Shopping Guide: New York

Home & Garden offers a local New York shopping guide that aims to highlight smaller, unique and boutique establishments. While chain stores offer decor on the cheap, some of these places look like amazing places to at least window shop for ideas and to score some great design elements that will make a statement. Also included are some good food finds.

Enjoy!

New Lamp - Gotta Love West Elm

I am a huge fan of West Elm. Possibly it's due to the fact there aren't too many other options in DUMBO, but I really do like there stuff. It's a bit more contemporary and colorful than Crate & Barrel or Pottery Barn (which is great about catalog returns at the store), and I think it's a bit less money as well. Our house is furnished with a mix of hand-me-downs from mom and dad, and new purchases we've made since our move to NYC in 2004 when we had our first grown-up apartment.

You know, the kind where things actually match and nothing in your living room was found in the alley and people like to sit on your couch. I remember my first college apartment and on the day we moved out, my parents came up to Boston from CT and helped me. I recall offering my dad a seat on our couch and he said "no thanks." Still makes me laugh!

Trust me, I am all about finding things and rehabbing them like on my favorite HGTV show Decorating Cents (I like House Hunters too), but I have no skills. I can't even use a drill. I am trying to find someone in my building to help us hang this mirror that needs anchors because I can't do it myself and my husband is not any better.

Anyway, we had two lamps in our living room - one from my mom and one from Home Goods. We just got a new one today from West Elm and it is so nice. Our kitty Lucy likes it as well.

Wine Glasses: Napa Style

I don't know how many of you watch the Food Network, but I occasionally tune into Michael Chiarello's show, which is mainly about party food. The other weekend when I was visiting my in-laws in CT, we drank out of these really great wine glasses and now I have to order them too.

They are on his Web site, NapaStyle.com, which has all sorts of stuff available for purchase online. My mother-in-law liked the glasses because they reminded her of the small ones they give you at Pastis in the city. I do really enjoy drinking wine out of the smaller glasses. He has a lot of great recipes on his site too.