ABODE
1904 W. North Ave., 773-227-6400, www.abodechicago.com
Everyone has their own notions of “home,” but this Bucktown boutique, which is also a design atelier for co-owners Jason Ballew and Darrick Draper, stocks the kind of clean-lined, utilitarian furniture that can be hardworking basics in any abode. These livable offerings are also likably stylish-and at times, even cheeky-which enables them to transform a room. Many of their pieces are multi-functional. From Brazil there are tables with round wood tops on jointed legs that expand scissors-like to become coffee, cocktail or dining tables; rotating wood bookcase cubes with slat or solid sides to stack low (think coffee table) or high to house an entire library in a few square feet; and a shelving unit made of stacking modules suited to storage, display, barware or audio-visual equipment. And from Canada, a harvest table has a laminate top that flips from a walnut veneer for dining to pristine cream for work, and a four-piece modular table breaks apart to become bedstands or occasional tables. Then there are witty exclusives to add verve to the mix, like the arching Dragon Chaise by Chicago designer Michael Jansen or the Soho Spank chair, a white patent and wire-mesh concoction that pays homage to a Louis XV fauteuil. But know the ropes when you visit Abode: Only a fraction of the stock is on the floor, and individualized design consultations are $150, which is applied to purchases of $1000 or more. BEST BUY: Espasso furniture from Brazil, which is exclusive here.
SVENSKA MOBLER
516 N. Wells St., 312-595-9320, www.svenskamobler.com
Chicagoans have long been enamored of refined, post-1800 European period styles, such as Biedermeier and Jugendstil from Austria; Arts and Crafts and Regency from England; and Empire, Directoire, Nouveau and Deco from France. And there have always been plenty of antique stores in the city to accommodate them. But none has focused on the Swedish pieces made during these eras, which embraced the same design concepts yet tended to be a bit more spare and clean-lined than their counterparts to the south. Until now, that is. Los Angeles dealer Andrew Wilder became smitten with Swedish furniture when he lived there in the mid-1980s to work in the recording industry, and he opened Svenska M (scaron) bler when he moved to Los Angeles in 2000 to ply pieces from 1840-1940. They encompass Swedish Functionalism, Jungendstil, Biedermeier Revival, Deco, Grace and Moderne. This winter, he branched out to Chicago with a River North shop. Swedish furniture usually is made of indigenous birch and elm with dark exotic wood accents. “It’s sumptuous but not overly ornate,” Wilder says. “The light, warm honey tones of these woods and the simplicity of the pieces make them more balanced, so it’s easier to use them with other things in a wide range of styles.” They’re also sensibly scaled. Swedish living quarters were small, and pieces were designed to be more compact, so “that makes them perfect for urban homes,” Wilder says. BEST BUY: The cabinets, which can make a room without hogging all the space.
LE MAGASIN
408 N. Clark St., 312-396-0030
There are plenty of places that serve up home furnishings and decorative accessories with French provenance, but their offerings are also loaded with French ‘frou.’ That’s not so at this River North shop, where the tableware, linens, decorative accessories and antique furnishings from France tend to be colorful, witty and fresh-but definitely not fussy. “I call it ‘country modern,'” says owner Didier Milleriot, who named the place for les grands magasins, or department stores, in France. Since his is a mini-version, he left off ‘grand.’ For the most part, his stock hasn’t been seen here before and is exclusive to the shop. Instead of porcelain, ceramics and textiles from the big-name makers in Limoges or Alsace, you’ll find equally chic and engaging goods from talented independents. There’s an outstanding line of creamy Limoges porcelain with broad rims that are drenched in rainbow-bright hues and versatile enough to be used in casual or formal settings. There are also colorful table linens and high-thread-count bedding of the same ilk from Alsace and Anjou; interesting candles from VendZe and soaps from Marseille; and glamorous 19th-Century antiques, like a Louis-Philippe vanity and folding table or a Napoleon III gilded mirror, to give a room character and panache sans all the frills. BEST BUY: Fresh porcelain dishes that can’t be found anywhere else in the city.
