Journal

Stories of style, table setting and everyday Italian aesthetics with gift ideas, seasonal edits and design notes we truly value

Gold Mario Luca Giusti Palla pitcher and amber Lente tumbler on an Arabic calligraphy surface
Types of Drinking Glasses: Stemware and Tumblers, Sorted
A practical edit of the types of drinking glasses worth owning — two stemware shapes, two tumblers, and one rule for choosing indoor crystal or unbreakable synthetic crystal once you... Read more...
Glassmaker shaping molten amber crystal on the blowing iron in the Duccio Di Segna atelier
How to Identify Quality Dinnerware in Handmade Italian Design
Price rarely reveals craft. Learn the honest tells that separate handmade Italian glass, crystal and porcelain from mass-made copies — fused colour, one-of-a-kind variation and finished edges — so your... Read more...
Full Mamma Mia tablescape with orange-rimmed plates and fresh flowers at a villa dining table
Abu Dhabi Luxury Tableware for Saadiyat & Corniche Villas
Abu Dhabi hosting moves between the formal Saadiyat dining room and the Corniche terrace. Build a layered scheme — Italian porcelain inside, unbreakable melamine and synthetic crystal outside, one Murano... Read more...
Three white Sagrada Familia character head sculptures with painted accents beside a villa pool
Pop Art Home Decor: Collecting Baci Milano's Sagrada Familia
Baci Milano's Sagrada Familia turns portraiture into collectible pop art home decor — six characters, each a distinct personality. Here's how designers collect the heads, cameos and sculptural pieces, and... Read more...
Arched alcove in the Amprio Milano showroom displaying mixed Italian tableware collections and cushions
Italian Tableware Brands: A Designer's Field Guide to 7 Houses
Seven houses, one shelf: Baci Milano's folklore porcelain, Giusti's synthetic crystal, Seletti's provocations, Stories of Italy's Murano colour, Duccio's Tuscan crystal, plus two outliers. This guide maps where each was... Read more...
Layered Mamma Mia place setting with patterned plates and crystal stemware at a villa table
How to Mix Patterns in Tableware Without a Single Clash
Mixing bold patterns is mostly editing. Anchor two or three colours, contrast the scale of your prints, build in neutral breaks, and let materials add variety. Do that and a... Read more...
Printworks Picture Perfect photo album styled on a table among flowers and design books
Printworks: Scandinavian Analog Gifts for the Slow Home
Printworks is the Stockholm studio behind chess sets, photo albums and barware designed to be left out and used — analog objects that make memorable gifts and coax a screen-heavy... Read more...
Ortigia Baroque letter mug beside its patterned Baci Milano gift box in the Amprio Milano showroom
A Personalised Tableware Gift with Sicilian Soul: Ortigia
Ortigia is Baci Milano's largest collection — sixty-six Sicilian pieces built around a monogram for every guest. Here's why a letter mug or initial tray makes a personalised tableware gift... Read more...
Craftsman's hands rinsing an amber crystal horse head sculpture in the Duccio Di Segna atelier
How to Care for Luxury Tableware: Porcelain, Acrylic, Murano
Different materials ask for different handling. This material-by-material routine — hand-washing gilded porcelain, treating melamine right, clearing cloudy acrylic and protecting mouth-blown Murano glass — keeps a fine Italian table... Read more...
Mamma Mia porcelain pitcher with folk heart motif and espresso cups on a printed runner at a Tuscan villa table
Italian Tableware Starter Set: The Five Essential Pieces
An Italian tableware starter set needs only five pieces: a clean plate, a plate with personality, an unbreakable glass, one shared serving bowl and a glass centrepiece. Get these right... Read more...
Seletti Kintsugi porcelain dessert plate with painted florals and hand-applied 24kt gold repair seams
Wabi-Sabi Home Decor: Kintsugi and Beautiful Imperfection
Wabi-sabi home decor finds beauty in imperfection, and Seletti's Kintsugi line makes it tangible, tracing imagined cracks in 24kt gold across porcelain and glass. Here is why designers are embracing... Read more...
A table set with Seletti Hybrid porcelain plates, each split between a classical willow-pattern half and a bold contrasting half, styled with playful desserts on a white cloth.
Seletti design: the Italian pop art of the everyday table
Seletti turns plates, cups and vases into pop-art statements. This spotlight traces the house from its 1964 Mantua workshop to its hero lines — Hybrid and Kintsugi — and shows... Read more...