Form & Function: Home Goods Edition

Hello again!

Hi, it’s been a while!

Two things have happened since I last wrote: 1) I moved (only a few blocks, but a move is a move), and 2) I got into a master’s program for design history & curatorial studies, which I’ll begin in the fall.

These mean I’ve been busy, and thinking about form & function even more than I usually do. So today, a few useful items I own and endorse, and why.

Schneid Studio fossil wall hooks. They screw into your wall and are super sturdy. I love the idea of adding things to the wall that are neither solely decorative nor solely functional. The hooks, unsubtle on the wall, have a magic to them: each time you hang an item, it turns into decor. Additionally, they speak to the dynamic nature of a living space. As you live alongside them, you find that they tell you something about your relationship to your possessions. What do you use? What do you like to look at? How does seeing something every day influence your use of it? These hooks ask me more questions than inconspicuous ones would.

Hangi.tutti, shown in action. It comes totally flat, waiting for you to pry the little metal bits out and bend them to your desired angle. There’s a feeling of play in this, like popping magnetic dolls out of a sheet. Like the fossil hooks, this piece’s aesthetic features fuel its functionality. In using it and puzzling out what fits on which prong, you decorate a contained area of your wall. I hover near it with admiration, and remind myself to hang up my keys.

The Gill tube wringer. This speaks to the satisfaction derived from analog utility. It’s clunky in the right way; sometimes “no-frills” gets pared down so much that it becomes frilly again. Not Gill! The joy I feel when I look at it comes from the beauty of naked necessity.

This Fredericks and Mae paper towel holder may be silly. All the best things are! We bought it in order to save counter space, but it has had the additional effect of making me really think before I use paper towels. In part, this is because it’s a bit of a pain to replace the paper towels (call it a pro and a con). But more than that, I’ve found that seeing a utility item as decor makes the brain consider it differently. It sits there, asking to be enjoyed, so I look at it and enjoy it and notice the space it takes up.

Love you love you, bye!