It's such a welcome trend: designers ranging from icons like Terence Conran to subversive Scottish design outfit Timorous Beasties to US design star Nate Berkus working with larger retailers to bring lower-priced household essentials to a wider audience. Here are 10 of our favorite current collaborations:
Above: Design Sponge's Maxwell Tielman waxes rhapsodic about Nate Berkus' wool Arrowhead Rug from Target; the 5-by-7-foot size is $149.99.
Above: To accompany the $99 Salt Chair (now available in black, white, red, and gray), DWR enlisted architect and designer Tom Kelley to design the Salt Table (available in black or white); $595 at Design Within Reach.
Above: Scottish design group Timorous Beasties created the Thistle Cushion for John Lewis; it's £80 (not cheap, admittedly, but it does deliver a dash of subversive Scot style for less than a fully wallpapered room).
Above: A while back Sarah and I staged an Easter table setting using pieces from Diane Keaton's line for Bed Bath & Beyond; Sarah (a tough customer) was completely won over by the well-proportioned, pleasingly sturdy K by Keaton White Dinnerware line; $59.99 for a 12-piece set.
Above: The Design by Conran wood Lucina Table Lamp from J.C. Penney is $175.
Above: We are total converts to Ben Soleimani's line of rugs for Restoration Hardware; the new Basket Weave Hemp Rug might be our new preferred basic floor covering. Prices start at $195 (seven sizes, eight colors available).
Above Minneapolis-based Blu Dot makes some of our favorite furniture: We like the Quad Side Table from their Target collection; $64.98.
Above: English design icon Terence Conran's Skipper Stool for JC Penney is $142 and features a brushed cotton upholstered top.
Above: We've long admired the textiles of UK designer Allegra Hicks; her Teardrop Embroidered Sheet Set is available at West Elm for $64.99 (down from $109).
Above: Finally, a useful entertaining solution: Design by Conran Stacking Trays; $210.