Useful + Fun Gifts For Design Aficionados

3 inexpensive, purposeful home products from Areaware for picky design loving types.

CHEAP + CHIC | Sometimes subversive, typically surprising and always fun, the useful and poetic products by Areaware trigger an emotional response. This trend-setting New York-based company’s mandate is to “create thoughtful products that encourage a dialogue between people and their everyday surroundings,” and the first time I flipped through their online catalogue and discovered the marble and resin Distortion candlesticks shown here, designed by Paul Loebach, I wanted to give them as Christmas gifts to all my designer friends. I worried that something this original and arty might be too expensive, but discovered the opposite is true: these traditional-with-a-twist 10-inch-tall candlesticks are a steal at $24 each.

Sip It | If wishes were dishes, my designer friends would dine on Jason Miller’s uncon- ventional porcelain dinnerware. As it is, they’ll have make do with sipping from this set of four quirky cups and saucers, on sale for $78. Miller says his Seconds series “challenges the rules surrounding modern day consumer items. Do decorations always need to be centered? Is a whole bird better than a half?” Miller’s elegant “mistakes” are artfully and carefully applied.

Jam It | Little things definitely mean a lot to design types, so my friends will love Josh Owen’s modernist take on the traditional doorstop. These horseshoe-shaped silicone door jammers conveniently loop over doorknobs when not in use. Sold in sets of three—one each of black, gray and green—they are just  $20 and remind me of something I might find for a higher price at a chi-chi store like Inform. —Annabel Lee

Vancouver stores that sell Areaware (though not necessarily these products) include, Dandelion Emporium, 2442 Main St., 778-239-4613; Design House, 111 Mainland St., 604-681-2800; Holt Renfrew, 775 Dunsmuir St, 604-681-3121. To view Areaware’s catalogue and order online, visit www.areaware.com.

Photos: Courtesy Areaware