You ask, I advise
“I am in a registry quandary. How to decide on all my home goods (and therefore life in general) in one fell swoop? What does a modern registry look like without conceding to the black hole of Zola? Things on my mind include: everyday drinking glasses (need at least 16oz), a serving platter or entertaining dish, bath towels (how many is too many??), table linens (what’s the deal with placemats?), etc. And, is it gauche to ask for dining chairs?” —Emily in SF
First, I commend you for doing this, because it can seem much easier to ask for cash contributions—for a trip, for house repairs, whatever big adult things people envision themselves doing once married. This, however, is a mistake. The collective gift-giving aspect is still very practical in terms of setting up a useful house, and a good rule of thumb is to put things on a registry that come in multiples. For one, you probably aren’t ever going to set aside 2% of your monthly income to purchase one place setting at a time. It also takes the pressure for ingenuity off your guests and makes it more fun to entertain them chez vous down the road. (Thank-you notes on personal stationery are a must, in my book; ditto an invitation to come over and eat off all that new flatware.)
ONTO THE RECS.
In good conscience, I must recommend Bormioli drinking glasses for every day: stackable, dishwasher-safe, not so precious they can’t be replaced, and huge (17.25oz!) without looking like beer steins. But as with most registry items, why not request something a little more special? Beautiful things, even glasses, merit careful handling so I’m not as worried about durability here. A few ideas to add to the rota: Nick and Nora coupes, colorful Murano glassware, organic blown glass, my favorite fluted borosilicate.
For serving dishes, I personally like a mix of grounded and fancy. I don’t mean “neutral” and “patterned,” exactly—what I’m getting at is a mix of dimensions, heft, practicality, theatricality. For example, I have received (and given as a gift) a Heath covered serving dish that’s in constant rotation. This patterned serving platter by Terrafirma is beautiful and hardworking. Astier de Villatte makes the platonic ideal of a cake stand. Alternate with a braided ceramic serving bowl, oil and vinegar vessels, footed egg cups in pewter, a pitcher in what I’ll call a “craft-brut” style, folk-art-inspired blue-and-white plates, or a porcelain platter painted: Arcadian, tomato motif, or outdoor-appropriate.
Onto the placemat question: I tend to ignore placemats as a category and go right to tablecloths. Placemats are hard to clean, which defeats their purpose. Better to stock up on tablecloths—or even just cloth you can throw over a table—that are machine-washable and respond to your preferred stain remover. (Kiss-Off for me, thanks.) Chic ready-made tablecloths can be found at Block Shop, Hawkins New York (big stripes), Etsy (small stripes), Madre Linen, Heather Taylor (a lovely brown gingham that literally does not exist elsewhere) and of course, Marimekko, which does both graphic and color-saturated exceedingly well.
And finally, towels: one can never have too many. Everyone’s towel preferences differ (plush! absorbent! fast-drying!) so it’s nice to have a mix. You mentioned Tekla, whose bath towels manage to look crisp while still being extra fluffy. I would also direct you to Città out of New Zealand and Autumn Sonata, both of whom make gorgeous towels that are tactile and patterned but still calm. My favorite kind.
In terms of stores to browse—I believe you can add items from these e-comm sites directly to your Zola page? Check out:
Abask (eclectic, European)
March SF (tactile, handmade, NorCal)
Commune shop (impeccable selection commissioned by the interior design studio)
Ssense (look for treasures like Georg Jensen among the more hypebeast offerings)
Food52 (elevated basic, and honestly some of the best buyers in the game)
Heath (invented the artisanal-industrial-ceramics category, plus curated housewares)
Kneen & Co (European luxury, so brands like Ginori 1735, Lobmeyr, Puiforcat)
East Fork Pottery (cult ceramics made in Asheville plus curated housewares—including my favorite dishtowel)
And finally, as for the dining chairs: Skip. Way too specific for a registry, IMO. Why not take a romantic field trip down to LA with your soon-to-be-spouse and go browse what’s in stock at the many excellent vintage sellers?
Speaking of vintage furniture…
I went to the Oakland Vintage Market the other weekend and was reminded how fun it is to shop in person for old, good things that aren’t priced for some crazy profit margin. A 1940s green dresser with fantastic round wooden balls for pulls in a darker green, $250. A Herman Miller side table on casters, $200. Original art and studio ceramics aplenty. A dead ringer for knit High Sport pants in precisely my size, $30.
California dispatch
My old friend Ian Collings—whose studio practice is in Ojai—has a small show of his stone sculptures up at the Future Perfect’s outpost in SF. Ian is incredibly prolific as well as talented: Everything in this exhibition was made in the last six months!
This week I was lucky enough to get a preview of an ambitious new project from another Northern Californian artist and friend-to-me, photographer Leslie Williamson. Read about the major endeavor that is “Searching for the Soul of America” here (and support, if you are so inclined).
Finally, Beverly David Thorne’s revelatory circa-1954 house for jazz legend Dave Brubeck is for sale in Oakland. Imagine a treehouse sitting on an interlocking structure of five steel beams, floating above a steeply graded lot stacked with giant boulders. Lots of great details on its construction here.
Until next time,
Kelsey
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