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Working on a home magazine, we see the finest in just about everything. For you, we have drawn upon previous observations, interviewed experts, canvassed sources and scoured shops to pick our tops of the city’s vast resources, A to W

By Margaret Bauer, Erin Callier, Dayna Crozier, Thomas Crone, Nicole Benoist Edgerton, Mary Ann Holley, Elizabeth Lewis, Christy Marshall, Stefene Russell, Katie Beth Ryan, Lisa Schultz, Allie Wieczorek

Antiques, Expensive 

Picks: Clark Graves Antiques &  Jules L. Pass Antiques
We hate to start out with a tie, but frankly, we must. Both Clark Graves and Jules Pass are packed with exquisite antiques. The only catch is you need to time your visit to Pass with the arrival of a shipment, because once those crates are unpacked, regulars descend, and the shop turns sparse in short order. Graves: 132 N. Meramec, 314-725-2695, clarkgravesantiques.com; Pass: 9916 Clayton, 314-991-1522

 

Antiques, More Affordable 

Pick: R. Ege Antiques
As Rick Ege likes to say, “The objects in my shop are things your grandmother never had.” Not even if she was Mrs. Astor. Here you will find everything from the fabulous to the funky. If you love Americana, you’ll be in heaven here. The shop is only open from Thursday through Saturday, but serious shoppers rarely let a month go by without a visit. You never know what treasure awaits. 1304 Sidney, 314-773-8500

 

Architectural Remnants

Pick: Fellenz Antiques
Caution: If you’re asthmatic, this isn’t the shop for you. But if years of collected dust don’t daunt, then find Fellenz. As owner Bill Fellenz mans his counter while reading a novel, you can pick a path through stacks of doors, mantels, collections of antique hardware and every architectural whatnot you can imagine. The prices are fair; the picks endless. 439 N. Euclid, 314-367-0214

 

Antique Malls

Pick: Warson Woods Antique Gallery
Don’t be fooled by massive collections of musty items pawned as antiques at other malls. More than likely, the inventory is vintage but not antique. The difference? Antiques are more than 100 years old, vintage only 50. This gallery offers the real deal. It’s where those in the know always go. In fact, designers themselves have booths here. Looking for great garden urns? Check out landscape designer Rand Rosenthal’s booth in the front corner. 10091 Manchester, 314-909-0123, warsonwoodsantiques.com
Antique silver

Pick: Brilliant Antiques
How lovely life would be to have the last name of Brilliant (as in Arline Brilliant) and have an antique shop that’s, well, brilliant. If you want fine old silver, this is the spot for you. By the by (or by the buy), if you collect Majolica, blue-and-white transferware or Flow Blue pottery, the mother lode is here.  8107 Maryland, 314-725-2526, brilliantantiques.com

 

Area Rugs

Pick: Volume Carpet
This place is fun, it’s accommodating and it’s small, which makes the purchase of rugs and carpeting much less intimidating and considerably more enjoyable. And Volume has it all—from sisals to solids, custom to Chinese, needlepointed to machine-made. 8994 Manchester, 314-963-7847

 

Art, Traditional

Pick: Kodner Gallery
Though we wouldn’t venture to say that St. Louis is lousy with contemporary art galleries, there’s more than one we’d recommend. But if you’re looking for Antoine Blanchard’s renderings of Parisian streets, Charles M. Russell’s Southwest tableaus or a 17th-century Italian still life, no one can hold a candle to the family-owned Kodner Gallery. With two levels and 6,000 square feet, their warehouse offers not only an encyclopedic range of work, but a sense of psychic ease you won’t find in many galleries. No appointments, no pinstripes, no unbearable pressure to buy. Specialties include French and American Impressionists, Regionalists, 17th- to 20th-century landscapes, still lifes, genre  and ... yes, contemporary, too. 9650 Clayton, 314-993-4478, kodnergallery.com

 

Art, Inexpensive

Pick: Subterranean Books
Head straight past the memoirs and up the stairs at Subterranean Books to check out the exhibit surrounding the clearance shelves.
Another section houses art and crafts for those looking for affordable (mostly under $30), usually unusual art. Centric Studios’ dark screen prints contrast with Marianne Pepper’s bright photographs. 6275 Delmar, 314-862-6100, subbooks.com

 

Art Restoration

Pick: Szelag Art Conservation
Of Irek Szelag’s two degrees—art and chemistry—most people wouldn’t guess he taps into the latter far more often. (According to Mr. Szelag, 70 percent of art conservation is chemistry.) By examining a painting with a 100x lens, running laboratory tests and knowing how heat, light and moisture affect particular types of paint or canvas, Mr. Szelag (and his assistant and wife, Barbara) perform museum-quality restorations on such precious objects as ceramics from ancient Greece—but they are also happy to clean, de-varnish, patch and restore more recent works. 2509A Woodson, 314-427-3006, szelagart.com

 

Auction Houses

Pick: Ivey-Selkirk
Treasures can be found—let’s be frank, they abound—at Selkirk’s. When we walk into a house with great antiques and/or fine collections, we can bet the baby that the homeowners are on the mailing list and in the crowd, fighting auction anxiety and waving their paddles. And if the bidders aren’t in the mood, you can walk off with incredible buys (i.e., we have a recent report of a baby grand piano being sold for $50). 7447 Forsyth, 314-726-5515, iveyselkirk.com