Sweet Dreams—From Sweden
Swedish company Hästens has been “crafting sleep” since 1852. Known for its bespoke beds—each one is handcrafted using only natural materials like pure flax, cotton, wool, Swedish pine, and genuine, hypoallergenic horsehair—and its bedding accessories, the company is dedicated to helping customers enjoy the highest quality sleep. Its new Greenwich store is set up in four sleep zones “curated to engage the senses, educate, and put the guests at ease, and allow them to discover their ideal custom bed preferences.” Our favorite? Zone Three, or the “Sleep Spa,” where, after checking shoes and coat, you’re given slippers and a pillow to take from bed to bed where you are invited to lie down and even take a nap—all while listening to tranquil Reiki healing music.
Hästens Greenwich Store
21-23 E Putnam Ave, Greenwich, CT
(203) 629-8022; www.hastens.com
A Mix of Mediums
A trio of local residents has opened Oak & Oil, an inviting new art gallery/home décor and furnishings shop that pro2motes handcrafted work by primarily local artists and artisans. With its gallery-like white walls and modern lighting “warmed up” by handmade furniture and textiles (some of the latter from the Mideast) co-owner Sarah Kalarchian of Bedford says the intimate space “is a comfortable and not intimidating way to buy art.” Offered are textiles and furniture ($2,000 to $10,000), paintings ($175 to $7,000), pottery, and glass and bronze sculptures, as well as restored antiques such as a hutch fashioned from an old wooden door salvaged from Afghanistan ($10,000). The “oak” part of its charming name was recently represented by Black Creek Designs’ handcrafted wood furniture by Thomas Thoorp of New Canaan, Connecticut, and contemporary wrought iron and wood furniture from Pound Ridge’s Swavek Wojciechowski; the “oil” was ably represented by impressionistic landscape paintings in that medium by Linda Puiatti and Susannah Swanson, both of Pound Ridge. Look for a changing array of featured artists and craftspeople as well as specific gallery shows.
Oak & Oil 89
Katonah Ave, Katonah
​(914) 232-8100; www.oakandoil.com
Expanded Monkey Business
The well-regarded Yellow Monkey, which has long featured an eclectic blend of European antiques and furnishings from around the world, has recently expanded its offerings. In addition to launching a new website, shop proprietor Heidi Johnston, a Cross River resident who started her career as a fabric designer for Scalamandre before creating several retail home stores and her own custom furniture line, has introduced the new Modern Monkey collection. Focusing on well-priced accessories for the home to appeal to a wider range of customer needs, it includes small gifts, tabletop accessories, barware, glassware, candles, clothing and accessories, pillows, linens, and trinkets. “There are many who still are looking for the 19th-century antiques and reproductions,” says Johnston. “But far more are looking for affordable wedding gifts, decorative enhancements, and accessories for their homes. But, she adds, “I’ll never give up the antiques.” The Yellow Monkey will also reopen the onsite Gallery Yellow in early spring, highlighting the best of Northern Westchester’s painters, sculptors, photographers, and potters.
The Yellow Monkey
729 Rte 35, Cross River
(914) 763-5848; www.yellowmonkey.com
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Going, Going, Gone—To Good Causes
Have a hankering for an elegant old Oriental rug or some antique Chinese porcelain? Check out the Auction Division recently launched by The Benefit Shop, a Bedford Hills thrift shop that encourages residents to make high-quality tax deductions in the form of art, antiques, decorative objects, furnishings, silver, jewelry, and collectibles with profits to benefit local charitable organizations. Following three days of previews, its inaugural monthly live auction, held in late September at its new 8,000-square-foot gallery in Mount Kisco, featured 608 lots like the ones previously listed as well as palatial crystal chandeliers, gilt bronze and brass wall sconces, and an oil painting from the early 1800s by French artist Frantz Charlet. Also included was antique furniture from the Victorian, Art Deco, Edwardian, and Mid-Century Modern periods. Auction donations and consignments of either single pieces or entire estates are accepted, with profits going to a long list of local charitable organizations like Northern Westchester Hospital, Friends of Karen, Open Door Clinic, and various police and fire associations. The next auction is scheduled for December 14, with full catalogs posted online. Bidders may participate in person, by phone, or online.
The Benefit Shop Foundation/Auction Division
27 Radio Cir, Mount Kisco
(914) 864-0707; www.thebenefitshop.org/auction-house.html
