What I’m Shopping in My Sporty Design Era

Home Front is a weekly deep dive into the rising—and returning—trends, decor, and teeniest of design details fresh on our radar. Last week, Samantha, Domino’s managing editor of home and shopping, meditated on her sporty design era.

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A Hoosier always finds a hoop, I always say, and my camera roll is full of them from around the globe. Sometimes, as a design editor, I feel the need to remind people that I contain multitudes: I can appreciate the curve or caning of an iconic vintage chair as much as the skill it takes for someone to run steeplechase or shoot a triple. (My fellow basketball-head, our deputy editor, Julie, would agree.) These two interests intersect in the worlds of prep, playfulness, and color, all with a nod to a little human ingenuity. It’s form and function at its finest, as I’ve come to believe.

On Board

The Court Series rugs from Pieces have been permanently lodged in my psyche since the collection debuted in the late 2010s. They reflect the graphic nature of sports—linear, boundary driven—in a home object, opting to capture stillness over what is often the main character: movement. With the Olympics approaching, a new era for women’s basketball, and the grip that the tennis flick Challengers has on all of us, I’ve been tuned into how sports and design influence each other.

What’s caught my eye recently and not so recently:

1. Stripes aren’t only for cabanas. The proof is in this aptly named fabric from London-based designer Ottoline de Vries.
2. Our digital director Slacked me about this Urban Outfitters light fixture because it reminded her of a Frisbee. I like that you can use it as a flush mount or a big sconce, but no tossing.
3. I deeply appreciate the winking whimsy of this Gae Aulenti design, called the Tour console. Yes, the wheels do pivot.
4. Australian brand Doweljones fashioned its Bradley Hooper line of tables after, you guessed it, basketball hoops—and one fits perfectly through the bottom of the coffee table base.
5. High-contrast color combos, really good chairs, and metal or chrome accents seem to be a theme in my favorite sporty style inspo. Case in point: this retro racquetball court in Pennsylvania from one of my favorite IG handles, @sporarts.
6. The Olympics has consistently been a laboratory for design experimentation, with what seems like entire ecosystems having to be built to sustain the influx of athletes. Canadian industrial designer Paul Boulva created the Lotus chair for the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
7. Vintage tennis rackets are a dime a dozen on sites like 1stDibs and Chairish, so why not grab a few to hang on your wall?
8. A most literal interpretation: the Track rug from Pieces, which is part of the brand’s collection of floor coverings and tables inspired by courts, nets, and fields.
9. Not your average sterling silver Tiffany & Co. cocktail picks. These have tiny football, basketball, golf ball, and baseball toppers.

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