Discovering Dallas: Snider Plaza

This week’s exploratory adventure takes us to time-tested shopping locale Snider Plaza, a three-block spread of shops and restaurants that’s wedged between Highland Park and the campus of SMU. I took a tour yesterday—enjoy the report! —Alison Miller

Texas-Made Treats at Peek in the Attic.

Peek In the Attic is a festive, pint-sized gift shop with a traditional aesthetic (check out the selection of Texas Santas!). If you’re looking for Christmas tree ornaments or Texas-made gifts, this is the place. 

Hand-Painted Italian Ceramics at Flavors From Afar

Flavors From Afar

Not only did owner Nancy Krabill know where these beautiful ceramic plates and bowls were from, she knew the person who hand-painted them in Deruta, Italy (Krabill and her husband as guides for their customers on trips to Italy and visit the artist). The store is chock-full of gourmet European foodstuffs, along with a few outstanding products from right here in the U.S. (try Texas Olive Ranch's olive oil!).

Christmas Tree, Lisa Luby Ryan-style

Vintage Living by Lisa Luby Ryan

Though this design-minded store is in the process of resetting their store for the holidays, I was able to pop in and snap this sneak-peek photo. (I also pulled two photos from their web site so you could get a feel for their monochromatic aesthetic -- see below.) Dallas interior designer Lisa Luby Ryan (whose own home has been featured on the cover of Veranda) brings back antiques from France and Sweden as well as wields her own line of upholstery, lamps, and accessories at this sophisticated shop. It is positively dreamy.

I first discovered Uptown Country at the Dallas Flea many months ago and had yet to visit their Snider Plaza store. This mother-and-daughter team specializes in playful shabby-chic furniture and accessories, and their prices are refreshingly affordable. But the coolest part about this shop is that they’ll bestow your own chair, desk, or chest of drawers with a new casual-country identity that’s freshly painted but still looks “loved and worn.” Check it out:

I love the page-out-of-a-book treatment on these drawers!

Rug samples at Uptown Country.

If you love fine antiques but hate shuffling through piles of old junk, visit Snider Plaza Antique Shop. The selection here is valuable and well-edited, and the ladies behind the counter are extremely friendly and helpful. I fell in love with this shelf. It’s crafted out of an old wooden canoe -- the whisky barrel just completes the ageless nautical theme.