Dorothy, we're not in Ikea anymore. When I just out of college, my mother gave me a beautiful little votive candle holder from a place called Design House Stockholm. It came with a note explaining the company and a little inscription:

"Don't make something unless it is both necessary and useful; but if it is both necessary and useful, don't hesitate to make it beautiful."

The candle holder was shaped like a clam shell, made of heavy brass, with a thin layer of silver, which turned it into a mirror when opened. I still have it to this day. This was one of my first run-ins with really cool modern design shops and the values and the emphasis on good design stuck with me.

Design House Stockholm is still around and going strong. Conceived as a "publishing company for unique Scandinavian design," it is just that and houses a broad and always interesting range of modern design products, all of which hew to their motto above (which happens to have come from the Shakers!).

Located in Stockholm, DHS has a good online shop. If you are looking for something unique and Scandinavian, this should be on your short list.

> > Design House Stockholm

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