Nine designer homeware pieces to covet

How many of these status symbol items do you have in your home? Photos / Supplied

We spent a lot of time in our homes last year: sitting on uninspired sofas, staring at beige walls and eating off mundane dinner sets. For many of us, it's been a time to take stock of the drab décor that surrounds us. So, as 2022 returns us to normality and the novelty of visiting each other in our homes - picnic baskets be gone! - we've compiled some of the status symbol pieces that signal a house and its owners have taste - and a bit of cash to splash.

Fornasetti forever

Italian artist Piero Fornasetti's work includes the face of a woman, Lina Cavalieri, and recurring motifs of suns, snakes and surrealist imagery. Photo / farfetch.com

The Mona Lisa of plates, you may have spied the dead-pan face of the Fornasetti woman on vases, candles, wallpaper and dinner sets in the home of a design-savvy friend. Considered a timeless homeware that looks as good with antiques as it does mid-century décor and uber contemporary pieces, you can pick up a Fornasetti plate from around $300 or really push the boat out with a cabinet or sideboard that will set you back several thousand dollars.

Auction house Webb's Head of Decorative & Asian Arts, Ben Erren, says Fornasetti "represents the playfulness and elegance synonymous with Italian design. It's not available in large numbers, can often be difficult to source, especially at bricks and mortar stores here in New Zealand. This scarcity and the product quality has developed a loyal following to the Fornasetti brand. Because it's not readily available it holds its value well, even in the secondary market, where prices can often exceed retail."

Max Gimblett, The Art of Remembrance quartrefoil

Is this New Zealand art piece the decade's answer to Dick Frizzell's Mickey to Tiki? Photo / invaluable.com

You may have noticed a golden curve peeking out from behind the face of a Kiwi celebrity as you trawl their Instagram, or spied one on the wall of a house you can't afford - but saved to your TradeMe watchlist anyway because, well, dreams are free.

Webb's Ad Schierning, Manager Art, explains that Gimblett's quartrefoils "started their lives adorning the exterior of St David's Soldiers Memorial Church (on Auckland's Khyber Pass Road) in 2015. They were sold as part of a fundraising project across Aotearoa, and since then, the legacy of these works and the popularity of Gimblett's inimitable style has skyrocketed."

Schierning notes the quatrefoils offer "a unique opportunity to own a work by one of New Zealand's most well-known and sought after artists at a very accessible price. These works continue to delight buyers years after they were first made."

On Webb's auction site they sit with an estimated value of $300-$400. So if you're looking for an affordable piece of New Zealand art that signals you've got a bit of taste, a quartrefoil could be just what your wall needs.

Anything Eames

You can pick up a replica Eames chair and ottoman from Nood for $3,399 or $1,499 currently on sale. Photo / Nood

From stools to stacking chairs to the popular lounge chair and ottoman, owning a genuine Eames piece signals one is most certainly on track to being a collector of luxury homewares.

Erren says the story of Eames is "what makes it so special".

" ... a husband and wife pairing equally responsible for some of the most sought after designs in the world. Produced in limited quality by licenced manufacturers, their designs are held in most institutions and represent timeless pieces that work in a hugely varied cross section of homes."

A TV that's not just a TV

The Frame is a TV when it's turned on and a piece of art when it's off. Photo / Samsung

Because when you're curating a home that's "a little bit fancy", a big black square of a screen really doesn't work - not to mention screams, "I don't have a media room!"

Enter, The Frame by Samsung. In addition to the standard functions of a very flat-screened smart TV, The Frame comes with edging to cover the telltale trim of a television and collections of imagery that, when your TV's not turned on for watching, display to appear like an art work on your wall. Genius.

A vintage bar cart

This stylish bar cart has been snaffled up, just in time to make good on someone's Christmas drinks. Photo / mrbigglesworthy.co.nz

Sure, you can pick up a cheap one from Kmart or Freedom but is that really an appropriate match for your Japanese whisky and Iittala glassware? Perhaps a 1970s bar cart by French designer Pierre Vandel, imported by local tastemakers Mr Bigglesworthy, would be a better fit?

A Dyson hairdryer

For those looking to step things up from their Briscoes-on-sale hairdryer this Christmas. Photo / Dyson

Because nothing says you've got money to burn like throwing $650 at a hair dryer. To be fair, when the Herald road-tested the product, it really did leave our humble Briscoes-on-sale Remingtons in the dust. So, if you're looking to emulate someone who has their hair blow waved and set at a salon every week - then sashays home to flop down on their Eames chair with a martini from their bar cart - the Dyson hairdryer is well worth the splurge.

Electric blackout blinds

If all you want for Christmas is to make like Kate Winslet in The Holiday and shutter out the world in the middle of the day, electric black out blinds are a must. Because while pull cords are for plebs, isn't a healthy, automated sleep space - that showcases those billowing floor-to-ceiling linens when you're not at rest - the new prerogative of the well-heeled?

A Togo sofa

The ultimate in slouchy luxury. Photo / ligne-roset.com

If you're looking to make a move from your boxy beige modular to a design icon, you can't really go past the Togo sofa by French designer Michel Ducaroy for Ligne Roset.

Monica Tischler is the marketing director for Ligne NZ and told the Herald "once you settle into the folds of a Togo, it's very hard to pull yourself back to reality."

Tischler shares that the Togo was "inspired by the folds of a tube of toothpaste" in Ducaroy's bathroom.

"The concept was bold back then, and Jean Roset, who headed the company at the time, had to field initial doubts before agreeing to its creation."

But Tischler says "close to 50 years later ... the design has stood the test of time, proving popular despite passing trends. More than 25,000 pieces of Togo are sold globally each year and the settee features in the homes of design devotees in all corners of the world, including some notable names like Lenny Kravitz and Claudia Schiffer.

"The timeless success of Togo can be attributed to Ducaroy's boldness. Its unique, portable foam structure isn't like anything else on the market and brings impact to one's home."

"Designed with afternoon siestas and lazy evenings in mind", this laid-back luxury item is priced at $7850 for a two seater and skips up to $25,800 for a corner set.

A Kay Bojesen monkey

There's more to this kid's toy than you might expect. Photo / 1stdibs.com

When is a kid's toy not just a kid's toy? When it's a handmade teak monkey that could potentially fetch thousands. Designed in 1951 by Kay Bojesen, while you can pick one up from around $150 for a small version, an original could be worth almost as much as that sofa you've been dreaming of.