Finding your home’s aesthetic isn’t always easy, and the process of outfitting the pad of your dreams involves inherent limitations of time, money, and square footage. But if you lean toward one vibe or another, we’d like to save you one of those things (sorry, it’s just time) with Nester’s guide to some of the city’s best style-specific shops.

Midcentury Modern

20th Century Interiors

204 SE Alder St., 415-970-8500, @20th_century_interiors. 11 am–6 pm Wednesday–Sunday.

What looks at first like a wee Central Eastside storefront opens up into three rooms of authentic, gaspingly gorgeous MCM splendor. Vignettes of pristinely restored Scandinavian teak pieces—including draw-leaf dining tables, barstools, and credenzas—are set off by colorful rya rugs and era-faithful accents like Pyrex cookware and Dansk fondue sets.

Fun find: Set of four Danish modern chairs by Villy Schou Andersen ($2,150)

Vintage Pink

2500 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-224-8100, ilovevintagepink.com. 11 am–6 pm daily.

Vintage Pink’s 6,000 square feet holds a wealth of home goods with a history. There’s a balanced range of price points, with mass-market midcentury brands like Broyhill and Drexel alongside big-ticket Scandinavian-modern pieces, and the shop isn’t afraid to throw the occasional retro wild card—like an ‘80s-era transparent telephone—into the mix.

Fun find: Pair of Broyhill Sculptra nightstands ($795)

The Good Mod

1313 W Burnside St., 4th floor, 503-206-6919, thegoodmod.com. 10 am–5 pm Tuesday–Saturday.

The folks at The Good Mod source and refurbish an eye-popping collection of marquee-name MCM finds, but also go beyond with custom furniture that marries vintage design with contemporary industrial sensibilities. They don’t come cheap, but every one of TGM’s original pieces—including hardwood ping-pong tables, steel fire pits, and leather sling chairs—reflects a uniquely Pacific Northwest kind of cool.

Fun find: Paul McCobb writing desk ($2,250)

Timeless Classic

Canoe

1233 SW 10th Ave., 503-889-8545, canoe.design. 11 am–6 pm Tuesday–Saturday.

For 20 years, Canoe has been serving up reasonably affordable, elegantly utilitarian style with its range of sleek, elevated home goods and accents. Sourcing local and imported goods that last—everything from storage vessels and garden tools to kitchen gadgets and office supplies—Canoe seeks to make the rituals of everyday life just a little more stylish.

Fun find: Leather fly-shaped fly swatter ($36)

Pendleton Home Store

210 NW Broadway, 503-535-5444, pendleton-usa.com. 10 am–5 pm Monday–Saturday.

Even the starkest studio apartment can cosplay as a mini mountain lodge with some Pendleton flair. The brand’s instantly identifiable stripes and patterns adorn everything from quintessential wool blankets to bath towels, pillow shams, and pet beds. Elsewhere in the home shop, familiar but more understated motifs show up on stoneware plates, bowls, and mugs.

Fun find: Buffalo hooked square pillow ($65)

Schoolhouse

2182 NW Nicolai St., schoolhouse.com. 10 am–5 pm ThursdaySaturday.

The retailer formerly known as Schoolhouse Electric and Supply still lights up dependably, but also lets you outfit the rest of your home with what it calls “modern American heirlooms.” These include sturdy, no-nonsense dining tables, utility stools, and pendant lamps in bright colors and glossy finishes. Quilts, sheets, and towels offer fresh takes on traditional stripes and plaids; and stylish drawer pulls and knobs are in abundance.

Fun find: Mushroom-esque Rospo table lamp ($299)

Design-Forward

Hive Modern Design

820 NW Glisan St., 503-242-1967, hivemodern.com. 10 am–6 pm Monday–Friday.

Clean lines, satisfying curves, and modernist luxury are the keynotes at the Pearl District’s haven of high design. Iconic pieces include Eames chairs, Noguchi coffee tables, and Nelson bubble lamps, as well as spiffy teapots and clocks. Don’t have the dough for a Saarinen Womb chair-and-ottoman set? Hive’s miniature version looks just as good at a fraction of the price…but that’s still a cool $1,000.

Fun find: Eames hang-it-all coat rack ($245)

Lowell

2136 E Burnside St., 503-753-3608, lowellshopgallery.com. Noon–6 pm Friday–Monday.

This airy, gallery-esque East Burnside shop specializes in covetable, utterly unique artist-crafted wares. Sloping ceramic vessels, striped Murano-glass tea cups, and tiny clay folk-art animals are among the one-of-a-kind items that—along with colorful handwoven blankets and vintage speckle-glazed vases—you’ll find yourself thinking about long after you’ve left.

Fun find: Double-sided ceramic teardrop vase by Nick Norman ($165)

Storied Objects

927 SW Oak St., 971-227-3700, shopstoriedobjects.com. 11 am–4 pm Wednesday–Sunday.

“Where beauty meets purpose” is the credo at this downtown shop whose crafted objects elevate functionality to an art form. Inside, bowls, glasses, vases, and more made from materials—wood, ceramic, stone, alabaster—are displayed with a quiet reverence that speaks to a respect for everyday tools of living and the rituals of connection and comfort they offer. To put it another way, nothing here is dishwasher-safe.

Fun find: Wood doughnut bowl ($130)

Eclectic Modern

Day Goods

811 E Burnside St., Suite 111, 503-994-6441, workadaydesign.com. Noon–5:30 pm Tuesday–Thursday, noon–6 pm Saturday–Sunday.

This cheery storefront is the retail face of the design/build firm Workaday Design, whose principals curate a range of gently design-forward glassware, ceramics, and assorted knickknacks. It’s a range that unites the useful (arced wood cutting boards), the decorative (Wonka-inspired ceramic mushrooms), and the just plain delightful (painted-wood toy dumpling trucks and camper vans).

Fun find: Set of three Egg Back Home splatter-glaze nesting bowls ($58)

Mantel

8202 N Denver Ave., 503-289-0558, mantelpdx.com. 10 am-5 pm Tuesday–Sunday.

Anyone looking to spruce up their tabletops for a party—or for no reason at all—will be spoiled for choice at Kenton’s Mantel. Though it’s packed full of eye-catching objects, Mantel shines especially bright with its selection of artisan-made ceramic goods—candleholders, latte bowls, serving trays, and more—whose playful colors and artfully off-kilter details spark way too much joy to be saved for special occasions.

Fun find: Painted ceramic “Sad Cup” by Daniel Vu ($30)

Woonwinkel

935 SW Washington St., 503-334-2088, woonwinkelhome.com. 11 am–7 pm Monday–Thursday, 10 am–7 pm Friday–Sunday.

The general mood of Woonwinkel might be best described as exuberant sophistication: Its assortment of glassware, furniture, office goods, and textiles, seen from a distance, might appear as a blur of color, pattern, and texture, but each item in the shop has a solid grounding in purposeful modernism. Showcasing contemporary, independent designers from home and abroad, Woonwinkel merges great design and oddball appeal like no other shop in town.

Fun find: Areaware’s ceramic pet-bowl set with no-slip mat ($95)

Curated Secondhand

Bonejax

8040 SE Stark St., 503-477-4592, @bonejax. Noon–7 pm Wednesday–Saturday, 11 am–6 pm Sunday.

It’s hard to nail down the vibe at Montavilla’s Bonejax, but “chaotic suburban maximalism” might paint at least some of the picture. You might find a sofa upholstered in windowpane-checked polyester sitting on a Turkish area rug behind a cabinet filled with old test tubes and medical models; you’ll also spy ornate glass lamp bases from the 1970s next to sleek MCM dining chairs and fluffy Moroccan-wool pillows. And then there are the skeletons. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, well, it’s likely this place has it.

Fun find: Reynaldo Zapp wood chair and ottoman ($850)

Lounge Lizard

1426 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-452-6940, pdxloungelizard.com. 11 am-6 pm daily.

With hairpin legs, barkcloth upholstery, and swag lamps for days, Lounge Lizard might be the happiest place on lower Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard. The shop does a brisk business in refurbishing inexpensive but solidly made dressers and sideboards with candy-bright paint jobs; it also crafts custom record shelves and reproduction lampshades. The result is a retro-kitsch one-stop shop for any dedicated Atomic rancher.

Fun find: Color-block 12-drawer dresser ($400)

Rerun

707 NE Fremont St., portlandrerun.com. 10 am–5 pm Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Rerun 2

6940 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-683-3786, portlandrerun.com. 10:30 am–6 pm Thursday–Saturday, 11 am–5 pm Sunday.

You never know just what you’ll find at the two Northeast locations of Portland’s friendly neighborhood resale operation. A perfectly weathered croquet set? Sure. An enormous antique dhurrie rug? Yep. An only slightly damaged Iron Maiden black-light poster? Hell yes. With consigned items arriving weekly, turnover is high at both the original Irvington location and the two-story Roseway outpost—so snag that latch-hook wall hanging before some other thrifty soul does.

Fun Find: Vintage KitchenAid stand mixer ($85)

Global

Asia America

79 SE Taylor St., Suite 200, 503-230-9322, asiaamericafurniture.com. 11 am–5 pm Tuesday–Sunday.

For more than 30 years, Asia America has offered beautiful, authentic furniture and home accents from across Asia. Among the pieces that fill the cavernous Central Eastside space are classic red-lacquered armoires and sideboards from China, blocky apothecary cabinets and sari-upholstered benches from India, bamboo chests from Vietnam, and blueand-white Japanese porcelain serving dishes.

Fun find: Black, red, and silver silk obi pillow ($195)

Cargo

81 SE Yamhill St., 503-209-8349, cargoinc.com. 11 am–5 pm MondayWednesday, 11 am–6 pm Thursday–Sunday.

Give yourself plenty of time to wander this Central Eastside institution, where a mix of global and local home goods never fails to inspire. The lower floor is a tightly packed maze of elaborately carved Indonesian armoires, lacquered Burmese baskets, and stone Buddha statues. On the main floor, you’ll find stacks of West African mud cloth and Japanese indigo textiles amid permanent pop-up shops that showcase inspirational wall art (from Lisa Congdon), John Derian tea trays (at Cielo Home Design), and hand-printed napkins (at Appetite Shop).

Fun find: Hand-painted ceramic drawer pulls ($6 each)

Indigo Traders

7814 SW Capitol Highway, 503-244-7177, indigotraders.com. 10 am–6 pm Monday–Saturday, 10 am–4 pm Sunday.

A fragrant spot of Mediterranean sunshine in Multnomah Village, this family-run business has specialized in importing artisan-crafted linens, kitchenware, and gifts since 2003. These folks had the inside track on handwoven Turkish towels well before the rest of Portland, and offer them in a rainbow of colors, along with natural soaps and bath brushes, olive-wood salt cellars and citrus reamers, Moroccan tea glasses, and much more.

Fun find: Wooden cookie molds come with a recipe for Lebanese maamoul ($15)

This story is part of Nester, Willamette Week’s annual home magazine. It is free and can be found all over Portland beginning Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. Find your free copy at one of the locations noted here, before they all get picked up! Or, order one through our store.