Remodelista Gift Guide 2020: Good-Looking Utilitarian Goods

Photograph via Brian Persico

For the aesthete on your list who insists that even kitchen sponges be attractive, here are 11 gifts that marry utility with beauty:

Photograph via Fog Linen

Studio Be-Pôles’s Collection L’Article Matches, containing 150 large matches made from poplar wood, with red, white, and blue heads, may just be the chicest matches we’ve ever seen; $30 at Ode to Things.

Surprisingly Beautiful Matches

Photograph via Studio Be-Pôles

Fog Linen’s quilted natural linen Oven Mitt is appealingly sized; $28 at Nalata/Nalata.

Natural Linen Oven Mitts

The naturally dyed Londra Black Fringed Placemat is made of cotton and hemp by Italian company Arcolaio; available in black and cream for $58 each at March SF.

Cotton and Hemp Placemat

Photograph via Arcolaio

An organized and pretty way to charge smart phones, the leather Courant Catch:3 wireless charging station (shown in bone) has an integrated tray for storing other daily essentials; $175 at Acacia.

Chic Phone Charger

Photograph via Acacia

Catskills-based furniture designer Brian Persico also makes artful wood kitchen tools, including organically shaped cutting boards; prices start at $125.

Handmade Cutting Board

Photograph via Brian Persico

This Kitchen Linens Set at Kept includes three dish cloths, two tea towels, and three flour sack towels; $151.

Dependable Kitchen Linens

Photograph via Kept

We also like Brian’s pair of hand-carved, steam-bent Osage Kitchen Tongs in the prettiest of yellows; $110.

Cheerful Tongs

Photograph via Brian Persico

The Criss Cross Brooklyn Fit Apron by Pillowpia is made of stonewashed linen. The apron is available in solid colors for $88 and in multicolored (with a large patch pocket) for $98.

All-Purpose Apron

Photograph via Pillowpia

These small Japanese Hand Brooms are $32 (angled) and $27 (small) at Nickey Kehoe.

Japanese Hand Brooms

Photograph via Nickey Kehoe

The perfect solution for hideously patterned tissue boxes, the Hinoki Moon Tissue Box by Tosa Ryu is $76 at Tenzo.

Hinoki Tissue Box

Photograph via Tenzo

These crystal Glass Rulers by Allon Libermann and Hye Jin Ahn Draw “allows for precise alignment when placed above an existing drawing.” Available in centimeters and inches for $30 each; or buy both for $54 at Areaware.

Design-Worthy Rulers

Photograph via Areaware

Learn More

For more good-looking gifts to give everyone on your list—the homebody, the eco-minded aesthete, the dog and cat lover, and more—head to our gift guides.