N. A WAY OF LIVING WITH ELEGANCE OR GRACE; IMPECCABLE TASTE
They're designers, artists, and the interiors-obsessed. Your home is where their hearts are.
Jonathan O'Toole, Wendy Friedman Grand Home Store
What happens when a former marketing exec and a style aficionado put their heads together? Find out at Somerville's irreverent gallery/home store/social space, Grand. Read more
Living Large
Grand Opens
Grand Ole Opry. Grand Theft Auto. Grand Slam breakfast. The word tends to feed people’s dramatic expectations.
Thankfully, Grand in Union Square lives up to the billing. The new retailer stocks an eclectic array of home goods, clothing, accessories, and footwear by under-the-radar designers: graphic flatware from British maker Isak, hand-sculpted jewelry from Odette, revamped Chinese sneakers by Feiyue.
The three purveyors — Jonathan O’Toole, Wendy Friedman, and Adam Larson — met while working at a record company and bring their collective creativity to the store’s dramatic interior. Take time to check out the bigger-than-life vinyl installations of a horse and a moon and a huge, mirror-adorned partition surrounding the cash register.
Down the line, the trio plans to stock furniture from independent U.S. makers and stage exhibitions featuring the work of both local and international artists and designers.
Expectations are growing grander by the day.
Grand, 374 Somerville Avenue, Somerville (617-623-2429 or grandthestore.com).
Nikki Dalrymple Acquire Boutique
Self-proclaimed style junkie Dalrymple fills her North End boutique with hard-to-find housewares and curiosities. The former TV producer loves uncovering rare finds, new designers, and vintage pieces. Read more
Uniquities in Wonderland
Acquire Home Boutique Opens
Alice may have willingly followed the White Rabbit down his hole, but she had no idea what lay beneath. Golden keys, magic potions, tea parties, and croquet?
So not her aesthetic.
She’d do better visiting Acquire, a new North End boutique in which a mixture of luxury vintage decor and modern tabletop treasures delight and inspire.
No Mad Hatter, owner Nikki Dalrymple clothes her sleek yet earthy space with a collection of objects that seamlessly span time and space. Old-fashioned milk glass goblets mingle with contemporary glazed ceramic bowls, John Pomp’s violet beehive vases perch on faux bois ledges, and antique furniture is refurbished with zesty textiles inspired by designers Kelly Wearstler and David Hicks.
It’s the stuff dreams are made of.
Acquire, 61 Salem Street, North End (857-362-7380).
Heather Wells Larson Bright Lights Little City
North Attleboro resident Larson simply loves making lights. Her lamps are adorned with dozens of cocktail umbrellas or cosmic-looking stained glass, giving rooms a jazzy new look. Read more
Bright Young Thing
Bright Lights Little City Lamps
When it comes to setting the mood, you’re a crafty gal. (Your specialty? Rubbing prosciutto along your neckline.)
So is Heather Wells Larson. A RISD graduate and the genius behind Bright Lights Little City, the North Attleboro-based artist has a lust for lighting.
You, party animal, will love the Lush Collection: lamps decorated with phosphorescent-dipped cocktail umbrellas. Need further enlightenment? Flick the switch on the Bruised and Beautiful Cheers Sphere. Then experience a cosmic connection beneath the stained glass-like gleam of the Milky Way series — bulbs ensconced in cylinders of woven ribbon.
The creations looks good unplugged, too, so they perform when the lights are off.
Sort of like you know whom.
Available online at brightlights-littlecity.com.
