One-Stop Gift Shop: Cooper-Hewitt at Vitsoe

We've made no secret of our deep and unabiding affection for the shop at the Cooper-Hewitt--besides a really brilliant array of home accessories and gifts, they have one of the best selections of art and design books in Manhattan. In fact, in our last New York City Shopping Guide it won top marks in the museum gift shop category, which is no small feat when you're contending with the likes of the MoMA Store and the Neue Galerie. The only reason we can't all be found browsing the Cooper-Hewitt every single week is location, location, location.

Sure, it's housed in Andrew Carnegie's deeply glamorous former mansion, which is reason enough to go (it's pretty spectacular), but it's all the way up in the '90s on the UES, which just seems impossible to get to if you live below 57th Street.

This is why we couldn't be happier that they're popping up downtown for the month of December at Vitsoe's brand-new showroom on Bond Street.

Sigh, I love synergy.

If you're not familiar with Vitsoe, it's a modular shelving system designed by Dieter Rams in 1959 (the famous industrial designer responsible for all of those amazing Braun products) with a pretty simple and sustainable premise. Because the system hasn't changed in the past 50 years, you can refine your shelving constantly-you can add to it, you can move it, you can redesign it. Essentially, it was the predecessor for all of the systems that have come since, like Container Store's Elfa. But did I mention that it's really, really beautiful? I'm pretty obsessed--so obsessed, in fact, that I stayed up all night color-coordinating mine. The result (above) just might be the crowning achievement of my entire life.

But I digress. Cooper-Hewitt will be offering 33 gifts at 33 Bond Street for the entire month of December, including notebooks from Postal Co, a really beautiful clock, Japanese masking tape, and even a cow puzzle. And if you can't make it to either location, you can always shop their site.