Affordable designer gifts

I do a lot of online window shopping at some of my favourite stores - Aram, SCP and Donna Wilson... but the prices (especially for compulsive shoppers like me, who can't leave with just one thing) can make your eyes hurt a bit.

So hurrah for Christmas - when accessories suddenly come to the fore. Check out some of these affordable goodies from swish shops.

Regular readers may have clocked my mild owl obsession... so I couldn't resist including this tea towel from the delightful Donna Wilson. Just £11 - and one of a whole wedge of lovelies for under £20 on her webstore.

I love a good map. And have seen a few of them by the stylish Future Mapping Company about, usually framed and in shop windows and more money than I can justify spending on something I probably don't need. SCP is selling unframed versions of this Dayglow World Map for just £20. Yes, yes, it's the framing that costs... enter my next new discovery: Eframe. This online frame ordering store may not provide bespoke designer action (and my brother and sister-in-law, who run a very swanky framing store in Sydney would be horrified) but the selection is pretty damn good (I recently bought a couple of simple, solid black Nielsons), very affordable - and the customer service is spectacular.

I'm also totally smitten with this early 1950s Bitossi ceramic sausage dog, £29.99. He measures 24cm high, and is also from SCP. 

Finally - these beautiful Bauhaus miniatures, designed by Jonathan Hopp, come from Aram Store*. They're pretty diddy - just 5-10cm high, but perfectly formed and, at just £29.50 each, the perfect gift for the architecture nerd in your life. 

*nb, Aram Store's online shop has yet to open for business, until then it's all about some old-fashioned face-to-face service, at the shop, which has been just behind the Strand in London since the 1970s - but it's worth the outing as it is a truly a place of wonder and also has a gallery on the top floor.