Shop Visit: Modern Relik
April 1, 2020
Text by Erika Ayn Finch   Photography by Michael J Lee
Anyone who has lived in Boston for more than a minute knows the South End wasnât always the hip neighborhood that it has become. Interior designer Meg Kimball, who recently relocated her boutique, Modern Relik, from the Boston suburb of Waltham to Harrison Avenue in the South End, recalls an old salvage shop in the formerly dodgy SoWa district where she would unearth finds for her clients. That shop might be long gone, but Kimballâs present-meets-past aesthetic is alive and well in a newly remodeled, 6,000-square-foot space just a stoneâs throw away from her old treasure trove.
âI once had a client walk into my shop and tell me they couldnât tell what was new and what was a relic, and I take that as a compliment,â says Kimball. âI urge clients to blend old and new. Be experimental. Be bold. Donât be matchy-matchy. Every room should have something old and something new.â
Modern Relik is a sensory shopping experience. Aside from the furniture, accessories, and tabletop items, thereâs Mod Espresso, a coffee counter with locally made pastries and snacks curated by Boston restaurant developer Michela Larson. The serving ware and tables and chairs used in the nook are all sold in the boutique.
Across from Mod Espresso, a corner of the shop is dedicated to offering flowers and plants in a decidedly ânon-fussyâ way, as Kimball describes it. Think potted succulents and orchids, rosemary topiaries, and cut stems begging to be casually arranged in a creative vessel.
Further into the boutique, thereâs an Instagrammable display of coffee-table design books to leaf through. Itâs easy to get lost in the textures of the pillow corridor, where shoppers will find a line created exclusively for the shop by its design director, the famed designer John Dransfield. There are also candles featuring Modern Relikâs proprietary scents, baskets from Africa, leather trays from Spain, and a huge credenza with drawers full of napkin rings, linens, and other accessories. In the back, youâll find Modern Relikâs interior design services. When youâre there, look up at the windows above the desks. They come from that aforementioned South End salvage shop.
Modern Relik, Boston
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