Movin' on up

esigner Dennis Duffy enjoys a high profile in Boston's design world, having created interiors for some of the area's swankiest properties, including the Charlesmark and InterContinental hotels, Dante restaurant, and condos in the Ritz-Carlton, Boston Common.

So when he decided to set up his own retail furniture store, scheduled to open late this summer, he knew immediately where he would put it . And it wasn't going to be an exclusive showroom accessible only to the design trade.

"The era of the carriage trade is going," says Duffy, whose two-level shop called (D) Scale will showcase his own designs as well as European and South American furniture, vintage pieces, and fabric. "The reason I did it is that I think design is going to the street."

The street he had in mind was Harrison Avenue in the so-called SoWa district south of Washington Street in Boston's South End. With two new restaurants scheduled to open nearby in the spring, and an increasing number of shops devoted to fine design products for the home, SoWa is "one of the few places in the city that has that TriBeCa-SoHo feel to it," says Duffy. "Part of the identity of SoWa is that it's a gallery area, so people already identify it with art and furniture."

Now, it's rapidly becoming a destination place for shoppers interested in home design.

"I did some research when I moved to Boston and realized that the South End was the trendy area and it would be the best place for people to appreciate what I do," says Fernanda Bourlot , who opened a Waltham Street showroom called Simplemente Blanco two years ago, devoted to her original home designs. In May, she'll open a retail shop nearby with another SoWa design firm, Boxx , which makes minimalist contemporary furniture. It will be called Boxx + Simplemente Blanco.

The term "SoWa" is " more of a concept and a feeling than it's about boundaries," says John Kiger , leasing director for GTI Properties, which publishes the neighborhood newsletter "SoWa News." Roughly speaking, it encompasses the district bounded by Massachusetts Avenue up to East Berkeley Street, and from Albany Street to Shawmut Avenue.

The area has all the markings of the trendy. It has art studios, even a sculptor's gallery. It has old mill buildings that are being converted to lofts and condos. It has a dog bakery and heavy traffic in canines, some clad in quilted jackets with upturned collars. It has a sushi restaurant (Oishii) so exclusive it doesn't put a sign on the door. It has a healthy mix of affluent empty nesters, young entrepreneurs, and artists.

As a "concept," it is distinct from other Boston areas where there are clusters of home design shops. The Boston Design Center on the waterfront features 87 high-end showrooms offering everything from furniture and flooring to antiques and lighting, but it caters to those in the design trade. The so-called "Design District" around Arlington and St. James streets, home to such shops as Montage , Adesso , and Kartell , is known for upscale established European brands.

SoWa is noticeably different. "It's a little more rough around the edges and undiscovered than the rest of Boston," says Natalie van Dijk Carpenter, who owns Lekker , which specializes in European linens, dinnerware, and lighting designs that are not usually found in other Boston shops.

"Rough around the edges" is one way of saying the shops are eclectic, quirky, and reflective of the particular passions of their owners. Michelle Willey's eponymous home furnishings shop on Washington Street carries a range of basics such as towels, pillows, and dishes -- plus random items such as Tivoli radios and cashmere dog sweaters.

"This store is me, it's how I live, and who I am," says Bourlot, of Simplemente Blanco, whose products include her designs for textiles, lamps, china, and gardening products -- almost all of which are white. "We believe in balance, symmetry, calmness, and pureness," the store's mission statement says. "We understand our style as a way of life."

"We always say we're 'urban folksy,' " says Gary Briggs , co-owner of Aunt Sadie's on Union Park Street , purveyor of everything from candles in a can to retro books and neckties. "I have no idea what that means."

Many of the shops are owned by women, several of whom came to the SoWa retail world by way of very different careers. Willey was a scientist with a PhD in biology who "always had a love of interior design." Nancy Farrington , co-owner of the high-end furniture consignment shop called Garage Sale, had a long career in advertising. Heidi Thiede of Voilà spent 20 years doing corporate marketing and sales; now she imports antiques and home accessories from Europe. Jill Goldberg was an actress before she opened her home furnishings shop called Hudson last year.

For some reason, SoWa boasts a disproportionate number of stores selling items from Tibet. One of them is Devi Home , which opened last month on Washington Street, specializing in imports from India and China such as hand - painted furniture, textiles, and stone Buddhas.

"My understanding is that Bostonians are very conservative and we figured the South End has a lot of artists and people who would appreciate our unique slant and product," says co-owner Sumpurn Khalsa. "It definitely feels like an up- and- coming energy."