On the floor of this showroom, you'll encounter an oblong sculptural piece that's intriguingly pocked and imperfect. A pointy triangle juts from the flat surface like a nose on a face.
If Gene Harris had his way, nothing in his store would be for sale: Not the baby pterodactyl dug up in western Kansas and listed for $162,000, the mounted Barbary lion priced at $28,200, or even the framed longhorn beetles, a bargain at $36.
If one of your fantasies is to surround yourself with walls, fountains or floors decorated with Old World murals hand-painted on tiles, Alvaro Da Costa can make it a reality.
From poodles in red shoes to hand-painted glassware, items in an offbeat Davie gift shop are packed with personality. Take, for example, a toilet paper holder. A plump green frog with bulgy eyes discreetly yields a fresh sheet between its lips.
Stuart Gitlin is so entranced with the Indonesian merchandise he sells at his Miami store, Chantik Imports, that sometimes he moves things off the sales floor.
Oakland Park resident David Buitron, 51, delights in refurbishing furniture that other people don't want. With repair work and artistic flourish, he turns broken, worn and tossed-out pieces into functional art that he sells at his Wilton Manors shop, Made in the Shade.
Given Sara Colombo's background as a fashion model, it's no surprise that Nest, her shop on Lincoln Road, exudes high style. From highly refined lacquered and furniture clad in stingray skin to fabrics with a sumptuous hand, Colombo brings the best of Europe to Miami Beach.
Enticed by the weather, Robert Massello opened the Miami Antique and Design Expo, known as M.A.D.E., in 2005 when he moved from his native New York.
Las Tías is a wonderland for lovers of vintage things. The shop in the heart of the artsy Wynwood District brims with funky retro stuff: lamps and glassware, clothing, hand-painted abanicos (hand fans), jewelry and classy foulards. If you are the kind of person who remembers your grandmother's dresser with nostalgia, this is the place for you.
Sabina Danenberg began collecting when she was 7, likely an inevitable occurrence since her mother is a noted expert in the decorative arts in Paris and her father, an art dealer, staged the first exhibition of Norman Rockwell's work. Lucky for Miami that she did, as her shop, Sabina Danenberg Antiques & Interior Design, is chock full of tasteful furnishings from the 18th century to the 1970s and peppered with elegant estate jewelry.
Green Veranda, an online retailer, sells intriguingly stylish home goods fashioned from leftover piles of paper. Trays. Place mats. And purses that promote themselves.
To revamp home decor without spending a dime, some folks rearrange their furniture. Perhaps it's swapping the sofa and armoire. So they drag those hefty pieces around the room. Then, they'll stand back and take a fresh look.
Visitors to the European Art Gallery are encouraged to touch the art. Three-dimensional works by artist Irmaly Brackin combine layers of resin, enamel, glass and metallic acrylics, framed in glass beads and marbles. The granddaughter of the famous German expressionist painter Hans Grohs, Brackin creates art that is sophisticated and full of texture and depth.
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