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More Secret Sources

WHERE I'VE BEEN SHOPPING IN THE LAST MONTH

Here are a few places I've frequented the last month... they all inspire me with their style and fresh ideas.

 

CB2 retail store in SoHo

www.cb2.com

 

Dean & Deluca

www.deandeluca.com

Kate's Paperie

www.katespaperie.com

 

B&J fabrics

www.bandjfabrics.com

 

MUJI

www.muji.com

A hip and fresh Japanese home accessories store in Soho in NYC,  right next to the CB2 store. Stationery, simple dinnerware, bedding, and everything you could need to feather your nest in the simplest, chicest way possible. The right side of the store features a nice mix of stylish clothing, pajamas, and socks. It’s a great way for American designers to enjoy the fascination of everything Japanese.

The Philosophy              
What is MUJI?

MUJI is not a brand whose value rests in the frills and "extras" it adds to its products.

MUJI is simplicity ‑ but a simplicity achieved through a complexity of thought and design.

MUJI's streamlining is the result of the careful elmination and subtraction of gratuitous features and design unrelated to function.

MUJI, the brand, is rational, and free of agenda, doctrine, and "isms." The MUJI concept derives from us continuously asking, "What is best from an individual's point of view?"

MUJI aspires to modesty and plainness, the better to adapt and shape itself to the styles, preferences, and practices of as wide a group of people as possible. This is the single most important reason people embrace MUJI.

MUJI‑ in its deliberate pursuit of the pure and the ordinary ‑ achieves the extraordinary.


The Products
MUJI products vividly embody both our product-design methods and our overall philosophy. Since its birth in 1980, the MUJI brand has attracted a steadily increasing number of consumers, precisely because of our growing understanding and refining of sales principles. Our goal of offering products that excel in quality at lower prices has been achieved by avoiding the waste typical of much product-manufacturing and distribution - in the form of unnecessary functionality, an excess of decoration, and needless packaging. Responding to the perennial consumer demand for reasonable pricing, MUJI has accordingly designed and developed countless successful products. With our unique development processes and our ongoing exploitation of innovative ideas that always take the consumer's perspective, we have, in many cases, re-defined "user‑friendliness." Notably, in order always to offer high-value products that are reasonably priced, MUJI travels the world in the conscientious procuring of quality materials.

 

KINOKUNIYA BOOK STORES

www.kinokuniya.com

 This amazing bookstore is great for fans of Japanese comic books, but they offer so much more. Look for beautiful journals, aluminum storage boxes in all sizes, and our most precious find, colorful and fresh craft books on embroidery, quilting, felting, and so much more.  These volumes will provide years of joy and inspiration.


UKGOODS.COM

www.britishsupplies.com

If you enjoy imported food products as I do and have difficulty finding some of the featured provisions in our pantry, check out this site for lots of great delicacies from across the pond. I especially like the cookies and candies from England, and we try to find or order them for Easter baskets and Christmas stockings every year.

 

 

EMAIL TO A FRIEND  |  PRINT PAGE

EVA ZEISEL

www.evazeiseloriginals.com

There is nothing like the artistry of Eva Zeisel and her smart and individual style. We have a few pieces of her pottery and applaud Crate and Barrel for reissuing her designs, but this site brings you closer to one of the masters of modern tabletop design and truly teaches the lesson that form really can follow function in an artful and graceful way. See her new designs and marvel at the years of style from this nearly 100-year-old savant.

Wisteria

This catalog of Antiques and Decorative Items for Home and Garden (www.wisteria.com) caught my eye a few years ago and became an instant favorite.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Wisteria fills their catalog’s pages with wonderful, eclectic finds from all over the world. I love the mix of modern and rustic country pieces---especially the rough and worn Gustavian finishes in shades of gray. I'm ordering the domino box for a Halloween story and will likely replicate the collection of Color Block painted canvases---unless I feel particularly indulgent. Enjoy, and let me know what you ordered.