William-Wayne & Co.

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William Meyer and Wayne Adler opened their shop of excellently curated, whimsical home and garden accessories in the East Village in 1989. Now based on the Upper East Side (with a second, smaller location at University Place), the store focuses on an expansive tabletop department, with coveted, hard-to-find Raynaud Limoges porcelain plates, gold-rimmed I. Godinger & Co. dishes painted with insects and flowers, and The Man Lion leaf-shaped ceramic dishes. Larger items like luxurious pillows, crystal chandeliers, and oversized blue-and-white vases occupy one room of the two-room shop. The store mascot, a monkey�the Chinese horoscope sign of one of the owners�can be found throughout in the form of teapots, mugs, salt and pepper shakers. With unfinished wood floors and the scent of French soaps in the air, the cozy, cottage-like space regularly draws professional decorators scavenging for both new items like fine Caspari paper napkins in fun zebra, coral, and houndstooth prints and one-of-a-kind vintage finds, like a 1938 pressed glass pitcher, an antique engraved candleholder, or first-edition books. — Caroline Kinneberg

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