Delightfully Dallas

Illustration by Julia Rothman for Design*Sponge

Dallas is an interesting city. I've had family in Texas all my life, and all my travels there over the years have taken me through Dallas, but it wasn't until the last few years that I've actually gotten to see more than the skyline from the freeway. Most people think of Dallas as this vast network of highways, and parts of it are, but there are tons of really great neighborhoods tucked in between highways! On our most recent trip to Texas, Oliver and I took a few days to check out Dallas after visiting Austin. Before we visited, I made a list of shops I wanted to check out. We saw those, and stumbled on a few unexpected gems along the way! We didn't get to see everything on my list, so I'm looking forward to going back and hitting the spots we didn't have time for.

For some reason, we really didn't take many good photos while we were in Dallas, so I'll just write about the stuff we saw and snag pictures from other people....

We made an evening stop in the "M" Streets neighborhood, to visit a friend of mine from college. She, her husband and her adorable baby live an great colonial home in this historic neighborhood named for all the streets that start with the letter "M." It is one of Dallas' most historic and architecturally significant areas. We started the next day in Knox-Henderson, another adorbs neighborhood, where we hit a cute cafe called The Pearl Cup. While the snax were a bit overpriced, they were DELICIOUS. The yummy-ness more than made up for the over-priced-ness. After that, we worked off our several scones and whatnot by walking to a bunch of nearby shops. That's right, this is a walkable neighborhood with great boutiques!

We walked into The Shining, a brand new jewelry shop owned by Houston-ite Vicki Tollemache, because it had a fun sign and looked irresistibly cute. As soon as we walked in I was struck by the similarity in feel to Catbird, a little gem in Brooklyn. When I mentioned that to Vicki, she said Catbird was a big source of inspiration for her. The store had only been open for six weeks when we stumbled on it, but it's getting a ton of foot traffic, and a mention in Daily Candy, which is huge! The pieces she sells are gorgeous and the prices can't be beat. I highly recommend stopping by if you're in the area.

Vicki in her element (Photos courtesy Cassie Cakes)

Photo courtesy We Are 1976

On the same block is We are 1976, which sells fantastic prints, letterpress cards and posters, home accessories, art, trinkets and doo-dads. The shop also holds workshops to help you turn your old stuff into fun new stuff! The store itself is well-curated with friendly proprietors; a must-see in Dallas. 

Photo courtesy Again&Again

Next up: Again & Again, an outstanding consignment shop. Lighting, accessories, furniture – the pieces are phenomenal. They've got it all. And they have an in-house team who will refurbish pieces to your liking.

We also visited a few shops I'm familiar with from the online antiques conglomerate, 1st Dibs. It was fun to see the brick and mortar stores selling the wares I check out often on the web! Two standouts were Form and Sputnik Modern, which have the mid-centrury-chic market cornered.

Happily, we stumbled upon Red's Pop Shop, a little pop-up showcase for indie designers selling apparel, toys, prints, books, home goods, jewelry and more. Our favorite vendors included:
Bows and Arrows, who's lovely bouquets added color and yummy scents to the pop up shop, but were also part of the decor at The Shining.

Beatrice Collection, gorgeous hand-made raw brass jewelry made by Marisa Bosquez, who lives in Austin and sells her work on Etsy.

Right on target with skeleton keys and owls

Marisa also has a line called Bosquez Jewelry, using gold fill, silver and gemstones, also available for purchase on Etsy. 

Lilco Letterpress had a cute business card, and great cards to back it up. You know I love a good example of Ikat:

And I loved these plaid cards!