If edgy, contemporary design is your thing, The Future Perfect is your shopping mecca. David Alhadeff opened the original Brooklyn outpost of his shop in 2003, filling it with a curious, slick, wildly imaginative array of furniture, lighting, and gifts made by emerging designers. Seven years later, the boutique is not only thriving but it’s expanding, with two outposts added in the last couple years in Los Angeles and Manhattan. read more

Wendy Mullin’s fashion brand, Built by Wendy, is known for its quiet cool, mixing clean lines with playful prints and subtly quirky details. Never trendy yet always on-trend, the 15 year-old line is a perpetual favorite for many an indie actress (like Kirsten Dunst, Parker Posey, and Zooey Deschanel, to name a few). Curious to learn more about the girl behind the label, we rang Mullin at her Brooklyn studio, and the nine-months-pregnant designer revealed not only her inspirations (which are as diverse as 80’s-era Vuarnet sunglasses, French New Wave films, and obscure African textiles) but her late night habit for online shopping “in a delirious state.” read more

If you're committed to being environmentally responsible, freshening up your home can come with a whole lot of guilt. How do you justify buying a brand new sofa when your old one is still in relatively decent shape? Enter Nightwood, a décor and interior business focused on creating one-of-a-kind, reconstructed furniture and textiles, based in Brooklyn, New York. Myriah Scruggs and Nadia Yaron, together since 1998, started Nightwood three years ago and have saved many a conscience ever since. read more

In New York City, the first weekend of summer is marked by the Coney Island Mermaid Parade. This year on Saturday, June 19, pop icon Lou Reed will be the parade’s King Neptune and Laurie Anderson his Queen. Rain or shine, the streets of the seaside Brooklyn neighborhood will be closed to traffic as thousands of merfolk tramp from the pavement to the beach in a day-long celebration of the sea and the kooky sideshow that is Coney Island. read more

Doug Crowell, owner of Brooklyn eatery Buttermilk Channel, is an avid collector of historic menus. "I have hundreds of them in books and archival boxes," he says. read more

Even though we don't boast a Palm Beach pedigree, we nevertheless appreciate the panache of rooms done in pure WASP style. Who can resist the riot of pattern and color, the bright and shiny lacquered surfaces, the Asian influences, and vintage rattan that remind of vestiges of days long gone, especially when the look is re-imaged with an eye towards modern living? read more

The mission behind The Brooklyn Kitchen is to support the local home cooking community in Brooklyn. Co-Owner Harry Rosenblum, who believes “anyone can be a good chef,” and wife Taylor Erkkinen stock their original store and new 7,000 Brooklyn Kitchen Labs space “with all the tools, information and products necessary to make something yummy…whether it be dinner for two or twenty.” Their green business and cooking practices, along with curiosity-peaking cooking classes like Pig Butchering and Tempeh, have kept the customers coming. read more

After collaborating on the upcoming The New York Times cookbook, fellow chefs, food writers, Brooklynites, and friends Amanda Hesser and Merrill Stubbs joined forces again last year to launch Food52, a site that operates on the belief that the best meals are those prepared by home cooks. The pair took time out to comb eBay and share the kitchen tools they can’t live without. read more

The style setters behind three top U.S. shops let us in on their eBay must-haves for 2010. read more