Best of Baltimore
Best of Baltimore 2024: Home & Service
Our annual celebration of the best that Charm City has to offer.
Edited by Janelle Erlichman Diamond and Christianna McCausland
Photography by Tyrone Syranno Wilkens
Custom Cabinets
SUNNYFIELDS CABINETRY
The showroom at Sunnyfields' longtime Falls Road location is design porn for remodelers who cannot get enough of artfully displayed drawer pulls, model kitchens, and beautifully arrayed countertop samples. Not just a showroom where you buy some cabinets, Sunnyfields offers services from design to construction, with plenty of inspiration along the way. The end result? A project that is completely functional and unique.
⇓ Article continues below ⇓
BABY GEAR
JOYLET
Babies require a remarkable amount of stuff and the tab for all their wares can really add up. It’s not just the budget that grows exponentially; millions of pieces of baby-related waste, mainly clothes, get tossed into landfills each year. Enter JoyLet, which was started by two area moms who grew weary of watching their own kids outgrow items that just contributed to household clutter. Rather than invest in a bassinet, baby swing, and even some toys that the kiddo will grow out of in a hot second, JoyLet enables a circular economy of high-end, curated goods that they provide, fully cleaned and sanitized, directly to busy parents.
CANDLES
UNWINED CANDLES
These eye-catching scented candles in their striking glass containers are popular in many local gift boutiques, but they are actually designed and crafted in a workshop in Sykesville. Bottles donated by bars, restaurants, and refuse companies are first cut and cleaned, after which scented soy wax is poured into them. You can skip the middleman and go directly to the source, visiting Unwined’s flagship location on Main Street in a 19th-century building that was once a hardware store, and stock up on any of its signature or botanical scents.
MY FAVORITE STORE:
“ACE hardware! Excellent customer service and a real neighbor.”
—JAYNE MILLER , MEDIA LEGEND
FURNITURE RESELLER
FREDERICK HOME FINDS
We are all kinds of obsessed with Corrine Counts and her IG account, @frederick.homefinds. Counts, an expert thrifter based in Frederick, showcases all the gems she finds while hitting up yard sales, Facebook Marketplace, online auctions, and estate sales. Some she keeps for her chic home, but most she sells to others, often helpfully incorporating them into a room, so you can see how best to style. She has a great eye and loves pops of color. Her curated picks are all playful, bright, and beautiful.
HOME DESIGN NETWORKING
DWELL & TELL
We are so impressed by Dwell & Tell, a networking series from the Baltimore Design District aimed at designers, builders, artisans, architects, creatives, and trade partners. Each event, held at local showrooms like Floors Etc., Gramophone, GrandYork, and Merritt Gallery, focuses on conversation, cocktails, and opportunities to connect with others within the design trade. Now in its second year, its goal continues to be community over competition, which we love.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATT ROTH
DIY Dog Bath
BARON’S K-9 MARKET
You know you're in a good pet store when the door-greeter is a dog. A trip to Baron’s K-9 Market in Glyndon is not the same if Sullivan, aka “Sully,” isn’t there to have his ball thrown for him. Pet owners enjoy Baron’s for its extensive selection of food, nutritional supplements, and toys. But the real star here is the DIY dog bath. Tucked in the back of the store, the state-of-the-art bath is stocked with ample clean towels, shampoo, conditioner, aprons—even a dryer—all for under $20. And while you do the dirty work, there is usually a treat at the end. For the dog, that is.
CUSTOM FURNITURE
ALWAYS STYLISH AND STURDY
INSTRUCTION
Bliss Woodworks
Kate Christian, the craftswoman at Bliss Woodworks, discovered woodworking by taking a cuttingboard class at the Station North Tool Library. Now she makes incredible pieces of furniture from her Johnston Square studio.
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
Sandtown Furniture Co.
Housed in a stunning building on Wicomico Street, Sandtown’s iconic duo of Will Phillips and James Battaglia salvage old urban trees and give them a second life in incredible pieces, ranging from conference tables to consoles.
PIECES WITH PURPOSE
Designed With Purpose
Started by Mark Plakotoris in 2019, Designed With Purpose produces high-end original pieces of furniture and lighting for modern homes, made from raw materials in its shop.
HEIRLOOM FURNITURE
Crump & Kwash
Founded in 2015, this Medfield-based design studio is helmed by Justin Kwash and Paul Crump, a duo committed to manufacturing contemporary heirloom furniture.
FORM AND FUNCTION
Heavy Paper Company
Lawrence Moore became a part of the maker community through the Station North Tool Library as a volunteer. He started Heavy Paper Company to bring his innovative furnishings, including ottomans, coffee tables, and beautiful breakfast trays, to the public.
⇓ Article continues below ⇓
INSTALLERS
ALPINE INSTALLERS
Everyone loves wallpaper, but most people are scared they can’t hang it properly. That’s why finding a competent installing company is so helpful. Alpine Installers—who have almost no trace on the web other than a very bare Instagram page and website with their phone number—are one of those businesses that you know about because your friend used them, or an industry insider whispered their name into your ear. They confidently and expertly install wallpaper, but they are also pros at mounting window treatments and hanging art. Once you use them, you quickly realize why they are so sought after.
LOCAL ART FOR YOUR HOME
HIGHLANDTOWN GALLERY
Looking to go local with your home art collection? Highlandtown Gallery is a good place to start. The brainchild of owner and director Felicia Zannino-Baker, who grew up in Highlandtown, the gallery celebrates local artists at its location in the neighborhood’s Arts & Entertainment District. Recent shows have included encaustic/mixed media works by Sandi Wilson, Josh Brooks’ unique portraiture, and oils by Sandhya Sharma. Zannino-Baker also sells jewelry and smaller decor items, and there’s always something going on at the gallery, from classes to improve one’s plein-air painting to workshops like its Mandala Paint & Sip Workshop, complete with mimosas that can be appreciated by even the least artistic of us all.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRISTOPHER MYERS
Garden Experience
WALTHER GARDENS & NURSERY
It's been a little over a year since Chris Heller, pictured, and Ryan Sirois Heller, owners of The Margaret Cleveland, bought the beloved Walther Gardens in the Moravia-Walther neighborhood. And while it definitely still feels like the garden center the neighbors have long loved, it also feels fresh and transformed. The snowball stand, which is reportedly the oldest in the country, still has lines down the street. The grounds are bursting with trees, shrubs, roses, and potting materials, and there’s also the beautiful 1885 farmhouse stocked with home and décor items. It’s a feast for all the senses.
MOVING COMPANY
CHARM CITY MOVERS
Charm City Movers works differently from most moving companies in that they give you a guaranteed rate based on what you are moving, not by the hour. So yes, they charge more for large (or particularly fragile) items—but there’s no guesswork here. What you’re quoted is what you pay. (As they say on their website, “Our clients don’t pay for hours spent in traffic jams, or on-the-clock break time—we only charge for the job you hire us to do.”) And customers seem to love both their honesty and efficiency. All over social media, we see rave reviews, including this one on X (formerly Twitter) from @trustpunch: “Can’t recommend Charm City Movers enough—moved literally my entire apartment in 30 minutes.” A stress-free move. What a concept.
NURSERY
FARMER STAN’S PLANTS & PRODUCE
A trip to Farmer Stan’s in Upperco is about more than buying plants; it’s an experience. The nursery has everything you need to outfit your exterior, from perennials to annuals to shrubs, and there’s a farmers market that sells fresh local produce and wares. But given its location within the larger Spring Meadow Farms, there’s so much more. A petting zoo! (Baby goats, enough said.) Pit beef! A beer and wine garden! And of course, the iconic Bus Stop ice cream shop. Come for the marigolds, stay for the extreme milkshakes.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY TYRONE SYRANNO WILKENS
Super Sheets
PHINA’S FINE LINENS & GIFTS
If you're looking for quality linens from global brands, rest assured (see what we did there?) Phina’s is the destination of your dreams (we can’t stop!). Tucked into Federal Hill like a comforting nest, Phina’s has been offering top linen lines like Sferra, Essix, and Signoria Firenze since 2007. Having grown up in a textile-rich home, owner Carla Bravo Wing is a true believer in the power of good linens and is known to go the extra mile for customers. Which is perhaps why the store is well-patronized by some of the area’s top interior designers.
VINTAGE SHOP
WISHBONE RESERVE
The thing we love most about Wishbone Reserve is they don’t take themselves too seriously. Owner Julie Lilienfeld, who has been around since the store’s inception in 2015, loves midcentury and postmodern contemporary and vintage designs—and there is plenty of awesome furniture, rugs, glassware, and art at the Falls Road showroom in Hampden. But she also loves small treasures that make people smile and believes it’s okay to mix high-end with something a little playful or bawdy. Lilienfeld has always believed retail should be an immersive and fun experience and no one is having more fun than she is.
YARD MAINTENANCE
NATURAL CONCERNS INC.
Natural Concerns is a full-service landscaping service that offers the typical repertoire. What is not typical is the company’s eco-friendly approach. A leader in using native plants, their gardens are people-, pollinator-, and pet-friendly, and they shy away from using harsh chemicals in favor of integrated management that leaves nature, well, natural, not to mention healthier and more sustainable.
COURTESY OF @BUTTERBEEFARM
INSTAGRAM WINNER
BUTTERBEE FARMS
@BUTTERBEE_FARM
There is no such thing as a gray day on the scroll of Butterbee Farm. A regenerative farm that sells its flowers directly to florists, flower lovers, and brides, as well as through its CSA (a Community Supported Agriculture subscription), Butterbee has an Instagram account that spills over with vibrant blooms. From tulips and ranunculus in the spring to dazzling dahlias and chrysanthemums in autumn, Butterbee’s Insta-style is lush, colorful, and full of joy. Owners Laura Beth Resnick and Jascha Owens can sometimes be seen peeping over a fresh-cut bouquet, an important reminder of the hardworking farmers behind all that floral perfection.
⇓ Article continues below ⇓
Explore The Winners
Best of Baltimore 2024
Home & Service
Edited by Janelle Erlichman Diamond and Christianna Mccausland
Best of Baltimore 2024
Lifestyle & Wellness
Edited by Janelle Erlichman Diamond and Christianna McCausland
