Interiors & Design

Home Sweet Homeware: Designer Items to Instantly Elevate Your Space

Upgrade your home’s designer credentials and find inspiration for what to place in your living room, on your floors, or atop your home bar, here

Back in January, Vogue declared that “after years defined by a Marie Kondo-inspired decluttering frenzy, 2021 will see the welcome return of the—carefully selected and artfully displayed—objet.” And indeed, with so much time spent in our homes, this has been the year for finding pieces that not only bring us joy but also elevate, and add personality to, our interiors. Read on for our curated selection of homeware, guaranteed to bring happiness and high design in equal measure.

Midas Touch

Gold ceramic vases
Available in a wide color palette, from the striking metallics seen here to contemporary neutral shades, each Le Morandine vase is handcrafted in Italy and produced only upon order.

Sonia Pedrazzini has been working on her Le Morandine project since 2009, bringing three-dimensionality to the paintings of Giorgio Morandi. The artist was famous for his stylized still lifes in muted palettes, but Pedrazzini’s ceramic vases, handcrafted in her native Italy, come in a rather more vivid range of colors, and she has recently added metallic iterations to the collection. Each vessel is stamped with the designer’s monogram and is presented with a certificate of authenticity.

lemorandine.it

Curve Appeal

A white and terracotta rug in a living room
The largest importer of rugs from Nepal, each of The Rug Company’s designs is created by talented local craftspeople, championing the heritage of traditional Tibetan weaving and providing sustainable employment in the region.

Art isn’t just for walls, as The Rug Company’s Blot & Brush collection demonstrates. Inspired by Abstract Expressionism and the belief that art should materialize from the unconscious mind, five designs are available, each referencing a New York landmark. Ramble (pictured) has a curving line in a terracotta hue, inspired by the paths of Central Park, while Hudson features a motif woven in silk that gives the impression that a paint brush has been drawn across its surface. Each rug is hand-knotted in Kathmandu, Nepal.

therugcompany.com

California Dreaming

A wooden sofa in open plan living room
Artisanal woodworking meets expertly tailored, high-end comfort in the Muir sofa, with its striking silhouette and built-in side table combining to form “a mixed-material work of art.”

Inspired by company founder Nidhi Kapur’s home state of California, the recently released Maiden Home collection has a laid-back and relaxed style, showcasing “natural materials in their simplest, truest form.” At the heart of the homeware collection is the elegant wood-platform Muir sofa, available in a variety of colorways. The finely crafted sofa features a built-in end table and there are also matching solid-ash benches and nesting tables, which, like the sofa, are all finished by hand.

maidenhome.com

Steel Succulents

A metal cactus homeware sculpture
Steeling hearts: Bam Design’s metal cactus is a modern homage to the plants of the desert and adds a contemporary focal point to any bookshelf or tabletop.

Giving a whole new meaning to “bringing the outside in,” Bam Design has recast the cactus as an objet d’art, formed from stainless steel set atop a basalt base. Its creators say that the 35-inch-tall (90 cm) Fico is a “tribute to this plant… that personifies the Mediterranean landscape with its iconic shape and strong evocative power… which grows wild and spontaneous, blossoms, and offers its fruits without requiring attention.” Based in Sardinia, the design studio—Bottega Artigiana Metalli—has been producing metalwork since the 1800s, and has also produced horned metal sculptures reminiscent of bulls or bison.

bam-design.com

Star Turn

A selection of cocktail glasses
Inspired by the beautiful mouth-blown glassware from the turn of the 20th century and today’s modern cocktail culture, the Richard Brendon Cocktail Collection celebrates creative skill both past and present.

Showcase your cocktails in new mouth-blown glasses from Richard Brendon. Inspired by glassware from the turn of the 20th century, The Cocktail Collection features nine pieces, including a shot glass, carafe, ice bucket, and martini glass, all “designed to enhance every part of the cocktail experience, from preparing and serving to drinking and enjoying.” The collection is available in clear glass or with an etched star motif. Surprisingly, this delicate homeware is dishwasher safe.

richardbrendon.com

Global Style

A loft apartment with sweeping glass windows and views onto a city
The Atlas of Interior Design explores masterpieces around the globe from the 1940s to today, with a look at iconic rooms from legendary architects and designers such as Bernard Khoury (pictured here).

While it might not strictly fall into the category of homeware, Dominic Bradbury’s Atlas of Interior Design brings together more than 400 interiors to provide a good dose of inspiration by showcasing how we’ve decorated our homes from the 1940s to the present day. Organized by geography, some of the properties included display design tropes unique to their location, while others simply push the boundaries of what we consider interior decor to be. Meticulously researched and written, and beautifully photographed, this 432-page book is a must for your coffee table, however your own home is styled.

phaidon.com

Banner image: The Muir sofa by Maiden Home