Home is Where the Heart is

Our favorite design-centric home gifts of 2024  

This year, take advantage of what the East End has to offer while crossing off everyone on your holiday list. Whether that special someone is a wine lover, bird lover, or just a design lover at-large, these Hamptons spots have the perfect gift in store. These are some of our favorite gifts of 2024. 

Although Homenature, in Southampton, is largely known for their neutral palette and streamlined, contemporary design, the home goods and furnishings store also has a unique vintage and antique section of curated goods dating back to the 1800s. Ideal for the bird-enthusiast on your shopping list? The store’s Vintage American Red Barn Birdhouse (call for availability). This handmade piece features a cut-metal roof and other original detailing. If it’s out-of-stock, the store does have one additional vintage birdhouse, too, a white mansion with green trim and a red roof that was also made in the 1800s. 

Le Shop X Riviera Maison, Southampton’s newest luxury destination, is an ideal spot for holiday shopping, offering a curated collection of European items to the Hamptons. Le Shop balances luxury with affordability, showcasing pieces that are as sophisticated as they are irresistible. Their motto, “beautiful things that nobody needs but everyone wants,” captures the spirit of Le Shop’s unique offerings, where customers can find perfect gifts and holiday treats that add a touch of European charm and quality to any home.

Of course, birding isn’t for everyone. An indoor/outdoor gift that is suitable for all — including those who prefer entertaining to birding — can be sourced at MONC XIII, in Sag Harbor. Their Large Candle Jar with Metal Base is 16 inches tall and includes a glass cloche, protecting the flame from the elements. Place it on your outdoor dining table, add ambience to any seating area, or bring it inside for the holidays. Candlelight, of course will never go out of style. And for those who are feeling particularly generous, MONC XIII sells a smaller version, too; gift the set and offer up an entire atmospheric dreamscape by candlelight. 

Shop for your favorite oenophile at Current Home, in Water Mill, which carries glassware from the Istanbul-based global design brand NUDE. The brand’s collections are made from mouth-blown crystalline glass, offering some of the finest contemporary glassware around. The Stem Zero Volcano glasses, available as single pieces, make elegant and bespoke holiday gifts. The line is available in four different shapes — Red Wine, White Wine, Sparkling Wine, and Tumbler. The store also carries the brand’s eye-catching O2 Wine Carafe, a beautiful addition to any wine lover’s table. 

Speaking of sipping, the person who has everything for the home and home bar may not have this: a sublimely sippable bottle of rum. Scotch? They probably already have it in spades. Vodka and gin? A dime a dozen. But rum? Now there’s a novel idea. Diplomático Rum, produced in Venezuela and made from locally sourced sugar cane, remains a super-premium product. At Domaine Franey, in East Hampton, shoppers can find three offerings of this boutique spirit, including the Planas, a white rum that is aged for up to six years; the Reserva Exclusiva, a sipping rum that spends 12 years in small oak casks; and the 2005 Single Vintage, which ages for 12 years in malt whiskey and bourbon casks, as well as an additional two years in Oloroso Sherry barrels. No matter which bottle you spring for, a delight awaits its recipient — and it doesn’t hurt that these bottles look great on the bar cart, too.

For the textile-obsessive, head directly to Comerford Collection, in Bridgehampton. This curated space offers something for everyone when it comes to home and design, but it’s a treasure trove when it comes to textiles. There’s no gift like the gift of warmth. This season, embrace the season of the throw with one of the store’s Forest Double Cloth Throws (they’re available in both winter and summer patterns). Made in the U.K., these double-sided wool throws will never go out of style, so they’re a worthy investment for any room in your design-lover’s home. 

At the 1818 Collective, in Sag Harbor, shoppers can find everything from lamps to mirrors to unique vintage pieces. But the store’s unique selection of ceramics makes particularly superlative gifts for the design minded. One-of-a-kind stoneware, like the Black Stoneware Vessel No. 15 by Liadain Warwick Smith, is just some of what gifters will uncover at this incredible store. Pieces are individual and irreplaceable, making this the ideal shopping destination for those in search of a truly unique gift.