Home & Design
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A Rustic Carafe
M. Crow’s Ceramic Carafe is designed by Tyler Hays, owner of the furniture company BDDW, and handmade in Philadelphia from Oregon clay. The pleasantly wonky result makes a convincing case that perfection is overrated.
A Useful Beauty
Spoil a new homeowner or beginning cook with a striking Catalina trivet inlaid with marble, aventurine, rose quartz and brass. It’s the kind of thing they’d never buy for themselves.
A Lovely All-Season Bed Layer
The airy Boll & Branch Waffle Blanket makes any bed look inviting. It works as a warm layer under a duvet, or just with a sheet to keep away milder chills. It drapes beautifully and is much fluffier than other waffle blankets.
Stone That Glows
The Belgian designer Michaël Verheyden’s translucent alabaster T-lights are deceptively simple but blend two beautiful things – distinctive natural stone and candlelight – to deliver a little tabletop magic.
Frame Your Posts
Even amateur candids shot on a smartphone look sharp in the Framebridge Instagram Mini Frame in Ventura. Pull a photo or a few off your recipient’s social media, or take some yourself of something they love, for an easy and personal gift.
Art You Can Color
Whether colored by adults or children, the Black Cosmic giant coloring poster from OMY, a French company best known for its mural-sized offerings, has an illuminating twist – when the lights go out, parts of it glow in the dark.
Smell of the Woods
Burning a little stick of Paine’s incense on a winter day makes me feel warm, cozy and nostalgic. It smells like a campfire – not like something you’d pick up in a head shop – and releases dainty tendrils of smoke.
A Slice of Nature
The Charcoal Teak Tray is the ultimate in simplicity – a slice of reclaimed teak burl wood from the island of Java, darkened with a deep gray finish. Designed by Mother Nature, each one has different curves, holes and cracks.
Lego Containment
The Swoop Bag is a fast and easy way to clean up and store toys (especially Legos). It’s a cotton canvas bag that lies flat to double as a playmat. For clean up, just pull the drawstring, cinch it up and hang it on a hook or tuck it into a closet.
Shavings That Serve as Art
Hana Flower pencils by the Japanese company Trinus have appealing shapes and colors, but the real attraction comes when it’s time to sharpen them: A few twists of the wrist produce not only new points but also desktop blossoms.
A Cozy Blanket for Everyone
Garnet Hill’s Plush-Loft Blanket is smooth sateen on one side, super-soft plush on the other, and it’s perfect for curling up with on winter nights or sick days. It’s the softest blanket we’ve tested, and the favorite with our kid and dog testers.
A Transformable Candlestick
The Rock candleholder by the London designer Tom Dixon comes as two reconfigurable pieces of Green Forest marble. Stack them for a single tall candlestick, separate them to create a pair, and choose between taper and tealight candles with a flip.
Not a Yankee Candle
Boy Smells candles look pretty, burn evenly and have atypical scents — more herbal and musky than fruity or flowery. My favorites are Ash, Kush and Cedar Stack, conveniently available in a set of three.
An Eye-Catching Wine Server
Made in Spain from recycled hand-blown glass, this “porron,” as it’s traditionally called, comes with a cork and is a creative way to serve wine at your next party. It’s popular throughout Spain.
Paper Clips That Impress
Today, most of us take the standard paper clip for granted, but Clip Art, a collection of alternative fasteners, suggests it wasn’t always so. Included are 10 different designs pulled from patent records of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Lasting Cozy Comfort
Glerups are warm, easy to get in and out of, and breathe nicely so your feet stay warm without getting hot. Of the 23 pairs we tested, the Glerups were the most durable, and their upgraded rubberized sole is strong enough to wear outside.
Curvaceous Catchall
The Nocturn Catch maple valet tray by Craighill is a handsome catchall for keys, wallets and personal accessories. Milled in Michigan, it has rounded corners and edges and a subtle upturned ridge at its center to keep things separated.
Set the Scent, Without Flames
The Raindrop 2.0 is powerful enough to make a few rooms smell like whatever oil you wish, and relatively quiet – a rare combination among the 13 diffusers we tested. Its wood base and glass stem make it pretty to look at even when it’s not in use.
A Design-It-Yourself Trivet
Used alone, Concrete Table Tiles by Bower function as geometric cork-bottomed coasters. But when placed together, the tiles, which are sold in sets of six and available in four colors, can become a trivet of custom proportions.
An Essential Tape Dispenser
The Strip Tape Dispenser, designed by MSDS Studio for Umbra Shift, is a seductively minimalist product that does away with the clunky, disposable plastic dispensers normally used to contain clear tape (use it with refill rolls instead).
Serving the Cosmos
Heath Ceramics is known for down-to-earth dinnerware with a midcentury modern flavor, but its new Coupe serving platter in universe glaze, designed in collaboration with the Finnish furniture company Artek, evokes the heavens.
Store With Style
The glass-lidded Benzin canister by Fundamental.Berlin is likely to make people do a double take. Coated with a thin layer of titanium, it has a reflective semi-transparent blue finish that obscures the items inside.
Comfort for the Couch
Conceived by the Vienna-born fashion designer Arthur Arbesser, the uneven, blocky pattern of Hem’s Vienna Throw brings a visual punch to the sofa. Made of New Zealand wool, it also promises to provide snuggly warmth on cold winter nights.
A Dreamy Creamer
Inspired by the beach, this stunning creamer from Helen Levi is slipcast from three different stonewares marbled together. Allow three weeks for delivery.
Tool Storage You Can Wear
The Tool Roll from Bradley Mountain offers compact storage for home essentials with a much smaller footprint than a standard toolbox. When it’s time to get to work, it becomes a utility belt with everything already in its place.
A Standout Mug
There is probably no functional advantage to the oversized handle on the ceramic Ekua Circle Mug by Sara Ekua Todd. But its whimsical appearance promises to make morning coffee that much more enjoyable.
Photos as Art
Sentimentalists will appreciate a photo gift from Minted, with 400 options designed by independent artists from around the world. They can be customized in countless ways including with quotes, dates, background colors and foil elements.
Not So Ordinary Coasters
Made entirely from recycled rubber, these stylish coasters from Slash Objects have shiny brass piping and come in royal blue, gray or black. They dress up any drink, from water to wine.
Personalized Playing Cards
Give this set of cards to the person who relishes a good game of poker, bridge or other classic. You can even have it monogrammed with their initials.
Snuggle Up With a Body Pillow
A body pillow is every side-sleeper’s dream, and the Snuggle-Pedic is the one you’ll fall in love with. It’s firm enough to support your body weight however you use it, and because it’s memory foam it will contour to your shape. (And don’t forget a pillowcase!)
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