Store

Walking into new Georgetown shop Great Stuff Vintage Furnishing is like sliding down the rabbit hole -- you just never know what you're going to find. On a recent visit, I spied a vibrant yellow 1930s wooden toy duck from a Tacoma shoe store alongside a breathtaking ornamental column from the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland ($9,500).

Great Stuff, which opened last December and is perfectly positioned next to Georgetown stalwart Stellar Pizza and newbie Revival Home and Garden, is an amalgamation of owner Kirk H. Albert's crazy genius, with a focus on one-of-a-kind pieces from the 1900s to the 1960s.

Albert has been in the antiques business for six years, most recently selling at the Pacific Galleries in Sodo. While he also dabbles in interior design, his passion is scouring the world for unique pieces that are meant to elicit a reaction, such as gigantic letters T and V -- former residents of a TV repair shop -- or a huge, lacquered cherry-red French Provincial table.

In addition to his uncanny ability to unearth treasures, Albert has a talent for repurposing found objects. His statement-making pulley and counterbalance light fixtures are crafted from old X-ray lights and mercury housing.

Great Stuff is the kind of marvelous shop that you stumble into and don't soon forget. Just like Alice's rabbit hole.