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The Future Perfect

Location
55 Great Jones Street
Neighborhoods
The Future Perfect 1 Furniture and Home Furnishings Noho

What a terrific place for browsing. I have been back multiple times, both on my own and with family members or friends, and there is always something new and creative to admire or purchase - from the inexpensive plastic vases to the interesting choices in chandeliers to the $11,000+ magnificent, hand-crafted scrap wood tables made by Dutchman Piet Hein Eek. I believe that Future Perfect is staying true to their mission, which is to "showcase the newest and best in decorative arts and design."

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More Furniture and Home Furnishings nearby

Lost Gem
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Nalata Nalata

A dainty shop located on Extra Place - that little side street off of 1st Street where the Ramones photographed an Album Cover - Nalata Nalata features high quality décor sourced mainly from Japan. In the same way that Manhattan Sideways shares the stories of businesses on the sidestreets of Manhattan, Nalata Nalata, as their website explains, “is a retail experience founded on promoting awareness of the people and stories behind our curated lifestyle products. ”On my first visit to Nalata Nalata, I spoke with Angelique J. V. Chmielewski, who co-founded the business with her husband, Stevenson S. J. Aung. Originally from Alberta, Canada, Angelique came to New York to study fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology while Stevenson, her boyfriend at the time, fulfilled his masters in industrial design at the Pratt Institute. Nalata Nalata began as a website beautifully crafted to feature sections like Backstory, with write-ups on the brands behind the pieces, and Journal, detailing the journey and artistic endeavors through captioned photographs. In late 2013, Nalata Nalata opened in Extra Place as a pop-up store and, after falling in love with the spot, the owners decided to make it a permanent stay. Though functional in a traditional way, each product in the store contains intrinsic artistic and narrative values, many sourced from “multigenerational craftsmen who continue to refine their skill. ” Angelique first directed me to the porcelain Ju-Bakos, Japanese stacking boxes, which are traditionally used for food on special occasions. Representative of multilayered happiness, each box was crafted with a different glaze. Later, Angelique held up a glass terrarium box designed by 1012 Terra, a company based in Chiba, Japan that is focused on celebrating plant life. In the box was a dried flower reminiscent of the rose in Beauty and the Beast. “In order to preserve a flower, ” she explained, “pin it in the box and flip it upside-down. When it has completely dried out, it will be straight when turned upright. ”Though devoted to sharing the works of others, Nalata Nalata is cemented by the artistry of Angelique and Stevenson. From the custom-made cabinets to the slab roof ceiling, the two redesigned the entire interior of the store in the months before its opening, with the help of some additional hands. The carefully selected products perfectly complement the spare, bright space. The store's website also reveals a great deal of artistry, with each piece beautifully photographed, set to a white background, and matched with a whimsical remark and a few lines about its origins, making online shopping more homey and intimate. The wool blankets exclaim, “Cool nights, brisk mornings, frigid afternoons. Whatever weather the day may bring I’m a tried-and-true, dyed-in-the-wool cozy friend… Always by one’s side to provide warmth and comfort. ”Nalata Nalata is also working on their own line of products. One recent addition, the denim Ojami, bridges Japanese traditions and contemporary American design. Handmade in Kyoto, the Ojami are versatile pillows. Angelique and Stevenson enjoy using them as seats to “live low, ” but they also function as throw pillows. In the future, the couple hopes to get into more denim and hardware products, while continuing to curate objects they appreciate artistically and sentimentally. For now, Angelique says, “We are just happy to be here. ”

Lost Gem
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White Trash

Though native to Philadelphia’s suburbs, Stuart Zamsky has earned the label of “true New Yorker” after decades of living in the East Village and running the antique shop, White Trash, half a block from his apartment. Stuart and his now-wife, Kim Wurster, were actors doing odd jobs and frequently traveling out of town in the 1990s. On their trips, they visited flea markets, stockpiling housewares, 1950s collectibles, and kitsch, which they would resell on weekends on the street outside of their home. “We amassed a huge amount of stuff” and garnered a following from neighborhood locals, Stuart said. “We just loved it. ”Over time, the couple’s sidewalk sales drew the ire of police, so they transferred their growing inventory to a nearby storefront and have continued selling beautiful furniture and “value-oriented pieces” ever since. Kim went back to teaching while Stuart managed the business — he nonetheless still relies on her good aesthetic judgment when picking his wares. Though Stuart is sometimes saddened by the migration of his fellow antique shops to isolated showrooms or online platforms, he is delighted to see that the digital age has ushered younger buyers into the world of antiquing. During the COVID-19 pandemic in particular, he found that people stuck at home increasingly felt the urge to “buy themselves real furniture and leave their cinder blocks and milk crates behind. ”As for the shop’s unique name, Stuart admits that it was inspired by an inside joke. When he and his wife would return to the city — hauling kitchen tables strapped to a DIY roof rack on their car and with furnishings and knickknacks poking through the windows — they would quip, “We look like the worst white trash in the world. ” Humorously, the title stuck, even as the business left its hodgepodge beginnings behind and started offering more modern pieces.

More places on 3rd Street

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The Book Club

Book Club isn’t just for the suburbs anymore — as a new bookshop, bar and coffeehouse gives East Village denizens and beyond a new place to pore over and pour over their favorite reads. Married proprietors Erin Neary and Nat Esten, East Village residents themselves, had longed for an independent bookstore to serve the Alphabet City area, they told the Manhattan Sideways team when we popped in to see dozens of happy customers enjoying a read and a latte one sunny Friday morning. “We always thought that the neighborhood needed another bookstore, ” said Erin, “and we also kept wondering, ‘Wouldn't it be so cool if you could drink wine while you were shopping for books? ’” They decided not only to open a bookstore and bar, but to additionally add in the day-to-night-element of coffee into the mix. While both Erin and Nat had worked in hospitality before, bookselling was new to them. “I started doing research in 2017 and worked with the American Booksellers Association’s consulting program to help new bookstores get off the ground, ” said Erin. “I met with them as well as other bar owners and bookstore owners in the neighborhood and did as much research as I could without actually doing it. ” The duo launched Book Club in November 2019, enjoying an enthusiastic community reception until COVID-19 forced them to pivot. “Nate started doing bike deliveries — as many as 20 miles a day! ” Erin told us. “He’d go out to Harlem to drop off books and then all the way out to Bushwick — so a lot of people learned about the store that way. ”Once they were able to reopen to the public, Book Club forged full steam ahead in engaging the community in “book club”-esque events — from author talks to poetry readings to creative writing workshops, with additional unique offerings like an adult spelling bee and a “drink and draw” sketching class. They’ve also recently received their full liquor license, and plan to roll out literary-themed cocktails like an In Cold Bloody Mary or the Murder on the Orient Espresso Martini, Erin told us. More than anything, she added, she enjoyed having customers back in the store to guide them toward their next favorite book. “Our staff are not just really good baristas, but they’re avid readers as well. So between myself and the rest of the team, we have a really good handle on the books here — it’s fun to be able to curate not just what we stock, but to get the right book into someone’s hands. ”