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If you are looking for a gift for your loved ones, you are in the right place. In this mini guide specially curated for our users, you can find a piece of art, design art or a vintage furnishing accessory, and also many inspirations. We have come up with five ideas to please different personalities and touch on various interests. Get inspired and explore stories and suggestions to accompany each gift.
A touch of design
Let's start with design objects: some "smart" elements are essential in a home, so if your loved ones don't have them yet, they are highly recommended. For example, the Parentesi lamp, designed by Achille Castiglioni in 1971 based on an idea by Pio Manzù. This is a piece composed of a few simple components perfectly adapted to its lighting function: a steel cable with a cylindrical counterweight, a sailboat tensioner fixed to the base, a circular disc with a hook to insert into the ceiling of the room, the rotating lamp holder, the visible spotlight bulb with its support consisting of a lacquered tube shaped like a "parenthesis." Perhaps not everyone knows that in the first version, Parentesi was sold in a packaging kit with a handle to facilitate the buyer's transport.
Jewels from the past
For those thinking of something smaller and more refined but equally versatile, we recommend a vintage jewelry holder. There are all kinds and shapes, and for a double surprise, they can be filled with other objects. We suggest finding a brooch, a jewel that has returned to the forefront in recent times. Cherished by older generations, brooches are now used by younger people as decorative elements for bags, coats, scarves, and, why not, on curtains and headboards to give personality to their bedrooms.
Not just books on the bookshelf
Even the classic bookshelf is no longer filled only with books, so make room for gifts designed for home shelves. Not just tabletop frames, but also a small watercolor to hang or a sculpture in bronze, Murano glass, or marble that can serve as both a decorative element and a bookends. And for the more daring, we suggest an African mask, which could have a revealing impact, as it did for Picasso, who said to his friend, "Masks were not like other sculptures: they were something magical, they stood against everything, against unknown and menacing spirits. And I kept admiring those fetishes... And I understood. I too stand against everything. I too believe that everything is unknown, everything is an enemy."
Kitchen
The objects that can be given to food enthusiasts are truly endless and include small tools as well as large sets such as porcelain plates and all kinds of machinery. As Italians, we cannot help but remember how a coffee moka machine is always appreciated, or that you cannot go wrong with an Alessi item, perhaps signed by a great designer. But if you have to make a grand gift, then our choice falls on the slicer. At the intersection of design and the pleasure of cooking is the legendary Berkel slicer, a must-have in country and mountain homes; for those with limited space, we recommend a vintage or modern scale, which will surely be a valuable ally for any chef.
Lastly, the foyer
Among the most overlooked areas of the house, the entrance should be treated with the same attention as other rooms, perhaps even more so, as some of our special moments happen here, such as a child's hug, the festivities of our dog, or even our sigh upon returning at the end of the day. An umbrella stand or a coat rack are functional gifts that will not go unnoticed and, above all, will never go out of style.
