The best holiday gifts for the design-inclined
Including a banana menorah, a high-end fidget toy and a very Toronto print
All products featured on this page were selected by Toronto Life’s editors. However, when you purchase an item through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
See our full holiday gift guide.
Wall Hooks
These quirky handmade ceramic wall hooks are designed to hold your tote, jacket, hats or any other baggage that follows you home. From $28
Banorah
Kikkerland goes bananas for Hanukkah with this whimsical fruit-shaped menorah. Candles included! $30
Science Centre Print
Hand-printed in the brand’s Kensington Market studio, this print by Kid Icarus memorializes the Raymond Moriyama–designed architectural icon. $32
Portable Lamp
These nature-inspired rechargeable, portable lamps are tailor-made for Scandi-inspired cottagecore. They’re 3D-printed by Toronto-brand Humber. $79
A David Blackwood–Inspired Ornament
Bring home the myth and magic of Atlantic Canada. Inspired by David Blackwood’s unforgettable imagery, this ornament is a small work of art that brings Blackwood’s Maritime world into your home. $28
Think Piece
This brass-and-steel puzzle from Brooklyn design studio Craighill is equal parts brain teaser, fidget toy and coffee-table sculpture. $170
Pretty Puffin
Danish design master Kay Bojesen’s iconic wooden puffin has migrated to Queen West, now nesting at the ever-playful Studio Brillantine. $210
Let There Be Bread
This Parisian-made loaf of a lamp casts a warm, freshly baked, carb-loaded glow. Baguette it while it’s hot. $220
Power Couple
Go on, be that guy. Charge your iPhone and your Apple Watch in tandem on Lucrin’s leather-wrapped MagSafe dock, available in a bevy of beautiful colours. $229
Lava Lamp Speaker
Govee’s JBL-enhanced lamp pulses light to your playlist. It’s groovy and actually sounds good—it’s a lava lamp glow-up. $250
Basket with a Twist
Baba Tree’s Ghanaian artisans weave strong, flexible elephant grass into a unique wave-like silhouette, creating a storage basket that doubles as functional art with serious shelf appeal. $325
Glow Off
Toronto’s Neon Luxe makes vibrant signs that light up any wall with customizable colour and flair, like this signage for your half-baked conversation station. $489
Hyperrealistic Art
Local artist Erin Rothstein turns everyday obsessions—sneakers, snacks, sticks—into glossy, hyperreal art. Is it fine art, or pop culture? Yes! $550
Coffee table
This 1969 piece from Italian furniture brand B-line morphs from coffee table to bookshelf to a set of side tables—a necessity when your living room is your bedroom is your dining room. $865
Mini sofa
Australian brand King opened their first Eastern Canadian showroom in Toronto this fall, and its 1977 sofa—undulating, sculptural, modular—now comes in mini, for the kid with a budding mid-century modern aesthetic. $1,088
Ostrich cabinet
Ruffle feathers with the Lizzy cabinet, a hand-carved stunner from Italian furniture designer Piero Manara and a standout at this year’s Milan Design Week. $46,743
Caitlin Walsh Miller is a Montreal-based writer and editor whose work runs the gamut from small-town politics to big Canadian ideas, with the odd tumble down an internet rabbit hole along the way. Her work appears regularly in Maclean’s, Toronto Life, the Logic and elsewhere.
