Can I Afford Authentic Design?
Gabriel Ross tackles the very personal choice of how much is too much when it comes to buying something you love. And suggests that modern designs don't have to be out of reach if you shop.
Every now and then, we hear from our Facebook audience about the higher price points of the brands we retail. We get it. Not everyone has $1,000-$5,000 to spend on a chair, no matter how nice it looks, or how well it's designed. And as retailers of authentic furniture and lighting designs, we always want to offer affordable luxury. But we’re also ardent fans of always authentic designs. We believe that our brand partners price their products according to their value as original designs.
The Authentic Difference – Humans, Ingenuity, Materials and Quality
Let’s start with why authentic designs cost what they do. Simply put, craftmanship. These products often have custom parts and handmade details. Humans, not machines, do the construction. Touch any piece of modernist furniture from the original design house, and you instantly know there’s an elegance that crushes anything mass produced.
Knoll’s Barcelona Chair by Mies van der Rohe has cushions made of 40 pieces of leather that are hand worked, including the way they are rolled, tufted and finished. The original Barcelona chair is made with 17 strips of leather, which are not buckled to the frame, but instead attached with rivets. This attention to detail and use of high-quality materials is a hallmark of exceptional workmanship.
Iconic design isn’t something that’s thrown together. Great design can take years to perfect. It can rise to the level of art. Some designs even make it into permanent museum collections. Many of our lighting brands have innovation groups within their businesses dedicated to constantly perfecting their products. For example, Moooi’s Dutch designers are always pushing boundaries, like wrapping an inflated beach ball with resin covered yarn to create its effortlessly perfect Random Light.
Yes, there is status in owning a Knoll Saarinen dining table or a Herman Miller Eames lounger, but it’s well earned. Architects, interior designers and designers think differently. There’s a degree of engineering ingenuity in all their work, which gives you insight into the unique mind behind the scenes. Really, many of the mid-century designers were just trying to come up with good solutions to common problems.
Florence Knoll didn’t like that her patio furniture in Florida kept rusting. She asked Richard Schultz to come up with a rust-free design and production technique that became the basis of his Knoll Richard Schultz 1966 Collection. George Nelson used self-webbing plastic for his Herman Miller Nelson Bubble Lamps because he saw ships shrink-wrapped in this material and knew it would be more cost effective than silk.
So how can these products be more affordable for the average buyer?
Shop the Sales
The best way to tackle the price barrier is to watch for the sales. GR Shop carries 150 brands, and almost all run sales during the year. We also have our own coupons during Boxing Day and major holidays. These sales can reduce pieces by 10-25%. It’s a great way to make an entrance into collecting these timeless pieces. A good way to be first to know about our sales is to sign up for our newsletter.
Insider Tip: we’re now in our spring sales period. Look for 18 brands on sale, at all price points, from global designers. Visit grshop.com to see what March has to offer!
Starter Brands
Some modernist brands come at a great starting price points. Gus* Modern is considered exquisite design that comes at excellent value, with an environmental focus. Emeco is another brand that fits into the affordable category – its Navy Chair is one of the most popular products in its line. Alessi, Menu, Cerno, Iittala and Vitra are perfect places to start for accessories that add a touch of modernity to any space (and are reduced by 15-20% during our March sales!)
Starter Pieces
You don’t need to clean house to add mid-century design to your room. You also don’t have to be an interior designer. The best part about modernist design is it’s simple and adaptable. Most pieces can comfortably fit into any room, or alongside any style of furniture. Consider buying an Artemide Tolomeo table lamp for your living room. Or a Florence Knoll Hairpin Stacking Table for your bedroom.
Some of the best modernist starter pieces include lamps, side tables, dining chairs, coffee tables, media units, accessories and bedding.
And when you’re ready, take your time to find the bigger pieces that mean something to you. Reading up on the designers, and how they invented their products, makes it all the more fun when you look at your chair and know its history. We tell many of these stories on our blog.
At the end of the day, we kind of like this philosophy:
