Confession of a shopaholic: My habit started when I was young, marking everything from toys to small appliances to home furnishings in whatever catalogs I could get my hands on. As technology proliferated, so too did the ways I kept track of my wish lists – countless online carts at this very moment are waiting for me to commit. Architecture school and various design jobs let me exercise this skill in a more productive manner, pouring over materials to specify finishes and furniture using someone else’s budget. All that practice has prepared me to provide gift guides that boast an eclectic array of items. So suspend reality and join me as I imagine fantastical tabletops decked out with Kelly Wearstler’s Glassware or the lush upholstery on Steven Bukowski’s Doric Stool. Read on to get a peek behind the curtain and see what gifts I’m obsessing over this holiday season.
While our eyes enjoy clean lines and simple silhouettes, those attributes also help articulate interruptions for intentional moments of visual interest. This mouth-blown glassware – offered in nine varieties – is exemplary of those principles with their classic shape and distinctive ribbed or rippled detailing at the widest part of the bowl. This set pairs well with ceramics that boast thin surfaces and crisp edges.
Plissé Capsule Holder and Crusher by Michele De Lucchi for Alessi \ $105 + $35
For those looking to elevate their pod-based, at-home coffee rituals, consider adding this chic accoutrement. The architect-designed objects borrow pleated fabric forms from fashion to inform the fluting featured on both product skins. Their sartorial structure is as dynamic as the duo is functional, making pod storage and recycling, as well as waste disposal, quite simple.
Functional elegance is front and center with these sculptural bookends that fuse utility with visually pleasing proportions. Each object showcases a different silhouette based on placement as soft arches converge into a rounded edge to form a prism-like volume with a sloped top surface. And their hand-finishing ensures the wood’s organic nature is preserved.
Seemingly plucked from the golden age of manufacturing, these wall-hanging clocks are sturdy, stylish, and constructed from solid spun brass. The off-kilter rings and gradually tinted layers of epoxy temper an otherwise industrial aesthetic to create something emotive with a quality that can only be imbued by handcraft. It’s the perfect gift for someone looking to dispel the notion “they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.”
Comprising white glass and hand-turned rosewood, this lamp’s pure geometry is celebrated with contrasting materials and an unlikely dynamism found in its symmetrical silhouette. Snelling Studio carefully balances solid and seemingly void volumes for a product that provides onlookers with multiple expressions.
Brooklyn-based maker Steven Bukowski references classical elements in his Doric Stool design, translating the column capital into a lush textile seat and the shaft into a base that inverts fluting for a scalloped surface created by clustered legs. It’s a particularly striking form in the walnut and velvet variation. Distilled through whimsy, we can embrace tradition without rejecting modernity.
The MoMA Two-Way Side Table proves that ultra-modern home furnishings can be simple without being sterile, visually impactful, and deceptively playful. Designers and design students alike can also appreciate its subversive, architectural quality and unique ability to have multiple readings, much like reorienting a study model for fresh perspective. It transforms from side table to bookshelf to basic stand with great ease.
Despite the recent uptick in pickleball’s popularity, tennis still reigns champion over the paddle- and racket-based sports. And accessories provide another playing field to exercise that prowess. This gym turned tote bag is available in a variety of bright colors that make storage and travel with your items a personal statement whether you’re on or off the court.
Reading is fundamental, and there’s something daring about having an oversized marker at a time when the act seems radical. This functional sculpture honors and displays your texts, whether it be books or magazines, while creating a conversation piece for any interior design scheme. Trey Jones Studio is pioneering a fresh subgenre of home furnishings.
The late Milanese architect Alessandro Mendini originally released an experimental vinyl album in 1983 with this geometric pattern on its sleeve. It has since been retooled by New York designer Lapo Belmestieri for a variety of artful music ephemera including these posters with a limited run of 50 each. The eccentric illustrations and energetic colorways are an homage to postmodernism.
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