Charmed Life

Style File: In Watermelon Sugar

Get to know Leslie Stevenson, founder and owner of the Hampden boutique.

On the corner of 36th Street and Chestnut Avenue in Hampden, you will find In Watermelon Sugar, a one-stop shop for unique home accessories and gifts. Leslie Stevenson founded the boutique in 1998 to provide the Baltimore area with hand-picked furniture, jewelry, paper products, and more. We caught up with Stevenson to learn about the store and its unique offerings.

How would you best describe your boutique in one sentence.
Leslie Stevenson: An eclectic mix of home goods.

Who is your style inspiration?
LS: India Hicks.

What is your favorite item currently in the store?
LS: Right now, given that its winter, I would say conch shells and corals.

What is the most embarrassing fashion trend that you used to love?
LS: Anything from the ’80s. Thats the only way I can tell age in people now because If you’ve done the ’80s before, you never go back to anything. If you see anybody doing ’80s now, you realize they’re too young to have experienced it the first time.

What is your guilty pleasure?
LS: Chocolate, pretty much any type.

How did you get the name for the boutique?
LS: It was a Richard Brautigan novel. It was a friend of mine’s favorite book.

No home is complete without…
LS: A Caribbean touch.

What is your current favorite trend? Least favorite trend?
LS: My favorite trend, if you could call it a trend, is painting things white. Least favorite, maybe not falling into a trend.

Our picks:

(Handmade wrapping paper, $4.95; Illume Cloverleaf Nectar scented candle, $13.50; Multicolored glass frame, $54)