brooklyn design guide

i seem to get a dozen or so emails a day asking for great recommendations for design shopping in brooklyn. so i thought it might be a bit more practical if i created an online shopping guide for brooklyn that could be regularly updated with comments, notes, maps and little tips on where to snag a bite when window shopping. i'll cover my favorite design shops by neighborhood so here is a great brooklyn map by new york magazine to help you around the borough. enjoy!

williamsburg: the epicenter of hipsterdom and the center of the media's focus on design in brooklyn, this area is the closest to manhattan and its stores are focused in a pretty small area. here are my picks for design shopping in williamsburg:

[getting there: take the L train to bedford avenue, appx 15 minutes from union square in manhattan]

[nosh: have a bite at aurora (rustic italian, great garden), sea (cheap thai in a dramatic setting), dumont (my favorite restaurant period. best garden in brooklyn), enid's (hipster central, usa. super vegan friendly), miss williamsburg, cafe 1980 and diner- delish]

• the future perfect: the heart and soul of williamsburg design, dave alhadeff's corner shop is home to some of the best up and coming designers in brooklyn and the us as a whole. head nextdoor to his new a&g merch shop for more affordable pieces
• sodafine: ok mostly clothing and accessories but this store rules. if you love handmade shoes and earrings, this is your shop.
• sleep: fantastic bedding and lingerie
• golden calf: antiques, great ceramics and some really fantastic upholstered pieces. good vintage selection as well
• saved: quasi goth, quasi hipster, this is a great place to find unique pieces by local indie designers
• ugly luggage: often overlooked, but you can find some fun antiques here. need some old movie seats? ugly luggage is your place
• 2 jakes and mini jake: everyone's favorite place to find vintage and faux vintage furniture. check out their kids' shop, too
• moon river chattel: i love this shop. full of worn in, french-style furniture and accessories. check out the architectural remnants shop across the street and then have dinner next door at aurora- yum
• catbird: a little off the beaten path but if you wander over here you'll find some fun stationery (though it's mostly clothing and jewelry)
• spoonbill and sugartown: this hipster bookstore often has fun stationery and art prints/posters
• brooklyn flat: off the next subway stop (L to lorimer) but a short walk from bedford if you're up for a little sightseeing. furniture and accessories

park slope: my neighborhood, also known as "baby slope" due to the insane amount of families in the area. however, these families like to shop and have been joined by an influx of younger residents so park slope boasts two avenues full of great shopping. things are either up and down 7th avenue or 5th avenue [here's a great map]. i recommend doing one ave at a time. if the weather's nice walk over to the park and kick back on the grass.

[getting there: take the F train to 7th avenue or the Q train to flatbush and walk south]

[nosh: for dinner check out applewood, little dishes, al di la (pricey) and stone park cafe. naidre's for coffee, as well as the tea lounge, parco and the cocoa bar. great sammiches at press 195]

• loom: pillows, tableware and accessories galore
• clay pot: lighting, tableware and stationery. lots of handmade gifts
• living on 7th and living on 5th: great all-around home store. leaning towards adler over saturation though
• nest: excellent selection of modern design, kids gear and unique accessories
• rare device: rena's fantastic selection of independent design. tableware, ceramics, posters, books and jewelry
• 3rliving: eco living
• matter: avant garde design in park slope. great artwork, too
• cog and pearl: wonderful handmade and unique gifts
• romp: great modern kids furniture and accessories

dumbo: a bit off the beaten path but a fun little trip if you have an hour or two to spare. grab a bite at the general store and then buy some chocolate at jacques torres.

• spring gallery: great gifts and gorgeous art
• tivoli home: fantastic scandinavian finds
• prague kolektiv: pricey but gorgeous czech modern and vintage furniture
• baxter liebchen: expensive but lovely collection of vintage and mid century furniture
• wonk nyc: modern, modular furniture
• more shops here...

bococa: the annoying abbreviation for the areas of boerum hill, carroll gardens and cobble hill. great shops and great food- lots of young people and plenty of bars.

[getting there: take the F or G train to bergen or carroll street. or the A/C/E to hoyt schemerhorn]

[nosh: we're big fans of patois, bar tabac, chesnut, frankies 457 and joya]

• environment 337: great selection of furniture and home accessories
• swallow: stunning glassware and artwork
• home+haven: home accessories
• bark: hip home design
• sterling place: great home accessories and furniture
• grdn: garden supplies and home decor for the urban gardener
• dig: new shop for great garden finds
• some more ideas here...

these are my personal picks but you can find some more brooklyn listings right here. enjoy! feel free to add suggestions or shop reccommendations in the comments below.

d*s summer 2006

Need a little summer recap? Follow these links to see what was hot on D*S for the summer of 2006:

• MAY 2006
• JUNE 2006
• JULY 2006
• AUGUST 2006

summer lovin: august 2006

this is the final summer wrap up! august is still fresh on the main page, so here are some highlights from earlier this month that have rolled off the home page already. tune in tuesday for fresh new designs, a new column and a brand new podcast from one of the industry's most talented women. also, on tuesday all these recaps will be stowed away into easy to use buttons on the left side of the screen. ooh- and don't forget to check out the cute silver piggy banks over at d*s on h&g- super cute. have a fantastic holiday weekend- see you tuesday! [dan funderburgh above may have found a manufacturing deal after he was on d*s this month. so maybe we'll see his work in wallpaper form after all, hooray!]

[vintage wallpaper from amy was a hit]

[jen garrido was a huge hit on the site. she's still besieged by emails for paintings- i'm so glad you guys liked her work so much!]

[flavor paper newbies. always colorful and always fun]

[hot new print artist: alice stevenson. i have since splurged on FOUR of her prints. that's a record for me. i'm a total stevenson addict]

[ikea: fabric heaven. who knew?]

[the carrie curtains mystery was solved and they'll be in my bedroom in two weeks. so happy, so, so happy]

[last but not least, cards from pressure letterpress (a big hit with my mom) and gorgeous new linens from area home. swoon]

summer lovin: july 2006

july was all about pattern and throwbacks to vintage styles. whether in furniture or textile form we saw some gorgeous new wallpapers, vinyls and bedding. so- here are july's highlights! [above- osborne and little are always a big hit around here]

[the gorgeous wallcoverings and fabrics from fokus fabrics were a big hit. apparently we were all in love with the bunny, too]

[a little early sneak peek at the latest amenity home designs]

[charles harper at dwell with a crowd favorite]

[it goes without saying, we love PR]

[i found a little vintage pottery resource that turned out to be a great summer find- tons of gorgeous vintage ceramics and pottery]

[gorgeous cards from port2port]

[lovely glass from david wiseman for artel]

[threadless at blik!]

[and last but not least some gorgeous new jewelry and coverage of the new designers show]

summer lovin: june 2006

june saw an influx of european design and a little hop across the pond for the d*s family (well, me and ac). in addition we covered a british design show, added a new podcast, checked out the red and white trend and found some great new wall decorations for those in need of a little color and pattern. so, enjoy the highlights from june 2006! oh and a special happy birthday to my wonderful, wonderful mom. love you! [above- erin adams' mosaics were a big hit in june]

[it's all about the walls- more wallconcept wall vinyls, wallpaper from twenty2 and gorgeous new designs from jocelyn warner]

[ac and i headed to paris and amsterdam for our first european vacation. photos of the trip are here and photos of the euro design finds are right here]

[the hard to find mexican fabric that haunted my dreams set off a huge nationwide search. which pretty much ended with- go to mexico to find it]

[podcasts! rena and lena were the stars this month]

[100% design was a fantastic show this year]

[four logs anyone?]

[mini trends- red and white, so hot for summer]

[we all loved corey arnold's photography so much that we crashed his site. whoops!]

[our friends missy and alden start yet another trend: butter boy and girl. this thing was everywhere after we talked about it, even daily candy]

[last but not least, hau hauz via hpha was a huge hit]

summer lovin: may 2006

[the following is part of today and tomorrow's recap of hot designs from summer 06. i'll return on tuesday morning with fresh new posts]

this summer was full of fantastic design and all sorts of great new products. we saw a lot of texture (folds, pleats and layering), wall vinyls and a whole lot of color (not to mention icff, brooklyn designs and the stationery show!) so without further adieu, here's a look back at what we loved in may 2006.

[one of the hottest posts of may? livingstones. i can't remember the last time i was so besieged by emails from people wanting to buy something on the site. the livingstones gang emailed me to say that they'd been flooded by emails and orders from d*s readers. so, this was a popular one for may!]

[this month was all about icff for me. round one and two showcased gorgeous lighting and textiles everywhere. we really saw the cementing of the textiles-in-furniture trend this year]

[not to be outdone, the stationery show attacked with a one-two punch that included crowd favorite hammerpress design]

[and if two shows weren't enough, there was the eco-design explosion that was brooklyn designs 2006]

[d*s podcasts: this month we talked to the future perfect, karin erikkson, dwell bedding, niche modern lighting and fred flare]

[mini-trends: d*s mini trends investigated bright white this month as we stepped back and looked at the industry as a whole]

[the d*s on house and garden blog kicked off in may. still working out the kinks, but it's been a great new place to showcase exclusive designs. stay tuned for a section in the print mag, too!]

[many, many heated top chef discussions were had this month. at the end of the day i'm still glad harold won. he's so cute]

[attack of the wall vinyls- we met domestic and walldesign this month- gorgeous, colorful and super popular with the shoppers among us...]

[accordion accordion everywhere]

[one of my favorite designers, courtney skott, debuted a fantastic bed at her grad show. she's destined to be a star. no doubt about it]

[origami beer labels via notcot were a huge hit]

[ugly home was a HUGE hit. it popped up all over the blogosphere after this- what a fantastic tip from ross!]