Repeat. Repeat. Smink was also featured in our 2001 Best of Everything, but this store still stands out as a great family business. Jennifer Smink is a licensed architect; her sister Autumn is a Designer. That explains their impeccable selection of soft seating and case goods, tables and chairs, beds and linens. We lusted after the Charles daybed by designer Antonio Citterio for BandB Italia, well-priced at $2,142.
Urban Flowers at Stanley Korshak
500 Crescent Court, Ste. 100. 214-871-3515.
Jeffrey Lee and Rajan Patel’s ingenious Lovestack is the perfect way to say, “I love you—top to bottom.” The Urban Flowers owners are the only folks we know who can package love—and for a mere $200. As your sweetie works her way through the layers of goodies (fresh flowers, all-natural artisan soaps from Savonnerie of London, fresh truffles that are flown in from New York weekly, and, finally, a special surprise of your own choosing, from a card to jewelry), she’ll definitely get the point.
Galerie Kornye
2530 Fairmount St. 214-954-4475. www.kornye.com.
The charming Monsieur Kornye doesn’t sell paintings—he presents works of art. M. Kornye cautions, “Buy with your heart, not with your purse—the way you pick a wife for life.” The first Saturday of the month is Trash or Treasure Day (9 a.m.-noon), a mini Antiques Roadshow, except M. Kornye won’t make an appraisal. He’ll render an opinion. Go for the philosophy as well as the art.
Royal Touch
210 Spanish Village South (Coit Rd. @ Arapaho Rd.). 972-386-9189.
Estate-sale dealer Allison Hall clued us in to this family-owned store that specializes in replacing lamp parts and making lamps out of anything from crystal vases to old, brass bookends. “We get a lot of word-of-mouth business,” Terry Kryger told us. “And repeat customers,” brother Chris chimed in. Except, perhaps, one gray-haired lady who complained that the socket the store sold her didn’t have a switch that was painted red on one side and black on the other, like her old socket. When told that sockets aren’t made that way anymore, the vexed lady asked, “How will I tell when the lamp is on?”
 |
| Intricate teapots and vibrant Asian screens are only two of the treasures at the Lotus Shop. |
 |
BEST ASIAN OBJETS D’ART
The Lotus Shop
2010 Flora St. 214-979-6430.
Celebrate the Year of the Horse with a Chinese hand-warmer or Mongolian fire-starter from the shop of the Margaret and Trammell Crow Collection of Asian Art. Don’t let this prayer-rug of a space fool you; the gift shop houses 1,000 different items ranging from a 75-cent postcard to a 200-year-old Han Dynasty jade knife. Secret: the Crows donated to the shop some pieces from their personal collection, including Margaret’s exquisite Burmese evening bag. We walked out with Japanese comic books; tiny, handmade Pakistani rugs used as trivets or coasters; and, in a variety of materials, frogs for prosperity and turtles for long life.
Plano, off Parker Rd.
Even some of the alleys have tree tunnels in this offbeat little section of Plano where the streets are named after National Parks—Yellowstone, Glazier, Big Bend, and Everglades, to name a few. The 25-year-old enclave was one of Fox and Jacob’s first developments in the area. The houses are charming and quirky. Charming, too, are the masses of live oaks lining the sidewalks and branching out to form shady canopies and dappled pavement. Take Central Expressway to Parker Road, go west to Rainier Road, and follow your nose.
Talulah
2017 Abrams Rd. 214-821-1963.
“You should have things in your house that put a smile on your face,” says Leslie Murphy, one-time photo stylist, co-founder of Legal Grounds, and founder of this upbeat Lakewood gift shop. She set out to keep the price points down (“We can 10-dollar you to death”) and to carry the wares of local artisans. The result is a collection of unusual, sometimes madcap, gifts: jewel-handled ice cream scoops; wire-whisk coat hangers (perfect for your sweaters); retablo-esque wall hangings bedecked with beaded bed springs; and Leslie’s own shell-work boxes.
BEST AMERICAN KITSCH
Metro Retro and Rockville
2025 Abrams Rd. 469-334-0334.
A combo store in Lakewood, this place is about as ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s as you can get. They claim to have the world’s tackiest collection of postcards, and they ain’t kidding. One card pictures both Elvis (“that go-go guy”) and Ann-Margret (“that bye-bye girl”). Our favorite card is from Lulu and Vernon’s Diner. What appears to be a yellow-hulled sailboat is actually an upended piece of Lulu’s lemon meringue pie.
LLS Seat Mender
13941 Bee St., Farmers Branch. 972-247-3812.
When your French chapel chairs need re-rushing or your 1920s Chinese Chippendale bridge chairs need re-caning, this is the place to go. Linda Smith and family will fix your seats and chair backs. They also repair bentwood rockers and restore Edwardian wicker baby cribs. Linda started re-caning seven years ago, and now her whole family is in the business. Her husband does rush, pressed caning, and anything wrapped over chair rails. One son repairs fiber rush; another does hole-to-hole caning.
Complete Landsculpture
2171 Shorecrest Dr. 214-358-5296.
We were impressed that Complete Landsculpture employs more than 120 specialists, including landscape architects, masons, horticulturalists, electricians, and certified pesticide applicators, to offer full-service landscaping. And we oohed and aahed over the photos on their web site (www.completelandsculpture.com). But we were sold when we heard of the total backyard renovation (grading, installation of lighting, water features, a flagstone patio, and complete plantings and landscaping) Complete Landsculpture did for a client—in only one week—to accommodate a bride and groom’s wish for a backyard rehearsal dinner.
BEST PIECE MAKER
Sonia King Mosaics
www.soniaking.com.
Using gold, marble, smalt, vitreous glass, and other materials gathered from around the world, Sonia King creates backsplashes, mirrors, murals, and floor insets. Sonia’s highly original work is represented in private and corporate collections and is exhibited both nationally and internationally. Her most outrageous commission was for a well-known Dallas heart surgeon: an anatomically correct mosaic heart with arteries of silver and veins (ahem) of gold.
 |
| You’re bound to have sweet dreams on these lovely hand-embroidered pillows by Candy Hearne. |
BEST MUY BUENO PILLOWS
Dulce Sueños
214-841-0895.
In Spanish, tailor Candy Hearne’s name is Dulce. Dulce Sueños, her Sweet Dreams pillows, are 100 percent cotton and well-traveled. Candy takes them to Mexico for hand-embroidering. We especially like the pillow with buenas noches on one side and buenos dias on the other. Choose from Candy’s stock or bring in your own words and colors, and she will have them made for you in six to eight weeks. Dulce Sueños are available at La Mariposa or can be ordered directly from Candy.
Shaker Woodworks
1026 S. Broadway, Carrollton. 972-446-9604. Www.shakerwoodworks.com
For nearly 25 years, Dennis Furlow has used hand tools from his prized collection (a sign in his shop reads, “Only fools mess with Dad’s tools”) to craft beautiful and timeless Shaker and Mission-style furniture. Dennis has built a table and repaired several chairs for former Dallas Stars coach Ken Hitchcock. He also accepts custom orders. How about a beautiful tray for all your aromatherapy oils? He can even repair the door trim on your Mercedes.
Winger/Klein Antique Adventures
The Mews, 1708 Market Center Blvd. 214-748-9070; 1333 Oak Lawn Ave. 214-748-8353.
Lois Klein fell in love with fancy textiles when, as an antiques dealer, she ferreted out a period fabric for a 17th-century footstool. She deals in 18th-, 19th-, and early 20th-century textiles—no linens, no whites—and period passementerie, including metallic tassels. She scouts England and the Continent for French, English, Italian, Indian, Persian, and Turkish antique and period fabrics used for curtains, upholstery, pillows, wall hangings, and table runners.
The Old Craft Store
1110 W. Main St., Carrollton. 972-242-9111. www.theoldcraftstorequilting.com.
There’s an ongoing conflict in the quilting world (as if things weren’t bad enough)—to wash or not to wash. Melba Hamrick, the owner of this 30-year-old emporium swears, “A quilt’s not a quilt ’til it’s washed.” Reason: without soaking, the stitching doesn’t become embedded. The sign outside reads, “There’s no place like this place so this must be the place.” This place is truly a quilter’s and rug hooker’s paradise—fabrics, tools, books, patterns, and lessons (for kids, too). They also do custom quilting.
Catherine Burkhard
214-363-7946. By appointment.
Catherine Burkhard began bookbinding 20 years ago as a student of Dorothy Westapher and now teaches the craft of book art and binding in her own Northeast Dallas home studio. Catherine designs bindings, wedding albums, custom books, and photographers’ portfolios. Binding materials range from cloth to Moroccan leather, eel, even turkey wattle and handmade papers, such as Kozo from Japan. She can also restore treasured old books. A special project: a book of Scripture in Yiddish lost and buried in a trench in Czechoslovakia during Hitler’s Fahrenheit 451 rampage. The book turned up in Texas and is now being lovingly rescued page by page.
Lisa Erlandson
940-668-6758. By appointment.
Fret not if a cigarette burns a hole in your cherished, antique quilt or your kids take scissors to it. Lisa Erlandson is a quilt-repairing wiz and certified appraiser of quilted textiles. With 1,000 feed sacks from the turn of the last century forward, she can fix just about any quilt, including blue-jean quilts and others worth more in sentiment than lucre. Most interesting: 1840s quilts that migrated to Texas, a quilt made entirely of stockings, and amazingly artistic modern quilts made by “people you run into at the grocery store.”
James Cinquemani
Metals Craftsman
2412 Hardwick St. 214-742-2569.
With Dad in the tool and die business, it’s no wonder Jimmy Cinquemani became a metal craftsman. An artistic bent led him to save Dad’s scraps and weld them into sculpture. Jimmy makes one-of-a-kind fireplace screens, weather vanes, and custom light fixtures. When a client wanted to salvage some wisteria that had been stripped off a tree, Jimmy picked pieces that would fit around the metalwork of the lady’s bed, foundry cast them, and then laced the “steel wisteria” through the headboard.
 |
BEST NEIGHBORHOOD PRESERVATIONIST
Eva Potter Morgan
This lady is our role model. Through her vision—and largess—she forged the Henderson side of the Knox-Henderson furniture district by leasing her own properties to only very special tenants—such as The Whimsey Shoppe, Russell O’Neil, and Canterbury Antiques—often at rates far less than any other tenant—McDonald’s, for instance—would have paid. This enclave of In Good Company, Urban Home, and M. Bountiful would not be what it is today without Ms. Eva, whom we simply adore.
William B. Schieffer Studio
2419 Stutz Dr. 214-352-5328.
He once fashioned a mini staircase so an arthritic lap dog could ascend to her mistress’ bed. Such are the sometimes offbeat commissions of autodidact Paul Schieffer. He represents the second generation of a 65-year-old company that specializes in woodcarving and furniture design using fine art woods. They fill out sets of chairs, restore antiques, and make desks and bedside tables. “Furniture types come in waves,” Paul says. “This is the year of the sideboard.” Among his current restoration projects: an East Lake hall tree “only a Victoriana buff could love.”
BEST OVER-THE-TOP AD CAMPAIGN
Cameron Collection
 |
| Globetrotter Michelle Nussbaumer has an eye for the fabulous, such as this 1940s French Rosewood chair at Ceylon et Cie. |
BEST FUSION OF DESIGN AND ANTIQUES
Ceylon et Cie/ Michelle Nussbaumer
1500 Market Center Blvd. 214-742-7632.
This is the favorite haunt of chic designers and stylists who love intelligent and beautiful antiques. Or maybe they just love Michelle. A striking combination of Asian (as in “Ceylon”—what is now Sri Lanka) and European (as in “et Cie,” which is French for “and company”), Michelle’s store is laden with treasures she buys on frequent trips abroad. Her two current favorites: a pair of 1940s French rosewood chairs by Sue et Mare, an important mid-century design firm, and a 19th-century, Venetian-crystal galleon chandelier also purchased in Paris.
Marion Tanner Westbrook
214-368-7919.
They broke the mold when they made this colorful and knowledgeable woman. Aside from being a top estate-sale dealer and appraiser, Marion Tanner Westbrook teaches the appraisal course that people kill to attend. She appraises furniture, silver, paintings, porcelain, and American art pottery. When handling residential contents—mostly the major Park Cities estates—she pulls in experts in the fields she doesn’t cover.
J.C. and Barry Martin Painting Contractors
2607 Bomar Ave. 214-353-0720.
Three years ago this firm celebrated its golden anniversary. In the company’s early days, J.C. Martin was one of the only specialized painters in Dallas doing dry-brush painting and antique finishes on wood trim or furniture. Nowadays they make walls look like marble, stone, malachite, wood grain, granite, sandstone, or limestone. When asked what his most unusual request was, a startled Barry Martin said, “I never think of any job as unusual. I just do it.” What’s hot? Pickled furniture and glazed or trowel-textured walls.
The Fan Man
1914 Abrams Pkwy. 214-826-7700.
To be perfectly frank, when directed to The Fan Man, we expected to see antique lace and mother-of-pearl hand fans. You can imagine our surprise at finding hundreds of vintage motorized ceiling, desk, and novelty fans. We like the Luminaire, a floor fan with matte black blades and a glossy black pole. For Abercrombie’s Hollister division, they are making 300 ’60s-style, bullet-back fans. Vintage fans can run to $10,000, though Jim de Noyer can knock off almost any type of fan for far less. Strangely enough, the bulk of their repair business comes in the mail—fans mailed in from fans all over the world.
The Curtain Exchange
Inwood Village, 5470 W. Lovers Ln. 214-350-3045.
First there was “gently used.” Now comes “previously hung.” The consigned curtains from chichi showrooms, tony designers, and la-de-da Hamptons showhouses are a small percentage of the exchange business. The bulk is custom-made silk, taffeta, linen, and cotton curtains. Don’t panic, but puddling is out; the “break” is in (translation: less fabric on the floor). The very latest in window fashions: unusual colors, such as citrine and salsa, and printed silk curtains in limited editions.
BEST OLD AND YOUNG MASTERS
Valley House Gallery
Typical Texan Kevin Vogel joined his parents’ business because they didn’t push him to. The gallery, dating from 1954, is one of the oldest in the state and the only one in Dallas that’s a member of the prestigious, by-invitation-only Art Dealers Association of America. You’ll find the requisite 19th- and 20th-century American and European paintings and a 4 1/2-acre sculpture garden, but Kevin’s passion is early Texas artists and the ethereal photographs of Dallasite David Gibson.
Daubitz and Son Upholstery
914 Pollard St. 214-748-3551.
If there’s a lull in business, you might be lucky enough to wangle a house call from this old-line, custom furniture-upholstery firm that caters to designers and longtime customers. (Mr. Daubitz Sr., at 78, is still active in the business.) They’ve furnished a 727 jet for a Saudi prince, tufted the ceiling and built a Victorian sofa for a 1927 boxcar, and even covered a headboard in brindled cowhide. So when the younger Mr. Daubitz quips that he’s “upholstered everything but a basketball,” believe us, he has.
 |
