Buy local at Atlanta MADE store

The airy, gallery-like store offers products by more than 60 Atlanta artists and companies. Locally designed and made products range from furniture and art to jewelry and organic skin care.

Southern made has featured many of Atlanta MADE’s partners, including: Calhoun Design and Metal Works; HollyBeth Organics; Lamon Luther: Rob Kennedy Lamps; re-loom; Skylar Morgan Furniture and Design; and Tania Julian Ceramics. Today, Southern made takes a look at three more Atlanta MADE partners.

Stop by Atlanta MADE, 1187 Howell Mill Road, or visit online at www.atlantaMADE.us, where you can read about the store's artists and craftsmen.

Haute chocolate

In 2004, Amy Everett Stankus left her longtime career as a licensed architect to pursue the sweet life.

While perfecting her chocolate-making skills, the Mississippi native worked as a personal chef. Five years ago, Stankus formed Chocolate South and began selling her sweet creations to friends, neighbors and others. Last year, she opened Chocolate South, a sunny shop in Atlanta’s West Midtown.

Stankus uses premium chocolate, organic cream and other local or organic ingredients to create her handmade truffles, bonbons and bars, which celebrate the South.

A favorite is the Georgia Peach Tea bonbon, which won the “Flavor of Georgia” competition earlier this year. But there are others, including Mississippi Mud, Lavender Vanilla and Scarlett, a brandied cherry cordial. Among the newer flavors are Mint Julep and a Rosemary/Sage ganache.

Chocolates range from $1.50 to $6 per piece. Purchase online at www.chocolatesouth.com or in the Atlanta area at Chocolate South, 1050 Marietta St. NW, 30318, at the intersection of Brady Avenue and Marietta Street. A special selection of chocolates is also sold at Atlanta MADE.

Classy & contemporary

Amy Wikman is a longtime interior designer. Tomas Wikman is a Swedish-trained engineer who can build anything. In 2004, the husband-wife team combined their yin-yang talents and created Atlanta-based Bjork Studio.

When the small company started, it imported antique and vintage furniture from Scandinavia. It still does. But a few years ago, Bjork Studio changed its focus. Now it offers a collection of new, clean-line furniture and upholstery made solely in Atlanta.

The upholstery collection is painstakingly bench-made with kiln-dried hardwood frames, eight-way hand-tied spring construction, hand-rubbed finishes and as many organic materials as possible.

Sofas and sectionals are favorites. But so are ottomans, dining chairs and banquettes. For the right room, the curvaceous Gudinna wing chair makes a statement. In Swedish, Gudinna means goddess. Prices range from $200 to $300 for an ottoman to $3,000 and up for custom sofas and sectionals. The 5-foot-tall Gudinna wing chair retails for $2,985.

Find Bjork Studio-made sofas, chairs, ottomans and other pieces at Atlanta MADE. To learn more about the company, visit www.bjorkstudio.com or Bjork Studio on facebook.

Room refreshers

Self-taught craftsman Clarke Titus turns uncommon wood and overlooked items into furniture, lighting and home accessories.

Titus, a Georgia State University grad, learned his on-the-job skills building and renovating retail space throughout the country. When he came back to Atlanta, the Virginia native began creating functional pieces for his home.

Two years ago, he started Rough South Home. Using a mix of metal and woods, Titus creates eco-chic dining, coffee and side tables. Desks too. For his unique chandeliers and pendants, Titus hunts for discarded filters, washing machine drums or old warehouse lights.

Coffee tables ($600 and up), dining tables ($1,200 and up) and lighting ($150 and up) are one of a kind. Lately, his pallet chairs ($250 and up) have been a hit. Made from shipping pallets and steel, the chairs are made to order with custom colors.

To order, check roughsouthhome.com. Contact Titus for custom pieces too. Also find some of his work at Atlanta MADE.

Best of the South

Do you have favorite finds from around the South that you give as gifts, buy for your home or rave about to friends? If so, please share them with us. Send your suggestions to: lljerkins@gmail.com. Please include your name and contact number. Also find more Southern-made products, featured in the AJC, at Southernfinds on Facebook.