Quick Hits: A Conversation Pit–Inspired Sofa, Swedish Stacking Chairs, and a Leather Table

Welcome to the latest installment of Sitting Pretty: Quick Hits, a monthly roundup of covetable furniture, decor, and objets d'art from one design-obsessed writer.

Sarah Ellison Float sofa

Australian designer Sarah Ellison took inspiration from 1970s conversation pits to create a supremely lounge-y new sofa in the tradition of Patricia Urquiola and Pierre Paulin. It’s a contemporary update to an old concept that delivers extra-plush comfort thanks to its soft, deep seats and gently sloping armrests. Plus, Ellison specifically developed a homey and luxurious shade of chocolate brown just for this collection.

$6,995 via Design Within Reach

Hay Korpus shelf

Sheet aluminum is lightweight and strong, and can be punched and curved into a variety of shapes. The wall-mounted Korpus shelf by Hay cleverly uses all of the material’s attributes to its advantage, offering uniquely curved silhouettes in various sizes and colors.

$150 via Hay

Michael McGregor’s The Cool Before The Warm painting

Los Angeles artist Michael McGregor paints with a distinct point of view and vibrant zest. His charcoal, acrylic, and oil-stick works dazzle with ease, whether they depict a Hermès ashtray, flowers in used beverage bottles, or still-life snapshots like this interior piece, which perfectly encapsulates his work: an everyday observation turned into eclectic delight.

$5,600 via Hashimoto Contemporary

Bruno Rey stacking chair

Throughout the late 1960s, Swedish industrial designer Bruno Rey went wild with experimentation, taking inspiration from the pioneering designs and production practices of Charles Eames and Michael Thonet and shuffling through various materials: plywood, plastic, and aluminum. In 1971, he struck metaphorical gold with the Rey chair, which would become the most successful Swiss chair of all time. It’s still in production today, but this classic version in purple-stained beechwood is hard to beat.

$595 via Home Union

Walter Knoll leather coffee table

In 1907, when Walter Knoll and his brother took over their father’s furniture company, they started producing seating and introduced the first club armchair in Germany. (The brothers would go on to furnish apartments by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.) This 1970s table combines a black-smoke glass top with padded sides covered in a material you don’t often see in coffee tables: leather, which has faded from its original green tone to a dusty gray with age.

$1,650 via Finch Hudson

Quickest Hits…

Camella Ehlke fabric-covered chair ($1,500), P.F. Candle Co. Wild Herb tonic candle ($14), Vintage smoked lucite table lamp ($295), Pierre Jeanneret folding screen ($14,500), Josh Itiola x Areaware tea towels ($28), Williams-Sonoma x Guy Buffet plate ($18), Bow Glassworks handblown tumbler ($48), Natasha Caruana Married Man photography book ($20), Gainey Ceramics planter ($145). 

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More from this column:

Quick Hits: An Inflated Steel Mirror, Vintage Italian Ashtrays, and an Oversize Ottoman