Best Vintage Dig
Lula B’s
Lula B’s is the funkier version of the antique shop you browsed with your grandma as a kid. With two locations and dozens of booths, you can find everything from rustic to midcentury. One recent dig left us entranced by a brass Bacchus door knocker.
Best Stationery Store
Ellis Hill
The shop recently moved to Lovers Lane to allow for more space to display its leather goods and linens and so on. But we keep coming back for the custom stationery. Pick a design from the samples on the two oversize cork boards or come with a specific idea and they’ll make it happen.
Best Outdoor Furniture and Accessories
Big Mango Trading Co.
Big Mango imports its stock (minus smaller goods like candles and wind chimes) from Indonesia, and pieces like the teak summer bed have us dreaming of sitting poolside in Bali. Grab organic sculptures and petrified wood end tables to complete the collected look.
Best Toy Shop
Froggie’s 5 & 10
Storefronts on Knox have been changing like Texas weather, but luckily Froggie’s is still hopping. The small shop is stocked to the ceiling yet somehow not overwhelming, and there’s always an enthusiastic toy geek willing to point out a marble maze, Tokidoki doodad, ice cream scoop backpack, or gag gift.
Best Home Accessories Store
Caitlin Wilson
You can find colorful furnishings at approachable price points, including patterned pillows, blue chinoiserie pots, and bookshelf knickknacks. Every item is curated by the queen of preppy herself, namesake designer and Insta star Caitlin Wilson.
Best Vintage Furniture Store
Sputnik Modern
The name might read as strictly midcentury, but this store, specializing in 20th-century furniture, has something for all aesthetics. We recently fell in love with some utilitarian wooden chairs by Hans Wegner and George Nakashima.
Best Hardware and Design Materials Store
Elliott’s Hardware
Beginning as a neighborhood store in 1947, the company now has four locations. It’s truly a one-stop shop for home needs. We go in to pick up hardware and paint—and also to gawk at tricked-out grills from Traeger, Weber, Napoleon, and Big Green Egg.
Best Garden Shop
Nicholson-Hardie
Founded in 1899, Nicholson-Hardie is the oldest garden shop in Dallas, and it has the know-how that comes with that title. Between its deep selection and a staff that’s all green thumbs, don’t be surprised if you walk out with a fun and unexpected purchase.
Best Traditional Furniture
Mecox
Mecox has long been a favorite of ours for its precisely edited collection of furniture. But its newly launched Mecox Collection—the company’s first foray into producing its own line—is what has our attention at the moment. We love the rattan and rope pieces that add a beach-y feel to our home.
Best Floral Shop
Cebolla Fine Flowers
Cebolla is the only place in Dallas where you can find the sought-after Esperanza Rose, a pink beauty that hails from Ecuador. You can see Cebolla’s other blooms on display at The Mansion Restaurant and the Dallas Country Club, then take one of their how-to-arrange classes so you can re-create the look at home.
Best Kitchen Accessories Store
Set & Co.
Jennifer and Adam Littke opened Set & Co. in 2015 in a 1922 brick mercantile building in Oak Cliff. They keep surprising us by unearthing well-crafted kitchen wares that are also works of art. Even the tiny teaspoons are pretty. Every item sticks to a utilitarian, minimalist sensibility.
Best Gift Shop
Commerce Goods + Supply
Once upon a time, Christine Visneau ran Little Bean, a kid’s shop so dreamy that grownups turned green with envy. They too wanted well-made giftables from indie artisans the world over. Then, last spring, this Visneau-curated boutique appeared in the Adolphus with Stetson hats, silk handkerchiefs from Denver, locally engraved Zippos, and even French trinkets for young ’uns. May we all give happily ever after.
Best Record Store
Josey Records
The used vinyl selection at this 15,500-square-foot record shop will have you crate-digging for hours. After you’ve filled your arms with ’70s funk singles and ’80s new wave albums, head over to the listening section and give them a spin. They sell new releases here, too. But we come for the oldies.
Best Museum Gift Shop
Nasher Sculpture Center Store
Donald Fowler has completely transformed the Nasher’s once-uninspiring gift shop into a collection of creative finds, from smartly sourced European decor to a well-considered section for creative-minded kiddos—all tied together with a welcome sense of humor.
Best Contemporary Furniture Store
Scott + Cooner
Pieces from Scott + Cooner always seem to fit in with our modern leanings but they never look cold. The clean lines add dimension and depth to a room but manage to stay friendly and inviting. We especially love to add a swoop of high drama with a structural Foscarini floor lamp.
Best Pet Supply Store
Roach Feed & Seed
Established in Garland more than eight decades ago, when its primary customers were farmers, Roach Feed & Seed continues to thrive near a recently revitalized downtown. Today, you’ll find more modern concessions (like dog food), as well as garden seed, livestock feed, and live parakeets
Best Art Space
Culture Hole
If Dallas needed evidence that bigger isn’t always better, it has Culture Hole, a 44-square-foot pop-up art space located under The Power Station near Fair Park. The space’s intrepid curators—artists Jeff Gibbons, Gregory Ruppe, and Danny Skinner—have exploited the space’s limiting constraints to routinely toy with the city’s cultural, social, and political boundaries.
Best Spot to Test Your Green Thumb
Oasis Plant Shop
When friends and longtime Ruibal’s employees Bethany Mieth and Hannah Street launched their own botanical venture this year, the green thumbs had one mission in mind: to create an approachable place for people to fall in love with plants. The Bishop Arts shop offers an Instagram-worthy backdrop to begin your flora affair.
Best Pop-Up
Goop
We were thrilled when Gwyneth Paltrow brought her lifestyle brand to Highland Park Village in April and even more so when we heard that the Goop pop-up would be extending its residency throughout the year. Drop in for clean-beauty buys, home goods, and nontoxic cookware, all approved by Paltrow’s notoriously discerning eye.
Best Restaurant for Design Inspiration
The Charles
Sees Design concepted the aesthetic for this Italian-inspired eatery in the Design District. Expect an eclectic interpretation of iconic Italian design from the 18th century through the ’70s with pieces from Jan Showers, Allan Knight, Set & Co., and Benny Jack Antiques. Don’t miss the scantily clad but very Instagrammable powder rooms.
Best Place to Stock a Guest Room
White Rock Soap Gallery
Artificial chemicals are never a good look. Stock up on natural and handmade vegan products made right here in the White Rock ’hood. Two locations—one in the North Lake shopping center and one in Bishop Arts—carry soaps, soy wax candles, shampoos, shower steamers, bath bombs, pet products, and more.
Best Store for Approachable Art
Blue Print Gallery
The five female partners behind home furnishings shop Blue Print were on to something when they opened a gallery next to their Uptown space this year. Viewing rooms house accessible pieces by Charles Patrick, Brenda Bogart, Marise Maas, Carolyn Evans, Marilla Palmer, and more. Get comfy in the Parisian-inspired lounge while you contemplate your purchase.