Quick Hits: An Inflated Steel Mirror, Vintage Italian Ashtrays, and More
Plus, a revamped Mario Bellini sofa, vividly shaded scarves, and other design finds.
Welcome to the latest installment of Sitting Pretty: Quick Hits, a monthly roundup of covetable furniture, decor, and objets d’art from one design-obsessed writer.
Zieta Studio Tafla polished stainless-steel mirror
The eponymous studio of artist Oskar Zięta morphs metal and glass into home decor designs that straddle the line between sculptural and functional. One of the studio’s cleverest is the Tafla mirror collection: irregular shapes created by inflating two-dimensional metal sheets with pressurized air. The wonderfully wonky stainless-steel mirrors protrude from the wall like shiny mylar balloons.
B&B Italia Le Bambole sofa
The 87-year-old Italian architect and designer Mario Bellini wooed a younger generation with his decades-old Camaleonda sofa, which even Vogue deemed as "having a moment" in 2021. Now, another one of Bellini’s vintage creations—the Le Bambole line—is officially back in production. The charming curves and elegant silhouettes of the revamped range look as contemporary and fashionable as they did in the 1970s.
Hem Bon Pouf
By simply playing with scale, Hem’s Bon Pouf has supersized the everyday ottoman into something fresh. The pumped-up size means it can double as an extra seat or table, and the low-slung silhouette adds a soft, homey feel to any space. Plus, it comes in many complementary shapes and colors, meaning you can start with one and build up a collection from there.
Dries Van Noten Neon Garden silk scarf
Belgian fashion designer Dries Van Noten is beloved for his commanding use of color, and the label’s latest collection includes a line of vividly shaded silk scarves to match its fragrances. This one plays off the Neon Garden scent, made from iris root and aromatic mint. It’s rare for a silk scarf to possess the geometric quality of a Josef Albers painting, but if there ever was one that begs to be framed and displayed, it’s this.
Giorgio Soavi Olivetti ashtray
Best known for stylish typewriters, Italian manufacturer Olivetti quickly established itself as a heavyweight of postwar Italian design. Giorgio Soavi joined the company as design director in the 1950s and remained there for nearly five decades; he was responsible for the company collaborating with many notable architects and designers. (Milton Glaser once called him "the best art director" he had ever worked with.) Throughout the 1960s, Soavi also designed several ashtrays as sleek as the company’s flagship typewriters, and they remain covetable objects to this day.
Quickest Hits…
W/R/F large ceramic pitcher ($45), Atlantic Spremita citrus juicer ($90), Ricardo Bofill’s La Fábrica book ($49), Five-drawer pivot cabinet ($349), Vintage mosaic ashtray ($45), 1970s French elmwood sofa ($4,250), Madre linen napkins ($44), Yod and Co speckled cork placemat ($20), Vintage ombré pattern rug ($200).
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