Taking Inventory: The Furnishing Touch

Cabinets and chests imported direct from Asia, like this antique Chinese altar ($445), pair functional storage with worldly charm.

COVETED BY THE SHOP CLERK

An Akari lamp ($175), based on a design by artist Isamu Noguchi, helps update a room without feeling overbearingly mod.

OUR FAVORITE ITEM

Textured graphic fabric lends a vintage air to this Cisco Brothers armchair ($2,925).

THE LOWDOWN

Furniture dealers must cope with logistical challenges not faced by, say, stamp merchants. For almost 20 years, Kevin McPherson has combed China, Indonesia, and Morocco for gems to sell in his Mohr & McPherson stores, and, given the breadth of offerings, making sense of them all in his cramped former Boylston Street location was daunting. The new 8,000-square-foot flagship on Harrison Avenue, by contrast, provides breathing room for the dizzying array of wooden furniture, notably Japanese cabinetry ($800–$10,000), and home accents ranging from contemporary lamps ($400–$1,000) to bowls made of Indian tree trunks ($85–$595). And with a new line of Italian upholstered pieces ($700–$12,000), the Eastern inventory feels fresher and far more approachable.

Mohr & McPherson,
460 Harrison Ave., Boston,
617-210-7900,
mohr-mcpherson.com