THE SHINY BLACK DOOR

The Shiny Black Door is a curiosity cabinet that you can step into and explore, an experiential boutique in Northampton's iconic Thornes Marketplace. From postcards to Picassos; vintage point-and-shoot camera bargains to rare Chihuly glass sculptures, we have a diverse inventory of entertaining, unusual, entrancing objects of desire. 

 

Owners Augusten Burroughs, Shari Sirkin and Christopher Schelling showcase an ever-changing array of rare, one-of-a-kind, eccentric and gorgeous items—at all price points—for home and body. Body? That would be Augusten's territory. A lifetime collector of jewelry and an IGS-Certified Professional Gemologist, his Shiny Black Door collection includes gorgeous ruby rings, pearl necklaces and an absurdly endless selection of jade bracelets (Augusten's favorite gemstone and one of the most fascinating gems in the world). There is a welcome abundance of fine jewelry: luxurious antique, vintage and estate pieces. But you'll also find affordable treasures alongside unique, handmade contemporary items and fun, stylish costume jewelry.

 

A meticulously curated gallery of paintings and mixed media leans heavily into Mid-Century Modern, from iconic to outsider artists, from high art to string art, but it is also studded with antique portraits and pieces unavailable anywhere else. Looking for a painting of a little girl who looks like Mia Farrow but needs dental work? We've got you covered. How about an original Peter Max oil painting? Or a gorgeous "award-winning" portrait of twins, one of whom has daggers in her eyes and hates being painted? Of course they're here. (For now.) We've also got a wide range of sculptures and ceramics from across the globe. 

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Tucked in with modern and custom furnishings throughout the store are distinctive decorative accessories and uncommonly beautiful objets. You would never know that a carved wild boar skull could be as intricate as lace, or that a life-size antique wooden swan would be more elegant than the real animal. The vintage over-the-top hand-carved Chinese dragon telephone is an eye-popper, as are the handmade Italian ceramic platters and the enormous, sturdy Hansa stuffed tiger.

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Our inventory will make you laugh ("Is that a bronze chimpanzee???") and cry ("$450,000 for a necklace, are these people nuts???"). But it will save you a trip to Boston, New York, and several European cities. We've done the shopping for you.

 

In addition to being an immersive treasure box of a physical store, the Shiny Black Door is an interior design firm, known for creating original, expressive spaces that have been featured in magazines and newspapers around the world. Augusten and Shari can fashion an entire environment from the ground up or stop by your home for an afternoon and give you some suggestions about working with what you have.

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The Shiny Black Door's luxurious showcase of unique jewelry, art and objects of desire is the store Northampton has needed—and deserved—for decades. It's finally arrived. And it's the creation of one of Northampton's most infamous creations, the #1 bestselling author of Running with Scissors, Augusten Burroughs.

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1.5 hours from Boston, 1 hour from Great Barrington, 3 hours from Manhattan.

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For he latest news and updates, please follow us on Instagram. We are currently building-out our website to include an online shop, where you can purchase some of our treasures even if you can't experience our store in person. We thank you for your patience while we grow the site.

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