Here are some of my favorite resources for affordable modern design. You’ll find art, furniture, lamps, rugs, glassware, and more at these retailers.
2Modern
In addition to carrying the iconic midcentury modern brand Herman Miller, 2Modern offers the affordable, elegant Blomus line of decorative items, minimalist kitchenware, and lighting.
Urban Outfitters
You may think of Urban Outfitters as the happy place for hipsters seeking jeans and vintage tees, but Urban Outfitters also happens to have terrific rugs, table lamps, and record tables, all at post-college-friendly prices. Terrific stuff for kid’s rooms and anything with a little hipster flair.
CB2
Featuring small rugs, limited edition designer collaborations. CB2 has a lot of personality, and I go there every few months to browse new collaborations–from robot sculptures to coffee tables, bookends, dessert trays, coat racks, and tabletop decor.
Etsy
I love buying art from Etsy. It’s a great place to find photographic prints, small drawings by up-and-coming artists, and handmade skirts, bags, and laptop cases. I love that you can follow creators and get alerted when they have something new to sell. You can also find a lot of vintage goods here, but it’s really about the handmade stuff you won’t find anywhere else.
Overstock
You have to go in search of something specific, because the curators of overstock don’t necessarily have standout taste. But if you know you’re looking for, say, a reproduction womb chair, a midcentury side table, or a 6′ round wool rug, you should definitely give Overstock a try. The prices are great. I picked up three sturdy steel book towers on Overstock for $99 each, and it would be difficult to tell them apart from the $400 version sold at DWR.
Caveat: While Overstock is a great resource for rugs, curtains, pillows, mattresses, and small furniture items, I wouldn’t necessarily trust it for a major furniture purchase like a dining room table or sofa. For those, I’d choose a high-quality brand with an across-the-board return policy.
Le Creuset
THE place to get things that last for your kitchen, from French ovens to dinner plates. Le Creuset isn’t cheap, and it’s not midcentury, but it’s beautiful and very high quality. I know that anything I buy or receive as a gift from Le Creuset is something I’ll keep until I pass it down to the next generation. The pans are sturdy, the colors are vibrant and gorgeous, and they make your kitchen look as though it was effortlessly inherited from your glamorous grandmother. And Le Creuset has such wonderful names for their colors. Every one evokes a place or a mood.
My husband bought me a Le Creuset Dutch Oven in the gorgeous blue color Marseille years before we knew we were moving to Paris. Later, he bought me the signature cast iron skillet in the same color. I bought four mini round cocottes in various colors, not knowing what we would do with them. I don’t really have the patience for a shuffle, but it turns out these small, covered dishes make a great butter pot, sugar bowl, and even a jewelry jar!
Later, while living in Paris, I took the metro to the Marais to visit the Le Creuset store in early March of 2020, two weeks before the city shut down. We had an inkling things were about to change, and I wanted to bring a little luxury home with me for what would, indeed, prove to be a very long spring.
There, I bought the classic Le Creuset mug in flame, sea salt, and Caribbean. The shop proprietor tried to convince me to get them all in the same color, which would have been more French, but I think mixed colors make a kitchen or tabletop look more joyful. I also bought a utensil holder in Provence, which is a gorgeous lavender that looks just like, well, a field in Provence!
Rejuvenation
My favorite source for classic lighting and hardware to update old cabinets, dressers, and doors. Rejuvenation is wonderful if you want to mix modern with classic. Beautiful cosmetic fixes that won’t break the bank.
West Elm
Best for: light furniture, side tables, rugs, ottomans, trays. West Elm has great apartment-sized chairs and stylish side tables, as well as rugs, ottomans, and plywood chairs for desk or kitchen nook. And you can always find a great selection of lacquered trays in different shapes, colors, and sizes.
Bed Bath and Beyond
I’m listing Bed Bath and Beyond for one reason and one reason only. They carry my favorite line of Finnish tableware, IIttala. It’s the hard-to-spell brand with the minimalist yet distinctive designs that make you feel like very day is a little trip to Scandinavia. I absolutely love Iitalla glasses and plates. We use the indestructible Iittala Kartio glasses in various colors, and every night we eat on Iittalla Origo dinner plates. Not known for their great style, Bed Bath and Beyond somehow had the good sense to carry this iconic midcentury brand.
Finnstyle
One-stop online shopping for beautiful, minimalist Finnish home goods. I’m especially fond of Finnstyle’s range of Iitalla glasses, in particular the Italla Lempi, and the Iitalla Origo dinnerware. The wool blankets by Lampuan Kakurit are as soft as they are warm, with simple pastural patterns; I can’t exactly say why they’re so special, but two of these wonderful blankets have found a treasured place in our home.
Room and Board
A source you can trust for sofas, chairs, and tables. It’s not cheap, but it’s reasonable and the quality is amazing. Room and Board is my go-to for furniture staples I plan to use a lot and keep for a decade or more.
Schoolhouse Electric
lighting, storage. The vibe is retro, and everything is made on the West coast. Table lamps, ceiling lights, and wire tables are well-priced for the quality. These are keepers.
My Mother-in-Law
Sorry, you can’t buy from her. But my mother-in-law makes the most amazing quilts. We have them in every room of the canyon house. They’re layered on every bed, folded on every couch, and stacked in a Steele Canvas basket in the movie room. If you want your house to look loved, get a quilt from someone who loves you!
ORGANIZING your Midcentury Modern Home (or any home)
Container Store
Obviously! While many of the storage items at the Container Store are overpriced (who really needs a twenty-dollar shoe box?), there are two Container store products I love and use daily in multiple rooms. The first is the Elfa Drawer Units. In our canyon house, we use these in every bedroom closet to store, shoes, bags, and sweaters. In Paris, we didn’t even have closets, so we used the Elfa units we brought from home for chests-of-drawers. We’ve had ours for years, put them through daily use, including in my son’s bedroom both in California and Paris, and they’re still as sturdy as the day we got them.
The other is Steele Canvas baskets, which are sold on their own website and at the Container Store. We use the Steele Canvas Medium basket to hold blankets in the movie room (which sounds fancy but is just a room with a nice projector and an entire wall painted in movie screen paint, so we have a giant movie screen at home). Because we don’t have a dedicated laundry room, and the washer and dryer are in a kind of mudroom directly off the carport, I wanted a hamper that fits our home’s design. We use the Steele Canvas hamper, which looks minimalist and natural. The canvas bag sits on a metal base and can be removed for washing. Lids are available for both the hamper and the baskets.
Another very practical and reasonably priced Container Store item I swear by is the Stackers jewelry storage line. Stackers come in a lot of shapes, sizes, and configurations. Just like the name implies (or shouts), you can stack these velour trays depending on your needs. The velour fabric is easy on your jewelry. I use the long trays for necklaces in the top drawer of my custom-made Room and Board dresser.
Minimalist CLOTHING
I have a long post on how to dress like a Parisian on my Paris blog. But for the purposes of this blog, if you want your wardrobe to hew to the same kind of quality simplicity as your home, you can’t go wrong with Everlane. It’s my go-to store for high-quality cashmere sweaters, soft T-shirts, curvy skinny jeans, and the loose-fitting muscle tanks I live in at home and layer under sweaters to stay comfortable in our weird Bay Area microclimates.
I usually get one cashmere sweater from Everlane each year when the temperature drops, and then wear it constantly until the sun begins to shine. I wear the muscle tanks until they get holes, which never happens (I still have Everlane muscle tanks from ten years ago. They just get softer!)
I’ve tried a few Everlane shoes. Most are too narrow, but a couple of years ago I bought the Italian Leather Chelsea Boot, and I wear them all winter with jeans. They fit perfectly, and are comfortable and beautifully made.
Madewell
When I’m not wearing Everlane skinny jeans, I live in Cali Demi Bootcut Jeans. I can’t remember a series of two days in a row in the last ten years when I didn’t wear one or the other. Seriously. Ditto for Madewell loafers and heeled suede booties. They’re gorgeous and incredibly well-made, just like the brand name suggests.