Feathering Your Nest: 6 Best Places to Furnish Your Philly Home

Let’s face it: decorating your new home is one of the most exciting parts of buying a house/condo. I tend to look at it as the payoff for the tedious months of scoping out MLS listings, attending showings, and having to sign stack upon stack of paper at closing. You’ve done all the boring stuff; now it’s time to compare paint samples, establish your style, and buy furniture that both fits your space and expresses who you are in your own space. The following are some of the places you can check out to build your nest in the Philly area.

Simple Kitchen and Bath

(Northern Liberties): If you are doing reno work on your new home, this is the place you want to go. They specialize in modern and contemporary looks for kitchens and bathrooms, and supply the most high-end product from well-known manufacturers in Italy, Germany and other countries to offer designs that are top-notch in functionality and style. If you are looking for a kitchen and/or bath straight out of a decor magazine, you need look no further.

Three Potato Four

This Philly-based novelty company specializes in the unique trinkets that make a house into a home. The owners, Janet Morales & Stu Eli, love the idea of “found objects” and pieces that evoke nostalgia and cool. Things you can find here include funky illustrated tarot cards, retro banners and posters, and heaps of the letter boards that are so “in” right now. If you want your pad to look like it’s owned by the coolest kid in town, this is the website to click.

Usona

(Rittenhouse Square): If cost isn’t an issue, you’ll both die and live for this company’s ultra-luxe, inimitable furniture. The stuff you’ll find here are “pieces,” as opposed to the simply functional, cute stuff you can find at IKEA. This is your place for bed-frames upholstered in buttery leather, eclectic dining tables made of the finest real wood and upscale materials like brass and steel, and light fixtures guaranteed to evoke a “wow” from anyone who visits. Don’t see any prices on the website? That’s because every Usona item is made to order, and is available in an almost limitless variety of finishes, textures, and colors. Most items are made in Italy with several months’ lead time.

Luxe Home Philadelphia

(Center City): Specializing in modern and contemporary furniture, Luxe Home Philadelphia is your one-stop shop for designer home decor. Their list of brands they carry is eye-popping, and ensures that you will not be able to walk in without finding at least one thing you love. There is more than just furniture, too. They have a full line-up of throw pillows, wall mirrors, framed art, and gorgeous rugs in bamboo, sisal, wool, and silk. Their website maintains a gift registry, so you can compile a wish list of your favorite items for your wedding or housewarming, which is a feature I love. Additionally, they offer furniture rental if you are staging your house for sale.

West Elm

(Midtown Village): I love West Elm because, while it’s a chain furniture store, it has really nice stuff. They have sales frequently, and their prices come in at mid-range, somewhere between Craigslist and custom. I am especially charmed by their collab with Pottery Barn kids that has resulted in greatly-designed, droolworthy children’s furniture like cribs, vibrant and unique textiles, and kid-level items like baskets, rugs, and toys that won’t get destroyed within a couple of months (I’m looking at you, Ubiquitous Swedish Home Goods). Their curtains and window hardware will definitely giove your home that desirable “upscale” feel at half the “upscale” price. Sure, your things won’t be one-of-a-kind, but it’s respectable, grown-up stuff.

Material Culture

(East Falls): If you want something for your home that nobody can duplicate, this is the place to look. Material Culture is both a brick-and-mortar store and an auction house, where themed bidding wars are hosted once or twice a month. For example, their next auction is “Fine, Folk & Ethnographic Art.” It’s hard to explain what’s in the store since it’s always changing, meaning that, if you see something you like, you’d better snatch it up before someone else does! Expect all manner of things, from intact Oriental fireplaces, vintage pottery, authentically-distressed mailboxes, and unbelievable hanging art. You could easily get lost in how much found treasure they carry! As a bonus, if you have your own cool stuff to sell, they’ll help you auction it off.