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Boning Up
Your pooch might love those toy bones, but your stylish apartment demands something a bit more swank than gross gnawed rawhide lying around. Not to panic: Otis and Claude – a California company – has come up with a fetching dog toy, the Bettie. It’s lightweight (so it takes no muscle to throw), has a tapered design (it’s easy to grip even when drooled upon), is three-pronged (perfect for tug-of-wars), and comes in zingy shades (so you can pick the one that complements your color scheme). It’s also made of durable, nontoxic rubber and plastic, so it will survive weeks of mauling ($20).
FETCH/43 Greenwich Avenue/212-352-8591
Make Yourself at Home
If Survivor hasn’t satisfied your voyeurism jones, you might head for the Apartment, the two-and-a-half-month-old, hip home-furnishings-and-fashion store where retailing is like reality TV. It’s set up as a live-in apartment; shoppers have access to all the rooms – including the bathroom and closets – and are encouraged to sit on the sofas, flip through the magazines, and snack on crêpes in the kitchen. Everything, even the toothbrush in the bathroom, is for sale. Though the wares might seem to be incidental to the action, owners Stefan Boublil and Gina Alvarez have managed to snare some great European finds, like this blown-glass sugar-and-creamer set from the Dutch company Saltz Materie. The frosted-glass pieces – as spare as science beakers – sit on a wooden base ($75 for the set).
THE APARTMENT/101 Crosby Street/212-219-3661
Micro Scopes
If binoculars could be called cute, Nikon’s new 7x15T would definitely qualify. It’s only three inches long with satiny-gray titanium barrels and black rubber eye cups, yet it possesses all the salient qualities you’d want in binoculars – close-focusing capability, maximum brightness, high contrast, and a wide field of view. Nikon’s micro weighs only 6.5 ounces, so it’s small enough and lightweight enough to stow in a shirt pocket: Birders, sports fans, and opera aficionados take note ($539.95).
B & H PHOTO/420 Ninth Avenue, near 33rd Street/212-444-6654
Making Light of It
It’s not surprising to learn that Haba, the German company that produced this playful clip-on lamp, makes wonderful wooden toys. The butterfly (there’s a dragon and clown too) has a flexible arm and a wooden fastening clip, which means it can’t get knocked off a desk or table. The wood-and-metal light takes a standard bulb (40 to 60 watts), and, just in case little ones might be tempted to nibble, the paint is nontoxic ($140).
MXYPLYZYK/125 Greenwich Avenue/212-989-4300
Data Base
The design team of Burning Relic, Jim Zivic, and Warner Wada, made a splash last spring with their anthracite coffee table. But that was merely one of their attention-grabbing pieces. They started the company in 1994 with “piano” tables (made from discarded piano lids), and from there they moved on to smoked-rubber gurneys, leather floors, and magnetic light fixtures. A tad more mainstream are their made-to-order computer desks and folding chairs of hand-forged patinate steel and waxed bridle leather. There’s even the obligatory – but far from conventional – filing cabinet, with leather-covered drawers and industrial-felt top. (Chair, $1,550; file cabinet, $2,300; desk, $3,600; allow six to eight weeks for delivery.)
BREUKELEN/68 Gansevoort Street/212-645-2216
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