A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

7 upgrades for your sitting room, from oak desks to Bond art

By The Editors
November 25, 2015 9:00 am

They say money can’t buy taste.

But money — deployed decisively, and with good judgment — can buy you well-intentioned, well-crafted and well-used things. From there, taste will follow.

Because a man should own/collect/sit on/look at nice things. And he should show those things off to his friends when they visit.

Below, seven ideas to help you spruce up your living space, from the rough-hewn and primitive to the modern and angular. 

Do it for you. 

Do it for your home. 

Here’s to good taste. 

Vintage 1930s Repologle Globe | $850
This 1930s vintage globe goes extra masculine thanks to a black, Art Deco-style base and well-worn, pale blue exterior. Good for mansplaining to people exactly where you were that time you saw that huge clock by the river in that one English city, what’s-it-called.

 

Metis Desk by WEWOOD | Inquire about price  
Made of solid oak and magic, this ultra-slick desk will cut the clutter of your workstation down by at least half and up the sophistication twofold. Its three drawers and two lidded spaces let you conceal wires and papers and other mundane trappings of home, plus one secret compartment for … you know.                                                                                                     

1950s pipe rest | $345 
Syroco-style composite wood pipe rest. Consider it a silent reference to Catcher in the Rye, with less angst. 

Palermo Tripolina Chair | $650
A modern take on a historied chair  this design took hold in the 1850s and intrepidly stayed the behinds of military officers, men on safaris, hunters and outdoor adventurers at large. Think of it as a proto-camping chair, but made of fine Argentinian polo saddle leather and designed to last a lifetime. 

Primitive-style Boat Sculpture | $368
A less grandfatherly take on a ship in a bottle. Your friends will think they can duplicate it. They might try. They will fail.  

Frank McCarthy Thunderball Original Artwork | About $44,000
And something for the walls: this original artwork by famed American artist Frank McCarthy, whose work graces countless books and several film posters, including — notably — several James Bond films. The James Bond. Comes with a letter of provenance. 

1966: The Year the Decade Exploded | $23
And for posterity: a book. A brand spankin’ new book about 1966 by high-profile music journalist Jon Savage. A new look on the decade that saw revolutions in music, politics, fashion and your parents’ headspace, man. Faber & Faber, 2015.

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