Design Gifts: Small Objects for People With a Good Eye

Buying for people with a good eye is hard. They can tell instantly whether something merely looks good or is actually well made. So if you're searching for design gifts, you don't want the hundredth gadget with "design" in its name, but one thing where form and function belong together. Here are ideas for design lovers, many of them under €30, plus a few pointers on how to spot good design on a small scale.

How design lovers recognise a good gift

Good design doesn't have to be expensive. Many design fans look at three things: is the shape as simple as it can be? Can you tell how it works without instructions? Is it made from a material that improves with age, or at least doesn't get worse? An object that's used every day and looks good doing it beats any ornament that only sits on a shelf. One more tip: a big brand name is no proof of good design, a well-thought-out detail is more likely to be.

Design gifts under €30

• A good pen: a simple metal fountain pen or mechanical pencil with a pleasing weight in the hand.
• Ceramics from a small studio: a cup or mug from a pottery market, every glaze slightly different.
• A candle holder: brass, cast iron or wood, with a pack of good candles.
• A book on design or architecture: often cheap second-hand and lovely on a coffee table.
• A print or poster: typography, graphics or a city map, in a plain frame or none at all.
• A museum shop voucher: design fans know best what they like when they're standing in one.

A design object for the bathroom: the Soapi

The bathroom is where design lovers are most bothered by things that don't fit. And yet the soap usually sits in a dish nobody ever really chose, in a little puddle. With the Soapi, the soap hangs on the wall instead: you press a bottle cap halfway into a bar of soap, a magnet holds it, it dries all the way round, and the basin stays clear. A simple idea that makes sense the moment you see it. The Soapi has been sold in more than 250 shops since 2023 and is rated 4.88 out of 5 stars from more than 1,600 reviews.

The colours are what get design fans interested. The Soapi comes in ten shades: black, cream white, grey, dark grey, light blue, teal, mint, lavender, peach and yellow. Black next to a matt black tap, cream white almost invisible on white tiles, or a deliberate splash of colour like yellow or teal. It costs €12.95, is injection-moulded in Berlin and sticks to tiles, glass and stainless steel without drilling. If you can't settle on one colour, a Soapi Trio with three colours costs €24.99.

Charcoal Gold: a soap like an object

Soap can be a design object too. The stone soaps from Stone Soap Spa look like polished stones and are shaped and marbled by hand, so no two are alike. Stone Soap Spa is a brand from Norway, and the soaps are made in Thailand because that's where the ingredients grow: coconut, rice bran and sesame are processed fresh on site. The most striking is the Charcoal Gold: deep black from coconut charcoal, with 24-carat gold leaf that gives the soap its distinctive look. Tea tree and peppermint give it a fresh, cooling note. Stone soaps start at €13 in our soaps and shampoos, and there's more background in our article Stone soap.

Paired with a black Soapi, it becomes a gift that hangs by the basin like a small sculpture and still gets used every day. That's pretty much the combination design lovers go for.

More ideas with style

If you're buying for someone with a soft spot for Nordic design, you'll find more ideas in Scandinavian gifts. And if the gift should surprise rather than simply please, have a look at Original gifts with character.

Combining design gifts with Mix & Match

With Mix & Match you pick 5 products, pay €50 and get free delivery within Germany. For a design lover, for example: three Soapis in a coordinated range such as cream white, grey and dark grey, plus a Marseille soap and the magnetic key holder for the hallway, which uses the same technology. That way one idea runs through the whole home.

FAQ

What's a good design gift on a small budget?

A small thing that gets used every day and has been properly thought through: a pen, a cup, a holder for the bathroom. There's plenty under €30 if you look at shape and material rather than the label.

Which Soapi colour suits a modern bathroom?

Black or dark grey go well with dark taps, cream white or grey with light tiles. For an accent, choose yellow, teal or peach.

Is the Charcoal Gold just for looking at?

No, it's a soap for washing and it cleans thoroughly. The gold leaf is there for the look.

In short

The best design gifts are small, well thought out and actually used. A beautiful cup, a good pen, a bar of soap that hangs on the wall instead of sitting in a puddle. Put together your Mix & Match set and choose the colours that suit their bathroom.