Show Your Love for Independent Designers With These Unexpected and Unique Gifts
We scoured the internet for the best offerings from some of the most creative designers out there.
We scoured the internet for the best offerings from some of the most creative designers out there.
While I’ll never forsake my Kallax bookcases or my Lane Chair-and-a-half, I rely on independent designers for the fun stuff. From accent furniture to lamps, and decor elements, the designers I favor create objects that strike a balance between craftsmanship, whimsy, and design. Brightly patterned, cheeky tablecloths, rugs, vases, and lamps, can make even the most neutrally-decorated room pop and allow you to play with color, texture and materials without the commitment (financial and otherwise) of a piece of upholstered furniture.
This holiday season, bring some of that joy to your loved ones with these gifts from some of the most creative independent designers around.
Emma J. Shipley
Lynx Linen Tablecloth by Emma J Shipley
Transform your table for every occasion with our fantastical Lynx Linen Tablecloth. Made ethically in Spain from high quality pure linen, the tablecloth features an engineered print design, with our best-loved soaring Lynx down the center, surrounded by intricate design details including antelope, fantasy palms and curious creatures.
Emma Shipley’s creations feature a menagerie of fantastic beasts on trays, bedding, upholstery, and more, like this linen tablecloth featuring her winged lynx.
DoiyDesign
Athena Vase by DOIY
Ceramic vase shaped as an ionic column. Dimensions: 9.2 x 8 x 25 cm.
DOIY is a Barcelona-based design studio specializing in accent pieces for the home and the kitchen. We’re partial to their neoclassical vases, which look clean and minimalistic.
Pansy Ass Ceramics
Spiked Gauntlet Vase by Pansy Ass Ceramics
Original vase produced in Pansy Ass Ceramic's Toronto studio. Their work is hand-made, and pieces may vary from the pics.
Toronto-based Pansy Ass ceramics creates erotic art for the home. Some of their catalog might be quite outré, but their leather-inspired vases are tame enough to fit in most households.
Lichen
Bamboo Room Divider from Lichen
Dimensions: 6' tall x 8' long when extended.
Queens-based Lichen creates sculptural pieces of furniture using wood as the main medium. Their bamboo room divider is both utilitarian and decorative.
Schwung
Zosia Contemporary Brass Table Lamp by Schwung
ConceptSchwung is a lighting concept, connecting aesthetic and quality through matter. Their pieces play with architecture or create spaces of their own. Emphasizing brass and glass, which are not only durable but can be reused indefinitely, their lamps are 98% recyclable.
Schwung Home started as a boutique featuring a highly curated set of home furnishings (with an emphasis on artisanal products and antiques) but with its own line of light fixtures. The Soap line by Schwung combines ethereal glass globes with sturdier brass hardware, as seen in this elegant lamp.
Eny Lee Parker
Oo Floor Lamp by Eny
As part of the First Hand Collection, the Oo Lamps debuted at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in 2018, where Best New Emerging Designer was awarded to Eny Lee Parker. This ceramic base is hand-built, with copper detailing including a dimmer dial on the bottom side.
Ceramicist and designer Eny Lee Parker believes in the beauty of mess. Her biophilic creations reflect the philosophy behind it, with their imperfections mimicking the growth pattern of corals and shrubs. Her oO floor lamp is reminiscent of a coral formation that withstood millennia worth of erosion.
Kelly Behun High Rise Server by L'OBJET
Designed with brilliant designer Kelly Behun, a collection of innovative entertaining objects within the L’OBJET world of fine craftsmanship and luxurious materials. This architectural server is crafted from gold-plated brass, porcelain and glass; it literally and figuratively elevates the things you love to eat and share.
Catbird Kitten Candle
Their signature scent: Kitten, with visions of dusty records, lipstick, and feather pillows and notes of musk, amber & hand-picked violets. A love letter to the early girls of Catbird, the Williamsburg kitten with her affinity for busted tees, ballet flats and jewels, sneaking a cigarette out of her apartment window (she's since quit).
Originally known as a jewelry brand notable for its whimsical, minimalist designs, Catbird has expanded into a line of home fragrances meant to evoke nostalgic, romanticized, and escapist versions of New York. Their signature Kitten home fragrance recalls "dusty records, lipstick, and feather pillows."
Rashelle
Pink & Green Wreath Rug by Rashelle Campbell
Hand-tufted graphic rug in pink and green by Rashelle Campbell, exclusive to SSENSE. Dimensions: 18" Length x 24" Width
Nehiyaw Iskwew multidisciplinary artist Rashelle Campbell began tufting as a way to stave off lockdown malaise. Her playful designs incorporate ’90s pop and bright colors. A blob-like rug can adorn a living room, dress up a nursery, and enliven a home office.
Slowdown Studio
Slowdown Studio Barbosa Throw
The Barbosa Throw, designed by Nantes-based artist Thomas Gaudinet, offers us a perfect summer meal set-up. A pitcher of something refreshing, ripe fruit and, depending on your mood, the hint of solitary peacefulness or a peek into the perfect sunset dinner party.
Slowdown Studio collaborates with artists globally to create a series of throws, rugs, prints, and even socks that are notable for featuring art reminiscent of Matisse’s paintings. The Barbosa throw comes with an abstract botanical motif in hues both muted and bright, allowing you to pair it with, potentially, any other color.
Hawkins New York
Hawkins New York Essential Dinnerware 16 Piece Set
Set of 16 stone serving dishes: 4 Large Bowls, 4 Low Bowls, 4 Salad Plates, 4 Dinner Plates available in mustard, bone, blush, olive, sky, and light grey. Part of HNY's Essential Collection. Soft rippling throughout and a slight raised edge for a hand thrown feeling.
Responsibly sourced home goods? Why not! The soft rippling throughout and a slight raised edge give Hawkins’s dinnerware a handmade feel, while the mustard hue gives it a contemporary edge.
Toast
Silk Velvet Gown by Toast
Toast's gown is crafted from soft velvet, with lustrous silk fibers reflecting the light. Cut to an easy shape, defined by the waist tie, then lined for a clean drape. Silk-blend velvet. Three-quarter-length sleeves. Side patch pockets. Waist tie. Lined. Internal hanging loop.
A brand of loungewear and nightwear designed on a farm in Wales, Toast technically does not make home decor items, but hey, you need proper loungewear when you’re at home reveling in your design choices. This silk-velvet house robe will do.
Aviva Stanoff
Selenite Step Tower Lamp by Aviva Stanoff
According to the designer, selenite is said to support clarity, shield against negative energy, attract protective energy, and offer higher guidance. It is a calming stone that instills feelings of deep peace and is excellent for meditation. Towers amplify your intentions, emitting a focused and direct energy to anyone who's using them. They support calm and relaxed thoughts, bringing concentration and revitalized energy when used in meditation.
Largely known for her whimsical textile designs, Aviva Stanoff also offers an extensive selection of minerals and crystals, which she claims will enhance your home decor and complement your textile selections. Consider a Selenite Step Lamp: it casts a silvery white shimmer, it looks like something straight out of the Tolkien universe and it allegedly supports clarity.
Estelle Glass
Estelle Colored Wine Stemless Set of 6 (Mixed Set)
Set of 6 hand-blown colored stemless pieces made by glass artisans in Poland. They include: 1 royal blue, 1 fuchsia, 1 cobalt blue, 1 coral peach pink, 1 rose, and 1 forest green. The founder of Estelle Colored Glass has named the collection in honor of her grandmother, Estelle, who she describes as "a jewel of a person that instilled in me an appreciation of the pastime of treasure hunting for beautiful finds -- especially for the kitchen which was the heart of her home."
Colored glassware instantly decorates even the most drab table setting. Estelle Glass calls its collection "jewels for the table". Their set of six is a great sampler of Estelle’s extensive color palette.
Lex Pott
Lex Pott NOEUD Soap
The NOEUD soaps are designed to be sculptural and ergonomic. They are all handmade by Lex Pott in the Netherlands with the best possible natural ingredients. The idea for the soap came from extrusion. Lex Pott developed this technique to make sculptural and ergonomic soaps. Most soaps are still in block or bar form. Since he strongly believes that soaps can also be more sculptural and ergonomic, he made the soap in a knot shape (NOEUD in French). In Typography, the French word NOEUD has a ligature. This is a combination or knot of two letters. You can see this in the logo on the boxes.
Dutch Artist Lex Pott achieved viral fame with his 2020 Twist Candle, where two taper candles were joined in a snake-like formation. His Noeud Soap retains his signature sculptural shape and has a pleasant sandalwood scent.
Looking for something else? All our gift guides are right this way.
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