A New (and Restless) Retailer
Christopher Street’s newest arrival, Overbey & Dunn, has an original take on how to do retail. The housewares shop will completely overhaul its inventory every two to three months, setting up new installations so that it feels like you’re entering a different person’s house. From now until May 25, the store is arranged like a studio apartment filled with vintage and repurposed furniture, including two found Murano chandeliers and a French country table. The next rotation will feature a beach cottage by Scott Sanders, who kicks off the guest-designer series (19 Christopher St., nr. Waverly Pl.; 212-242-3004).
The Sharpest Knives in the Drawer
Broadway Panhandler is slashing prices and sharpening blades for a good cause at its five-day knife event. Classic Japanese Santoku knives, as well as other kitchenwares, are 50 percent off or more today through Sunday. On Saturday, the chop shop offers a knife-sharpening deal of three knives for $12 and is holding a free knife-skills course from 2 to 4 p.m. One hundred percent of proceeds from knife-sharpening services benefit City Harvest (65 E. 8th St., at Mercer St.; 212-966-3434; 4/13-4/17).
Secrets of the Brooklyn Mushroom Forest
Mere weeks ago, the Great Hall of the Brooklyn Museum was graced with Grecian colonnades. Today, it feels more like a psychedelic lounge from Alice in Wonderland, filled with an epic installation of what look like oversize mushrooms. The architectural-design firm that brought about the transformation, Brooklyn’s Situ Studio, discusses what exactly is going on here this Saturday (200 Eastern Pkwy., at Washington Ave.; 718-638-5000; 4/16, 2 p.m.; included in admission, $10).
Cue the Ogling
The annual Sculpture Objects & Functional Art Fair (more commonly known as SOFA New York) is back at the Park Avenue Armory, showcasing a visual feast from 57 design galleries from around the world. Locals like Brooklyn’s UrbanGlass and Chelsea’s Ippodo will be showing off wares alongside international superstars like Antwerp’s Love Wood Gallery and Murano’s Berengo Studio 1989. In addition to things to gawk at, the fair offers book signings and lectures by the likes of Jeannine Falino, Museum of Arts and Design curator, and the former New York Times art critic Grace Glueck (Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Ave., at 67th St.; 312-587-7632; 4/14–4/17; $25).