HOUSEPLANTS NOT FROM HELL 

If the only houseplant you don’t like living with is a mother’s-in-law-tongue, LIFE + LIMB (1716 E. Burnside, 503-233-4738 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) could convert you to a tender of distinct and rare plants. The store also displays vintage modern home accessories, one-of-a-kind ceramics and paintings. We loved this hippo-shaped jute doormat ($125) just a hair more than the hare-shaped one next to it ($125). “Some people have to buy the hippo because the hare presents a space issue for their porch,” says shop owner Molly Quan, a graphic designer who opened the plant and accessories shop last November. Her designer gene explains the perfect pairing of minimalist pots (typically on the smaller side) and architectural succulents such as this astrophytum asterias in its Vietnam-made container.  

HOOK SOME HORNS 

Having a hard time finding coyote knuckles, a drilled bison tooth or any manner of skulls (think beaver, otter, bobcat or this $80 pronghorn) to adorn your second home in Central Oregon? Make for ZENO ODDITIES (729 E. Burnside, 503-235-9366), where a strange mix of black-velvet paintings, animal parts, used and new record albums, and new CDs help the store live up to its name. The owner of the shop, Steve Plouf, played drums with The Wipers and sells CDs of that band under the label Zeno Records ($17 for a three-CD boxed set).

Before you go home to string up your coyote knuckles, check out the small landing where vintage tablecloths and bedding such as a pink and white chenille bedspread ($47) hang.

THE ENGLISH ARE COMING! THE ENGLISH ARE COMING! 

  Actually, if you’re looking for English antiques—or French or Italian pieces—they’re at FLOURISH INTERIORS (521 N.E. Davis St., 503-233-6800 or go to flourish-interiors.com). Housed in a 5,000-square-foot former Studebaker showroom (with a full-size lift!), this collective of four antiques dealers stocks fine antiques, custom upholstered furniture and special-
order furnishings for people who are finishing off their traditional or European-style homes.
“My wife, Laurie Rutter, handles the interior design end of the business,” says shop co-owner Ken Hellewell, who spent from 1999 to 2003 sailing his 38-foot-boat, Topaz, 30,000 miles around the world. Bye-bye, high seas. Hello, fine furniture from faraway places from another era!
 We saw eye-catching Paris Blue-edged French enamel dishes, a circa 1828 continental pine blanket chest ($675), a set of 13 pewter goblets ($125), and a French marble-topped Deco sideboard and mirror to complement a period dining room. If you live in a loft, there are things here for you, too. Check out the vintage aluminum propeller blade ($550) that could make a sculpturelike statement suspended from your warehouse-high ceiling.

No, that isn’t the world’s skinniest shop you’re passing near 24th Avenue and E. Burnside: It’s a kiosk featuring the jewelry of SPIN DESIGNS INC. (2424 E. Burnside; 503-235-5644 or go to spindesigns.etsy.com), the handiwork of sisters Michelle Berlin and Dee Dee Ploog, who create jewelry such as Tango ($70, right), a 3-inch-wide mini-mobile of hand-tooled stainless steel dangling from an 18-inch multi-strand steel cable. Spin Designs also creates modern adornments for the home and garden.

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