Clean Well-Lighted Online Shops

I love amazon.com as much as the next surfaholic, but sometimes the clutter and the noise and the enormous number of choices can seem overwhelming. That’s when I like to turn to simpler shops on the web, sites that offer fewer items but more compelling options, sites with elegant design and beautiful presentation. It hardly matters that most of the products they sell are way out of my price range. I just like to look at the sites for their visual appeal. Call it online window shopping, if you will.

  • Mighty Goods: A shopping weblog. When the authors find items they like, they write up a little description of them and post a link to the store. This is the site where I learned about these very cool nesting boxes, which I bought for my very cool wife.
  • kid o: They only have a few toys, but you probably won’t find them anywhere else.
  • MoMA Online Store: The Museum of Modern Art’s online store has a lot of cool artsy kind of stuff. Imagine that.
  • moss: Lovely. Mostly home decor, but some fun gadgets, too.

On the other hand, if a shop is going to try for variety, they should go all out. That’s why I love Lee Valley Tools and McMaster-Carr Hardware. They have everything!

So, those are some of my favorite sites for online shopping. What are yours?

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4 Responses to Clean Well-Lighted Online Shops

  1. Michelle says:

    The Container Store! Ah, yes… that’s where I found my wonderful “sock organizer”– the white plastic honeycomb that perfectly fits in my long sock drawer and helps keep my socks organized (which are rolled, by the way, and never folded over one into the other– which all neatniks know causes one sock to droop and sag waaaay before its prime) according to color.
    Give me anything to do with organization, anytime! Yay!

  2. Michelle says:

    Also love the MoMA email cards!!!

  3. Hey Karl…just in time for Sinterklaas with this one!
    To me, a really good site can make something quite mundane seem like the greatest thing since sliced bread. In that spirit, I’d nominate Jewelboxing (http://www.jewelboxing.com). Who ever thought backing up photos or music could be so much fun or stylish?
    Also, as a former New Yorker and husband of a “food snob” (her words, not mine) I’d recommend Dean and Deluca (http://www.deanandeluca.com) for all your fancy food findings. How’s that for alliteration, English Rules master?

  4. Karl says:

    Michelle, it’s no surprise that you and Sara are sisters. :)
    Michael, I love that jewelboxing.com site! Thanks a lot for the tip. Now I just have to think of an excuse to use it.

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