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Kid Rock
Even the most jaded parent is sure to love this ingenious rocking horse. It’s the work of furniture designer Vladimir Shipigel, who trained at the Moscow Architectural Institute and later here at Pratt. Intent on making sturdy and durable kids’ furniture, Shipigel devised a special kind of joint that allows for a simple one-screw assembly of the horse as well as making the rocker super-strong. It’s made of maple and molded Finnish plywood and painted with eco-friendly water-based lacquer ($199.99).
GEPPETTO’S TOY BOX/10 Christopher Street/212-620-7511
Lighten Up
Though Terminal-nyc, a nine-month-old furniture-cum-whatever shop, occupies only a tiny triangle on Watts Street, owners Tulya Madra and Banu Sahinoglu keep it well stocked with all manner of cutting-edge stuff. Among the ever-changing mix, you’re likely to find Plastic Buddha’s “Ugli” tables, Tarabox storage systems, Trash-a-Porter Tee-pillows, and Ozgen cement doorstops. But Turkish designer Yilmaz Zenger’s sleek “360” hanging lights are always in residence. They rotate 360 degrees (hence the name), so they’re great for spotlighting paintings, highlighting an objet, hanging over a dining table. The head is fiberglass, and the 29-inch arm is acrylic-painted metal ($300; in black, white, beige, and red, too).
TERMINAL-NYC/28-30 Watts Street/212-219-3411
Charms of the City
New York may not boast any of the Seven Wonders, but it’s no slouch in the architectural-marvels department: Think Chrysler Building, Brooklyn Bridge, the Washington Square Arch. To commemorate these monuments the Metropolitan Museum of Art has come up with the Empire City charm bracelet. It’s adorned with the above landmarks, along with a Statue of Liberty, a Flatiron Building, and a replica of the museum’s own neoclassic East Wing, all meticulously reproduced in sterling silver. Even the bracelet these landmarks hang from was architecturally inspired; the curlicues are clones of the carved-stone ornamentation on the Met’s north wall ($150).
METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART/1000 Fifth Avenue, at 82nd Street/212-570-3894
A Safe Place
Jim Elkind of Lost City Arts knew he needed to rethink his showcase apartment; with his 6-month-old daughter growing ever more curious, its sharp-edged-glass tables, tubular-steel chaises, and tippable chairs were becoming an accident waiting to happen. Elkind set about making major changes in his own home, but he realized that other new parents were facing similar dilemmas. So Elkind put together a show of child-friendly pieces for his new Cooper Square emporium: chairs, tables, and sofas that kids can scamper over, under, and through without hurting themselves – or the furniture. Far from Ikea knockdowns, his picks are mid-century-modern classics. Some are vintage (like Aarnio’s Pastille chair), others have been in continual production (Mourgue’s Bouloum chaise), still others (Matsumoto’s Tampopo chair) are new. (From $330 for a Phantom chair to $4,500 for a Lip sofa.)
LOST CITY ARTS/18 Cooper Square/212-375-0500
Photographed by Kenneth Chen
Bellwether
Dinner bells conjure up visions of butlers, tables set with glistening stemware, and gleaming silver. But forget the buffing and polishing – these festive bells would look right on even the simplest table. They’re handmade and hand-painted in the Moctezuma workshop in the tiny town of Delores Hidalgo, and this atelier has been turning out Mexico’s finest china for more than 250 years. The handle and the bell are aluminum, and the tinkly sound will lure even the most resistant kid to the dinner table ($30 to $50).
QUINTO SOL/937 Madison Avenue, near 74th Street/212-734-5653
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