“If there’s joy to be found in peeling carrots—or cleaning book spines, scrubbing sinks, and brushing soil from mushrooms, for that matter—now is certainly the time to find it,” says Objects of Use (OoU) co-owner Hazel Rattigan. That curatorial ethos has sustained her hardware-and-household-goods boutique since its opening, in 2008—first in Shropshire and then in Oxford. Now Rattigan and co-owner Alexis Dexter maintain something of a shopkeeping institution, which, much like its spiritual equivalent in London, Labour and Wait, sells only everyday items of superlative beauty and manufacture designed for a lifetime of usage to make even the most mundane tasks elating. I can testify that my kitchen life was subtly changed in the best way when I purchased a German beechwood book stand—perfect for cookbooks—from OoU. I’m now eyeballing an immensely attractive gauze bath towel made in Osaka by Shinto, a family-run company established more than a century ago. ($48.18, objectsofuse.com) —Spike Carter

Bamford’s collaborations (especially the breezy summer dresses designed by stylist Martha Ward) occupy a disproportionate amount of space in our closets. Now the English company founded by entrepreneur Carole Bamford has teamed up with CubaLab, a sustainable-leather-goods brand, to create a line of three bags that are perfect for summering in the Cotswolds—and far beyond. Made of Bamford’s organic fabrics, corn stover, and Tuscan leather, they are handwoven by artisans in the San Patrignano community, in Northern Italy, as part of an initiative to teach young locals an economically viable craft. The handbags also feature the label’s heart and bee designs in the lining. Our current favorite is the Tropicana Shopping Bag, which has travel-friendly top handles and tucks comfortably underneath one’s arm. ($493.75, bamford.com) —Ashley Baker

After a long and fruitful career in journalism, most memorably as the founder and C.E.O. of Fashion Week bible The Daily Front Row, where she remains editor, Brandusa Niro is more highly attuned to beauty than most. (Related: as a young woman in Romania, she was a talented actress, and her relatives include many well-known artists, including the film-and-theater actor Toma Caragiu.) Now Niro is turning her considerable talent to the canvas, commemorating some of her favorite models, such as Stella Jones. In an exhibition at the Avant Gallery in Miami, her debut series, entitled Models, captures the ethereal beauty of its subjects in acrylic paintings, with rich colors and immersive details. (avantgallery.com) —Ashley Baker

This is a gem of a book. Actually, it is two gems in one book. A Boy at the Hogarth Press is a delightful memoir following the artist Richard Kennedy’s tenure as an intern in 1926 at the Hogarth Press, run by Leonard and Virginia Woolf. To say things went awry for Kennedy, then aged 16, is an understatement, leading Mr. Woolf to call him “the most frightful idiot.” First published in 1972, this new volume, which also contains Kennedy’s 1977 account of his childhood years, A Parcel of Time, is illustrated with Kennedy’s exceedingly charming drawings and is beautifully produced by Slightly Foxed, a small British publishing house that specializes in reissuing out-of-print classics. Each book comes nicely wrapped and with a handwritten note from a staffer. Nothing else you receive in the mail will bring this much joy. ($25.58, foxedquarterly.com) —Jim Kelly

For the past three decades, Hamiltons Gallery owner Tim Jefferies has been known primarily as a photography dealer, representing the estates of Richard Avedon, Horst P. Horst, Irving Penn, and Helmut Newton. But that’s about to change. His foray into the restaurant world, the Cocochine, is already the talk of London’s smart set. The ingredient-first menu, by chef Larry Jayasekara, formerly of Restaurant Gordon Ramsay, includes produce and provisions sourced from all over Europe. But the good taste is not confined to the plate—the dining room is yet another thing of beauty, and the Penn and Avedon prints scattered above the banquettes certainly don’t hurt. The restaurant’s crown jewel, however, is its vaulted-ceiling private dining room and bar, where you and your 13 closest friends can enjoy finely tuned dishes at the table before unwinding in front of the Saracen fireplace with a nightcap. (thecocochine.com) —Ashley Baker

Democrats are dangerously divided between the party mandarins who enabled Joe Biden to run again against Donald Trump and younger voters who are so disaffected by their party’s death grip on the status quo that they are threatening not to vote in November. This generational clash happens also to be playing out on the stage of Lincoln Center. N/A is a clever two-woman show about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and congressional Squad leader Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Written by Mario Correa, who once worked as a congressional aide, it pits Holland Taylor as a cunning but self-aware Pelosi against the rebellious, passionate, and whip-smart A.O.C., played by Ana Villafañe. Both politicians make persuasive arguments: one against rocking the boat; the other, for blowing it up. N/A runs through the end of July, and it’s well worth the watch, if only as a viewing guide to the Democratic convention in Chicago in August. (from $72, natheplay.com) —Alessandra Stanley