Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
If MacKenzie-Childs’ Courtly Check pattern makes your pulse quicken, beat a path to the door of B. Davis Design (10502 Manchester, 314-822-2221). Although the official address is on Manchester Road, the entrance is on a tiny Kirkwood side street, Bernice Avenue. Opened by designer Barb Davis in 2011, the store is chockablock full of flourishes to finish a room.
“I really have a wide, great mix,” Davis says, scanning her store’s two rooms, where you can find an antique hand-carved wooden clock ($2,800), pewter serving dishes, French-imported linens ($119 for a 65-inch-square Teflon-coated tablecloth), a La Cornue stove, furniture, and just about the entire MacKenzie-Childs line, from rugs to ceramic tableware, pet dishes, paper products, tuffets, and more. Davis also sells a variety of gifts, including Cheree Berry notecards ($16) and Mary Frances handbags ($199-plus).
“Everything I love is under this roof,” Davis says. “I always wanted a store. I opened it at a time when the economy wasn’t that great but everything lined up. The location and the store is charming in itself, regardless of what I put in it.”
The shop sells a huge assortment of silk flowers, which Davis’ floral designer often pairs with dried ones. “People can bring in their own containers, or we can revive their old and outdated wreaths,” Davis says. “Every door needs a wreath—always.”
Davis, an interior designer for the past two decades, cites some of her other must-haves, such as antique antlers. “They are fun in groups,” she says. “The more the merrier.” She also sells preserved boxwood arrangements (“They add a lot of life to a room without any maintenance”) and cowhide chairs (“I think every house needs a little cowhide”). At an hourly rate of $75, Davis does in-house consultations as well.
“For me, quality is first and foremost, and I make no excuses about it,” Davis says. “This is not disposable decorating. If you want to buy, buy well, and move on.”
