With all their dusty doorknobs and rusted-metal industrial objects, architectural salvage shops are not for everyone. That’s the conclusion at which the owners of Architectural Artifacts and Urban Remains arrived, leading them to team up on Bucktown’s new cleaned-up-and-edited-salvage spot, Mongo Home (the owners still run the aforementioned stores as well). Don’t worry, oddity-lovers, you’ll still find your multiple-drawered medical cabinets, creaky vintage toys, and strange mannequins dusted off and scattered about, but you’ll also see practical lifestyle vignettes here, such as the pair of mohair Art Deco-era armchairs ($3,600) facing a gymnast’s vaulting bench repurposed as a coffee table ($4,800). Unusual lighting options abound (including cool blue hanging fixtures from the London Playboy Mansion, $4,500 each), as well as some great rustic-looking woven rugs. On-staff interior designers are available for consultations. 1753 N. Damen Ave., 773-486-6200.

 

Photograph: Eric Hausman