Home Shopping: Quaint and quirky at Three Potato Four

An American couple turned their passion for vintage ephemera into Three Potato Four, where regular visits are a must since many of their items are one of a kind.

Vintage apothecary chest, $550 (Dh2,020), Three Potato Four.
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American Janet Morales and her husband, Stu Eli, worked as graphic designers, but they loved collecting vintage ephemera and furniture so, in 2007, they decided to turn their shared passion into a business and opened their own online shop, Three Potato Four. It was an instant hit. Their finds are now stocked by high-street giants such as Urban Outfitters, they design their own new product ranges and they've opened an "off-line" shop, too. This bricks-and-mortar store is inside an old textiles mill in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they hold monthly "barn sales" and bring up their two children, Otis and Holly.

You never know what you're going to discover when you visit the Three Potato Four website. The majority of the items are one-off vintage buys so you have to be quick or you get pipped to the post and you miss out on treasures - regular visits are a must. A pair of old oars, a macabre cow skull, industrial factory pendant lights, old trunks and crates: there's plenty to ogle and lots of beautiful photographs from the design-savvy founders to whet your appetite.

I love the numbered carafes that are designed by Janet and Stu under their own label 3-P4. They have the number 32 etched on to them (they hold 32oz) and come with a plastic lid - I'd use them for milk, juice or as vases. I've also got my eye on the vintage American milk bottles - so cute lined up on a shelf.

There are also some beautiful, bigger pieces of furniture to admire. A huge, vintage apothecary cabinet caught my eye recently and, for some reason, I seem to have "bookmarked" it and have been sneaking peeks at it all week. I shudder to think how much the shipping would cost. But it is gorgeous...

www.threepotatofourshop.com; for shipping information, call 001 267 335 3633

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