The A Tiny Apt. x Schmatta Design-y Holiday Gift Guide

All used/vintage! Buy old stuff!

Greetings, Schmatta and A Tiny Apt. readers! We — Leo and Christene — have banded together to create a holiday gift guide based solely on used/vintage items. Yes, new, shiny things are lovely. But we both get a particular thrill from finding one-off, quirky gifts of yore. So we merged our weirdo obsessions to bring you this selection of funny/nostalgic/design-y vintage goods! Enjoy!

xo,

Christene & Leo

The Kitchen Book by Terence Conran, $25

Leo: Any person who is even vaguely into design will love a Terence Conran-authored design book. The Kitchen Book, which came out in 1977, has so much relevance to today’s design, it’s nuts.

Vintage Italian Pottery

Christene: I am never not snooping around for vintage pottery/ceramic bowls/vases Made In Italy. Mostly inspired by my two grandmothers AND Bitossi...and almost always verging on Ugly. But also beautiful! And while you can spend hundreds on pieces like this, I always keep my budget around $100/under. Just in case, you know, THE CAT. Although I did come across this one (pictured below) for around $1k and I'm...interested. 

Also love this one:

And this one:

1950s French Coat Rack, $158

Leo: I saw this and immediately got a very Jacques Tati vibe. Yeah, a wall hook thing is a bit of a specific gift, but maybe you have a friend who has been complaining about being unable to find an alternative to the ubiquitous Eames coat rack (which is great also). I dunno.

1970s Ceramic Table Lamp Base, $107

Leo: This is a great deal for an anonymous ceramic piece that could easily — easily! — fetch $400 or more in one of L.A.’s design shoppy shoppes.

Vintage Monogram Tea Towels

Christene: I am forever a sucker for vintage sets of monogrammed dish/tea/kitchen towels — they just make the best gifts...even when they're not your initials. Or anyone you know. They're just so personal AND practical. Mariska Hargitay could get the ones pictured below:

And these give me goosebumps...who's an R out there!??: 

1930s Dog Perfume Lamp, $215

Leo: Creepy? A lil. But I am…obsessed? It has a little receptacle for essential oil so your giftee can scent their room with the aroma of lavender while staring into Doggie Doom’s Eyes of Insanity.