Shoptalk: Amy Peterson’s Decorate

A new decor boutique downtown scores with urban dwellers.

Think you couldn’t live in less than 2,000 square feet, as residents filling new downtown apartments by the thousands are doing? You just need the right furniture (and a cute patio grill). Mass Ave’s new store Decorate packs four exposed-brick rooms with slimmed-down pieces, nothing oversized and blocky. Owner Amy Peterson is, yes, the wife of former mayor Bart Peterson, but more important, a downtown resident herself and past owner of a boutique in Michigan. She picked out the item everyone swoons over: a metal-frame club chair upholstered with plump rows of distressed leather. It’s like a designer took the front seat of a muscle car and fattened it up with a thicker cushion and modern proportions. Kitchenware, pillows, accents, and entertaining essentials dominate the selection, equal parts stylish, fun, and cheerful. Plenty of them—such as white matte vases, Kate Spade melamine tabletop pieces, luxe throws in contemporary prints, and a retro-style turquoise bread box—also satisfy another downtown fix: impulse-buying.

Decorate
716 Massachusetts Ave., 737-2109, decorateindy.com

DON’T MISS

Tabletop outdoor grills by French company Vacances in the back room ($85).