It's not uncommon for interior designers or architects to branch into furniture. For example: the farm tables, coffee table, and bar carts in our office are the handiwork of Brad Sherman, the creative behind our office's design. He couldn't find the perfect pieces to meet our needs, so he took matters literally into his own hands. Everyone who comes to our office asks after these bespoke pieces—so we took it one step further and started offering them in our Shop.
This is often how it goes. To catapult a line of designs into the public eye, designers will often partner with a retailer who can help manufacture, market, and sell the pieces to their regular shoppers. Here are three new furniture collaborations that bring high-fashion design to your bedside, living room, and kitchen.
West Elm x Commune
Available now
The line I'm most excited about, West Elm's collaboration with the West Coast-based interior design firm Commune Design brings their elegant bohemian appeal to affordable furnishings. The handwoven, wool pillows are inspired by a Mexican looming technique (and just $54); and the furnishings, while higher in price, feature clean, minimal lines that manage to feel inventive and playful (but not loud!).
More: Commune's design for the Durham Hotel, and all the ideas we're stealing from it.
Madewell x A.B.C. Carpet and Home
Available now
Recently named one of My Domaine's "favorite new interiors trends," denim is cropping up on pillows, bedding, and more this season. Clothing brand Madewell must have noticed, as they just launched an exclusive denim chair as part of their 24 Days of Denim campaign. The chair, a collaboration with A.B.C. Carpet and Home, is hardly a steal at $998 (and just five of them were produced!), but at the time we posted this article you could still get your hands on one—including the pillow made from a vintage kilim that comes with it.
IKEA x HAY
Available Fall 2017
There are two kinds of hype around this forthcoming IKEA collaboration with the Danish design group HAY: First, people seem excited/sad that IKEA's iconic blue shopping bag is getting overhauled as part of the launch. And second, this new surrealist teaser video showcasing materials from the new collection has gone a little bit viral (just watch).
But the furnishings themselves are worth getting excited over, too, in streamlined profiles that don't appear to require any maddening assembly. Materials like metal, aluminum, terra cotta, plastic, wood, and textiles will all be somehow involved; the shapes are flexible for use in all kinds of rooms and spaces.
Which design firms do you wish would come out with furniture lines? Let us know in the comments!
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