Sharp Shops

Free Coupon Codes at Homecenter.com

2009 by Hearst Communications Inc

Before, during and after the summer season, our favorite Hamptons home stores stylishly serve up the goods.

Turpan is 500 square feet of modern hits for home and body. Some are iconic, others deliciously under the radar. Opened: 2000. Specialty: High-functioning designs for kitchen, bath and dining room that show, according to cofounder Greg Turpan, that "quality has nothing to do with price." Witness the store's durable Japanese shopping totes ($48). Best sellers: Hermès china, Orrefors glass, Cire Trudon candles, Comme des Garçons clothing. Top shoppers: Joe D'Urso, Annabelle Selldorf. 55 Main Street, East Hampton; 631-324-2444.

[Photograph]: Katherine Turpan sets the table-cum-window display at her eponymous shop.
PHOTOGRAPHS: ELLEN WATSON (THE ELEGANT SETTING); KARL JUENGEL/STUDIO D (ALL OTHERS)

Balasses House takes some time to explore -- there are three barns and a main house loaded with European and American antiques -- but you'll come away with something that adds patina to any shingled saltbox. Opened: 1964. Specialty: "Tables!" as the late Teda Balasses was fond of saying. "Work everything else around them." It's still the mantra here, even though the shop's lively founder passed away last summer. Best sellers: 18th- and 19th-century furniture, crystal, and ironwork chandeliers. Select patterns of new casual china are easy to carry home for instant gratification. Top shoppers: Robert Stilin, Marshall Watson. 208 Main Street, Amagansett; 631-267-3032.

[Photograph]: Part of the midcentury mix at Wyeth.

Wyeth debuted in the Hamptons more than a decade ago before moving to lower Manhattan; last month the Mecca for hip, modern furniture and lighting returned, opening in a renovated barn in Sagaponack. Specialty: Midcentury Danish furniture and American classics, like pieces from Dunbar and Eames. Look past some mediocre seventies upholstery to original-production fifties designs. Best sellers: Hans Wegner Elbow chairs, custom bamboo tables. Top shoppers: D.D. Allen, Victoria Hagan. 3654 Montauk Highway, Sagaponack; 631-604-2103; wyethome.com.

[Photograph]: A desk vignette at Balasses House.

The Elegant Setting, the creation of Stephanie Finkelstein, carries new and vintage tableware as well as monogrammed linens and tote bags, both of which make smart hostess gifts. Opened: 2004. Specialty: The store's personal "archival" service will track down a hard-to-find vintage china or crystal pattern. Best sellers: William Yeoward and Riedel crystal, monogrammed accessories. Top shoppers: Dennis Basso, Alex Papachristidis. 31 Main Street, Southampton; 631-283-4747; the elegantsetting.com.

[Photograph]: Monogrammed gifts at the Elegant Setting.

MAKING A DAY OF IT A few more shops that are worth a stop this season: H Groome (9 Main Street, Southampton; 631-204-0491); Loaves & Fishes Cookshop (2422 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton; 631-537-6066); Kinnaman & Ramaekers (2466 Main Street, Bridgehampton; 631-537-3838); Urban Archaeology (2231 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton; 631-537-0124); R.E. Steele (74 Montauk Highway, East Hampton; 631-324-7812); Sylvester & Co. at Home (154 Main Street, Amagansett; 631-267-9777); Wayne Schwartz (303 Main Street, Amagansett; 631-267-2400).