Style Scout: What They've (Really) Always Wanted

A design-centric holiday shopping guide for the anti-shopper

It's hard to go wrong with gifts from ID Inside Design.

Image credit: Photo by Marshall Franklin Long

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By: Cy Winship |   December 2011   |  From the print edition

Holidays are agony for some people, myself included. Don’t get me wrong. I love the sparkle, the fires and the roasting turkeys. I love my family and my friends. That glow in the darkest months can really touch my soul.

But, like Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, I am horrified—paralyzed—at the obligation of gift giving. I know we’re supposed to love finding the perfect expression of affection, but I hate the awful “I don’t know what the hell they want” feeling. The horrors of malls and big-box stores. The emptiness I feel when I wrap some pink plastic piece of junk is too much for me.

So what does this design writer do for a December column? A shopping guide, naturally.

Here’s my reasoning: If there are others out there like me (and there must be), how do we fulfill these obligations and not be miserable? By enlisting the services of a shopping guide for the anti-shopper.

I thought about gifts I would want for my home, avoiding big chains and spending money locally. I started to feel better. Sleek, chic, original accessories from curated stores run by smart people? Now we’re getting somewhere. If these places can make an anti-shopper like me smile, they are doing something really right. And by buying local we reward those who work hard to keep small shops going in this economy—and those whose keen eye makes us look smarter and cooler than we are.

Here are five places, in no particular order, where I buy for myself and for my coolest friends. There is no whimsy here (whimsical crap ends up on closet shelves and in garage sales), but there is wit and verve.

+ ID Inside Design is one of the chicest home stores around. I love the Jonathan Adler ceramics, Damian Frances Wagner art and products from Menu and Botanist. It does what all great shops do: edits your choices down to the coolest stuff available. You cannot pick something lame here. The Adler owl sculptures, banana bud vases, sexy rugs and Ligne Roset furniture help make this a hipster home heaven. 212 Third Ave. N., Mpls.; id-insidedesign.com

+ The Walker Art Center’s Walker Shop is a design freak’s dream. You can find all kinds of ultra-cool, high-concept accessories and graphic art pieces (many by local artists) sold as part of the museum’s “Graphic Design: Now in Production” exhibit, which runs through Jan. 22. Do not miss this chance to get daring, fabulous, affordable art. (You can always buy extras and stash them away for year-round gifts.) 1750 Hennepin Ave., Mpls.; walkerart.org

+ Guild defies the scary potpourri-laden cliché I feared would await me. Gorgeous jewelry, fab vintage clothes and one-of-a-kind home accessories make this collective sing. I fell in love with them all over again when, sad about my favorite shop, A Turkish Affair (which sold hand-painted bowls, lanterns and other Anatolian treasures) closing, I called the owner and he told me his products were at Guild. Bravo! Along with Anne Damon’s wares from Mexico (also available here), Riza’s tiny spice bowls are my favorite things in my kitchen. 4414 Excelsior Blvd., St. Louis Park; guildcollective.wordpress.com

+ Roam has all the cool Alessi, Ittala, Kartel and Magis stuff I have been raving about forever. Oh hell—you just can’t go wrong here. Every placemat is a revelation and a Tord Boontje pendant light is just what the spirit needs. My sister has vases and sculptures from Roam, and the glass birds I gave my mom are not stashed away in any closet—or so she claims (I believe her). There’s also fabulous furniture from Cassina, B&B Italia and local heroes Blu Dot. 2914 Hennepin Ave., Mpls.; roaminteriors.com

+ I will admit: an artist marketplace is at best a crapshoot. But I guarantee that among the less inspiring works, there are amazing pieces—like those at Northern Clay Center—that can stir your heart. And finding something simple and lyrical that you want to keep looking at for years is the whole point. 2424 E. Franklin Ave., Mpls.; northernclaycenter.org

+ Cy Winship's design columns appear monthly in METRO. Read more of his work here.