Street of big dreams

KENT —

A few of the personalities behind the small businesses on historic First Avenue South are the determined sort.

They stock their home-décor stores with sweet feminine stuff, like European-style vintage home accessories, fresh flowers and Asian furniture, but they are equally committed to a shared vision for a vibrant downtown Kent.

"It's the new Kent," said Janet Dodge, owner of Frescas Gifts and Interiors.

These business owners are part of the transformation from sleepy street to local commerce hub, with businesses including an athletic store, a bakery and clothing and home boutiques. Even stores that could be considered competitors, like adjacent home shops Frescas, City Frame and Bella Home and Garden, support each other and the block's vision.

"We are so proud of our little block," said Bella Home and Garden owner Marcie Wainhouse.

Another piece of property between downtown Kent and the new shopping mall Kent Station is being developed as a plaza and will connect the two shopping districts, said Jacquie Alexander, executive director of the nonprofit Kent Downtown Partnership.

"We want people to have their downtown be what downtowns were 50 to 100 years ago," she said.

First Avenue seems on its way. There's a healthy number of home and garden options — vintage silver, old baguette baskets and trellises, Asian furniture, soaps and Italian pastas.

Dodge, a Maple Valley resident, picked Kent over Burien for her shop. "When I came in, it was a little sleepy, but I saw the vision," she said. "Kent's not just toothless. There's a lot going on."

Bella Home and Garden

212 First Ave. S., Kent

Aromatherapy is part of the experience at Bella, where blooms like jasmine scent the air.

Wainhouse sells seasonal flowers, listed on a chalkboard at her store. But you can find other treasures among the flowers, including an herbarium growing in a toolbox-shaped container ($45) and home items like a mortar and pestle ($40), a candy dish painted with a rustic Italian scene ($20) or heavy French glassware decorated with bees or flowers ($9.95 per glass).

"Bella stands for beautiful, so I carry whatever I think is beautiful," said Wainhouse, a lifelong Kent resident. Her taste tends toward a relaxed European style, evident in choices like organic Tuscan honey. If you want to make your home smell as good as the shop, try sprucing up your linens with Gianna Rose Atelier tea-rose scented drawer linens ($21.95), or just take home a bouquet. The shop tucks in extra scents, like dried lavender, to add fragrance.

City Frame

216 First Ave. S., Kent

City Frame is as functional as its name implies, but the store's charm lies in its mix of framing services and Asian furniture in one small space.

This petite store carries a well-edited collection of wooden Asian furniture and accessories in simple styles and colors like dark brown, red or bright turquoise. Chinese window panels that could serve as headboards or art ($90-$200) lean against cabinets and sideboards. Pick out carved candlesticks with a bell-shaped base ($90) for a dramatic statement on a dining table, or choose paper umbrellas ($12) in triangle or square shapes to fill an empty corner.

Or create a fusion look with porcelain urns and a collection of soft calligraphy brushes ($25-$95).

Owner and Kent resident Beth Svendson always carried furniture in her framing store, even when she had a larger space across the street with a gallery. Customers often are surprised to find furniture in a framing shop.

"It is just passion," Svendson said. "It's how I dress my home."

Frescas Gifts and Interiors

220 First Ave. S., Kent

At Frescas, plants and bulbs mingle freely with vintage silver and china. It's Dodge's way of letting customers know items bought at her shop should be used, so she shows them how.

"People are stuck," she said. "They don't burn their candles. They don't use their china."

But they do at her store. And you can't help but feel that embracing her eclectic, European style would improve your own home.

Gems are tucked in all over the shop. You might stumble upon a vintage espresso cup ($10) or hourglasses ($20), or one of numerous French glass cloches (three for $18).

She carries whimsical choices like a white, vintage-style Eiffel Tower clock ($80) and ceramic rabbits ($14-$20). Or pick up a silver jewelry box ($20).

Just don't let it sit in a cabinet.

Nicole Tsong: 206-464-2150 or ntsong@seattletimes.com