Online Shopping Roundup, Part 6: Furniture and Home Goods
Future Flora Lamp at MoMA Store.
This week the online shopping roundup continues to the big world of furniture and home goods. Naturally, clothing ourselves is key (not to mention required by law), but everyone likes to live in welcoming surroundings too. Today, I’ll cover some of the best sites on the web with which to clothe your place. Admittedly, my decorating tastes slant slightly toward the modern, so the roundup is slanted accordingly, but with luck there’ll be a little something for everyone. My favorites after the jump!
Furniture:
Crate and Barrel, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware. Frankly, I’m not sure these need much introduction, as they are easily the three most obvious national chains supplying furniture to the masses, but it would seem remiss not to mention them at all. All three have wide furniture offerings with extensive customization available for upholstered furniture, and significant collections of other home goods. Of the three, I tend to find Crate and Barrel the most useful; their aesthetic is a little more modern than either Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware, which lean toward either Nantucket cottage chic or retro leather-upholstered den, and Crate and Barrel’s glassware and accessories collection tend to be a little more interesting. (They are also arguably the most affordable of the three.) That said, though, they all have solid offerings that are well worth inspecting depending on your personal decorating tastes.
Room and Board. Room and Board is one of my favorite places to shop for anchor pieces; they have a great collection pieces of furniture that have modern lines without looking like they belong in an issue of Dwell, which is a little too modern for me. They also have a number of pieces inspired by Asian cabinetry (the Shinto cocktail table, for example), that let you mix in a restrained touch of Eastern style. I myself have the Ian sleeper, which not only looks great, but has an air mattress that I’m told makes it the most comfortable pull-out my guests have ever slept on. Admittedly, the furniture is not cheap — this is a place to get pieces you’re planning to keep, not dorm room furniture — but the furniture is well-built and not any more expensive than the stuff at Pottery Barn. Like the other major sites, customization of upholstered furniture is available and you can order fabric swatches online to see what will go best in your room. Another great feature is their custom cabinetry option, that lets you design exactly the kind of storage you need, with inserts for files, shelves, etc., and choices for the wood and the hardware. As you go along, it’ll update your virtual cabinet so that you can see exactly what you’ve chosen. Room and Board doesn’t mess around with glassware or other table-top stuff, but they do have a collection of accessories to help you complete your decor.
Cellula Chandelier at Design Within Reach.
Design Within Reach. This is the place for real aficionados of modern design. The “within reach” part is, well, debatable. It really depends on what you’re looking at. For most of us, there’s likely to be a lot on that website that is not in fact within reach. That said, though, it’s a great place for interesting modern design, so if you’re prepared to splurge a little on a great accent piece, DWR is well worth a look. Someday, when I have a house… well, let’s just say that there are a few pieces waiting for me at DWR.
Unique and Artsy:
Uncommon Goods. I’ve mentioned Uncommon Goods before; it’s one of my go-to places to find gifts with more personality than most of what you’ll find on Red Envelope. The word here is quirky — Uncommon Goods has a wide offering of housewares with character as well as ceramics and glass that are just flat-out beautiful. Their furniture offerings are fairly limited but interesting; they’re good for quirky accent pieces like this folding chair made from wine barrels. Whether it’s this attitude-laden wine holder or a gorgeous sake set, Uncommon Goods is a great place to look for items for someone more interested in having their space reflect who they are than look like something out of a magazine.
Fabulous, slightly Alice in Wonderland table by Vincent Leman at Artful Home.
Artful Home. As mentioned in my jewelry post, Artful Home hooks you up with art, housewares, and furniture straight from the artists and craftsmen. Here, you can get hand-crafted, unique items that will make your mass-produced Pottery-Barn-shopping friends jealous. The furniture here is not cheap. This is a place that you’re going to pick up stuff that you’re going to want to keep, and possibly even stuff that you’re going to want to pass on to your kids. But if you’re looking for something special (I fell in love with this lamp), Artful Home is a great place to start. An extra bonus? If you see something you love but need a different color or some other modification, Artful Home will work with the artist to try to get you exactly what you want.
A spice holder -- no, really! -- from Alessi.
Alessi. If you like modern housewares, you’ve probably encountered Alessi’s products before. This Italian design company produces kitchen and tablewares, some of which are slick and modern and many of which are irresistibly zany like the spice holder pictured above. Plenty of websites carry their products, but going straight to the source and romping through their combination of modern European design and flat out nuttiness is good fun, and can be a great way to pick up housewarming or wedding gifts that are a little out of the way.
Budget-Friendly:
Ikea. “Nuff said. If there is a person on this planet who has not heard of Ikea, it is not someone who has access to the internet and shops online. Ikea is the quintessential load-up spot for recent college grads and other people living close to the wire who need to furnish a whole apartment. Ikea’s quality varies a lot depending on the specific item — I’ve seen Ikea pieces that were a great bargain and very solid, and I’ve also seen total pieces of trash. For that reason, I generally would recommend that you go to Ikea in person if you can to take a first-hand look, but Ikea does have online shopping for those who don’t have one of their cheap-furniture paradises nearby. Ikea isn’t necessarily the place I’d recommend for someone looking to add style, but if you need to get a whole bunch of furniture for relatively cheap, it’s hard to beat.
Ceramic camel, $29.00 at West Elm.
West Elm. Pretty much any city-dweller will have encountered West Elm, a ubiquitous and affordable source for clean-looking modern furniture and decor. Like Ikea, you sometimes have to watch out for quality issues (you get what you pay for and so on), but if you’re looking to spruce up your apartment a little in the near term, it can be a terrific place to fill things out with a new side table or a couple of cool vases. Just don’t expect your purchases to last forever. I particularly like West Elm for their little objets like the ceramic camel above; they can add a little modern character to a room without costing you a ton.
CB2. CB2 is Crate & Barrel’s hip little brother, aimed at a slightly younger set still in the process of getting themselves set up in life. CB2 covers the same basic ground as Crate & Barrel, providing a selection of indoor and outdoor furniture, decor items, and housewares, but skewing slightly more modern and slightly less expensive, with fewer customization options than furniture shopping at its sibling site. The offerings are not as extensive as Crate & Barrel’s, but CB2 has a great collection of stylish but affordable items for a modern sensibility. (I’m still eying the swirl barware myself.)
Accessories:
Gracious Home. Gracious Home doesn’t carry much in the way of large furniture (they do have lighting), but it’s a great source for all kinds of other home goods. Want fragrances for your bedroom? They carry Diptyque candles and sprays. They are not necessarily all the most affordable home goods in existence (a $220 tablecloth is definitely more gracious than cheap), but it can still be a fun place to shop for the little stuff if nothing else.
MoMA Store. That’s right, the Museum of Modern Art’s online gift shop. I know it may seem odd to shop for home goods at a museum store, but the fact is that MoMA Store has a great collection of edgy accessories designed by or based on the work of a variety of modern artists, which makes it a great place to pick up gifts for friends with modern tastes. Lighting fixtures, desk accessories — this is the place to find something slick or intriguing to add some interest to your kitchen or bookshelf.
