Three Orange Doors might be the only gift shop in Madison named for a taverna in Greece.
The shop is named for the small cafe where Gail Paraskevas met her husband on Greece’s Spetses Island. An artist and interior decorator, Paraskevas created a mosaic on the shop’s entrance to commemorate the happy place. She fills her shop with antiques, local artwork, jewelry — including many pieces she makes herself — and home accessories. Antique buffets are covered with local art; and bookcases display vintage china and glassware she buys from estate sales and flea markets.
“I look for unique things you don’t see everywhere,” she said.
Her finds are for sale alongside new art, greeting cards, home accessories and jewelry.
The store opened nine years ago on Fitchrona Road on the border of Fitchburg and Verona. A Madison native, Paraskevas uses a background in interior design and fine arts to decorate the store and create jewelry. A line of jewelry she creates features a fragment of china encased in silver that can be worn as a pin or a necklace pendant. The blocky, interesting pieces are a way to find a new use for a favorite piece of chipped china, she says. She creates custom pieces for customers, many who bring in a small fragment of a broken family china piece .
Paraskevas also creates bracelets and necklace pendants from scrabble tiles, typewriter keys and vintage photographs. Three Orange Doors also has a build-your-own-charm bracelet section where customers can choose a chain, then select from hundreds of beads and charms to add to it. A recent visit to the shop found Halloween and Thanksgiving decor, a unique antique dental cabinet, and a series of art-deco stylized Madison prints.
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