Dwelling Spaces

Owned by one of the greatest people in Oklahoma, Mary Beth knows how to make a shop oozing with Okie love. Goods galore to satisfy all your needs!

Like an embryonic enclave in the Flaming Lips’ Womb Gallery, Dwelling Spaces is a diminutive paen to all things Oklahoma and the Flaming Lips.
There sure are some heady nuggs in this place, and no I’m not talking about the Flaming Lips LP of the same name — although of course that is available too. Oklahoma themed art, great t-​shirts repping the 405 and squatch sightings along with every kind of Flaming Lips merchandise known to mankind line the walls of this miniscule market. It reminds me of my first apartment in Manhattan, but bigger! And with cooler stuff. And that’s saying a lot as dare I say I have the cool junk gene!
My last visit here was with a buddy on a mission — to procure one of the Flaming Lips anatomically correct chocolate hearts, signed by the band complete with an imbedded flash drive of fifteen songs of love! If that doesn’t say perfect Valentine’s Day gift I don’t know what does! Well, much to our chagrin, there were only 13 left available to purchase and one Mr. Wayne Coyne had yet to drop off the signed set lists that go into the packaging. Denied! At this point it was around noon.
Well, we figured no big deal as Mr. Coyne would be along shortly as it seems that everywhere I go, there he is. He is such a ubiquitous presence in the area that I always run into him when he’s in town. Of course, a rocker isn’t known for his promptness so my friend and I were led astray on a spree of local debauchery while waiting that had us landing at The Mule, Saints, S&B, The Iguana, Cuppies & Joe (no homo) and Cookies (and then back again at Cookies later on in the night to meet up with a Cool Ass Rad Lady Unilocaler) while we waited on the tardy Mr. Coyne. Thankfully we had disciplined our bodies by taking lots of vitamins to get us through the long day when the sun beams ended and the star lights began. It was a mystery how we made it through and quite a race for the prize. Oh my pregnant head at the end of the night…
Finally, as we were driving back one last time to see if he had made it I saw the flash of his Prius backing out — score! Oh Wayne, how are you going to defeat those evil natured robots programmed to destroy us driving a Prius holding a white lap dog all over town? Not too intimidating sir.
In any event, we showed up money in hand and ready to purchase only to be denied yet again. Not cool. And I thought there was a virtue in being cool? Apparently, they had to be inventoried before they could be sold… really? Now, I understand that some woman runs this store and not Wayne Coyne, but I mean, there were 13 of them — and do they really care that much about an inventorying program in such a small space? Give the people what they paid for, or rather were waiting to pay for. Oh well, it was just not to be had so my friend will just have to look elsewhere for that perfect Valentine’s Day gift. Even being sent away with nothing, this place scores a full five stars with me as I always seem to find something here that I can’t live without.
This is truly an Oklahoma treasure. Is it wrong to think it’s love when it tries the way it does? And Dwelling Spaces sure did try to sell us something but it was just not meant to be — this time.

THIS PLACE IS SUPER FUN! Right when you pass by the building you can already tell this place belongs/​owned by The Flaming Lips & Wayne Coyne. The colors are SO vibrant and the atmosphere inside Dwelling Spaces is charming.
Outside you are greeted by a big ol’ fat disco ball that is hoisted up as it would be in The Flaming Lips show/​stage plot. This greeting of light shimmering from the Okie sun that just kissed my face in the most absolute sweetest way made me SWOOOOON!!! I loved the artwork and of course the small but powerful megaphone pumping out some of The Flaming Lips obscure tunes right at the side of the building of The Womb Gallery (next door).
Inside the shop is so adorable! There was not one thing I didn’t want to snatch away and buy! I couldn’t contain myself especially when I saw some limited edition The Flaming Lips vinyl, screenprints, and artwork that is ALL for sale in this quaint shop. Please go here and support some OKC artisan (s) who are producing quality art/​stuff just for you with The Flaming Lips in mind. I ended up walking out of the show with a postcard of Wayne Coyne’s artwork (people licking green Popsicle men) & a 7 inch single from Colourmusic (OKC local band) all for under $ 16.
The staff was super friendly and nice! I cannot wait to go back next time I am in OKC.

The first thing you’ll notice is the huge disco ball in the front of the store. It is so cool looking and I want it in my house! Talk about a conversation starter! This store is located in Automobile Alley on 9^th Street in The Flaming Lips Womb Gallery. The guy who worked there was really nice and explained how Dwelling Spaces came about. The building is owned by Flaming Lips and they use the space next door as storage. The disco ball was actually used in their shows.
There were a lot of cool knick knacks which would make one of a kind gifts. I was looking through their hoodies and was pretty shocked by the price. Most of them were $ 58 and a few button up shirts were $ 52. There were other cool items like coffee mugs (10% off with Keep It Local card), Family Guy figurines, baby onesies, This Land DVD, local art, stuffed animals, wallets, bracelets…
The store is pretty small. You can look through everything in less than 10 minutes. It’s definitely worth checking out especially when you have time to kill like if there’s a long wait time at Iguana Grill next door.

Disco Disco! The Disco ball and cute store front was just too much for me to handle. Cute cute CUTE! I have to give props to Sara who greeted me with enthusiasm and told me the background story behind Dwelling Spaces. Everything is made by local Oklahomans – Almost like Shop Local, but with more artsy stuff. Makes me think of another gift shop off Western I think but I can’t remember the name of the place *ugh Brain Fart.
I am a big art nerd and fell in love with a print with Hello Kitty characters on it. Hoping it’s still there so I can buy it after pay day (hehe) Sara was able to even give me the background behind Eric Joyner. Of course there is also a very cool eclectic mix of Flaming Lips gifts as well.

Five stars for so many reasons, not the least of which is the diminutive size of @dwellingokc, proof that you don’t need a big footprint to make a big impact.
Nestled inside the Womb Gallery, the small space is full to the gills of my favorite kind of Americana: Okiecana. Woody Guthrie posters and custom-​made Flaming Lips messenger bags. ‘This Machine Kills Fascists’ coffee mugs, Skullhoma tees and hoodies, handmade jewelry with nods to Oklahomaisms, off-​kilter Rumble fuglies, the list goes on and on. But there’s a little something for everyone, as they carry colorblock clutches, Jonathan Adler dishes and dog collars, home décor, prints, posters, coffee table books and more.
Books on a range of all things Oklahoma pop culture. Vinyl and CDs by Oklahoma artists, DVDs of some of the flicks that made Oklahoma famous, like Bradley Beesley’s doc that started it all, Okie Noodling. At DS, SE Hinton shares shelf space with BRONCHO, to-​scale models of the Golden Driller and John Woolley’s Big Book of Biker Flicks. Word.
The shop makes use of original elements of Mel’s garage. Spot the deco glass block wall behind the cash wrap and the brake service kit and advertisement still hanging on the wall. DS is a different kind of small local business, but the nod to her predecessor is a nice touch and oh-​so very Mary.
The proprietor is Mary Beth Babcock, last year’s Oklahoman of the Year, and though she’d never tell you, a huge part of downtownTulsa’s cultural renaissance of the last five to six years. She’ll be back and forth between shops and represents possibly our best chance at stemming the tide of the Turnpike rivalry Okies on both sides of the Turner are so damn insistent on perpetuating. Her brand of earnest-​HAPPY-​FUN-​optimistic energy is contagious. If you’re not using lots of CAPS and exclamation points in your tweets, you’ll feel like a sad sack compared to her unceasing zeal for helping Okies find something to be proud of in every nook and cranny, every genre and enclave our pretty little pan-​shaped state has to offer.
OKC, we’ve been given a gift — take care of her!