11 Perfect Gifts for the Design Lover in Your Life

Finding the perfect gift for anyone can be a daunting task—and finding the perfect gift for someone who also has impeccable taste only adds to the challenge. Whether they’re a designer by trade or simply obsessed with cultivating their space, our Shop has options to match pretty much any style, from mid-century modern to bold and contemporary. To help you find a meaningful gift for the discerning design lover on your list, we’ve narrowed our selection down to 11 of our favorite design-forward picks.

1. Dansk Købenstyle Wrapped Handle Water Pitcher & Cookware

Originally designed by Jens Quistgaard in 1956, this reissued Dansk pitcher features a wrapped handle, elegant silhouette, and easily doubles as a vase. It also comes in new, limited-edition shades—Arugula and Chestnut—now available in our Købenstyle cookware collection, too. The entire 5-piece set is currently on sale.)

2. Mosser Glass Bathing Beauty Dish

Mosser Glass is known for its candy-colored cake stands, bowls, and other glassware items, which they’ve been producing since 1970. These beauties—which come in five vibrant shades—are the perfect dish for holding trinkets, soap, keys, and more.

3. Flower Salad Servers

“The Areaware Flower Salad Servers are an instant serotonin boost—they’re just so FUN (and functional!),” says stylist, photo editor, and former Food52 editor Madison Trapkin. “They’d make a great gift for the eccentric, design-obsessed person in your life because they take a mundane object to a playful, unexpected place.”

4. Hand Block Printed Tea Towels

Designed in LA and printed by hand in India, these tea towels from Block Shop are basically functional works of art that will upgrade any kitchen. But they’re not just pretty—they’re also made from a blend of linen and cotton that only gets softer over time.

5. NY Food Heart Puzzle

This ode to New York City’s food scene in puzzle format is at once chaotic and visually appealing—perfect for the design-obsessed in your life. Plus, with 465 pieces, it’s bound to keep them busy for a while.

6. Dansk Wood Classics Vivianna Cheese Board with Knife

This is a piece that feels much more luxurious than its $40 price tag, making it a great option for gifters on a budget. Designed for Dansk in 1988 by Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe, a Swedish silversmith and master jeweler, it’s made of gorgeous, stained acacia wood and comes with a striking, stainless steel cheese knife.

6. Small Plastic Cutting Board

You’ve probably seen these cutting boards all over your Instagram feed, and with good reason. With their confetti-esque pattern and rainbow hues, they turn everyday kitchen tasks like chopping and serving into joyful activities.

8. Block Shop Hand Block Printed Linen Robe

When it comes to gifting, a luxurious robe is almost always a safe bet. Like the tea towels above, these ones come to us by way of Block Shop. They’re made from linen, are block-printed by hand in Jaipur, and feature in two bold, geometric prints.

9. Hellerware Dinnerware

Any design nerd would be thrilled to unwrap a set of these historic dinnerware pieces from Hellerware. Designed in the ‘60s, they’re stackable, colorful, and perfect for mixing and matching.

10. Emile Henry French Ceramic Fruit Storage Bowl

This smartly designed fruit bowl is made to maximize the lifespan of your produce: The dark, temperature-controlled compartment on the bottom is perfect for onions, garlic, and not-yet-ripe fruits. Above the cork lid, store bananas, ripe fruits, and anything else that benefits from air circulation.

11. Quail Ceramics, assorted pieces, $32+

Perfect for your design- and animal-loving friend, these quirky yet elegant pieces from UK-based Quail Ceramics are designed to delight and serve a real purpose on your table as a butter dish, jug for your milk of choice, an egg cup (feel free to mix and match), or salt and pepper shaker set. Every adorable, ceramic pug, panda, owl, and rabbit—just to name a few of the fauna in their collection—is designed, fired, and hand-painted by skilled artisans, too.

More from Food52

• Our 52 Most Popular Products of All Time
• 10 Dansk Pieces Made for Fall Entertaining (and Curling up at Home)
• Our Favorite Fall Baking Recipes
• 19 Essentials for Setting a Modern Farmhouse Table

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What's your go-to gift for design lovers? Tell us in the comments!