Hot, natural designs sit cooling at the Foundry

The high-end Crystal shopping centre is home to one more alternative, "boutique" shopping experience in Bangkok - lovers of wood furniture and home decor, take note. The Foundry store was opened in January by graphic designer Kanit Tantivejakul. His designs for wood furniture for his office a few years were the inspiration for the eye-catching pieces he now sells. "Simple is beautiful" seems to be his design philosophy, applied to drawers, mirrors, chairs, stools, shelves, benches and desks.

Most are made of pine and ash and         either left natural or given a metallic finish.

"Designing furniture is a fascinating challenge," says Kanit, who holds a master's degree in graphic design from the Rhode Island School of Design in the US. "Our designs focus on functionality and we're constantly adapting then to make more useful furniture."

Foundry also offers trendy stationery and school/office supplies from Japan, Germany, Denmark and France, including staplers, pencils and pens, scale rulers, tape cutters, notebooks, erasers, pencil sharpeners, and telephone indexes. Also available are much-sought-after digital cameras by Minox and Leica.

Foundry also plans to expand into home-furnishing lines soon.

Xtra

Foundry is on second floor of the Crystal shopping mall on Ekamai-Ram Indra Road (Pradit Manutham Road). Open daily from 1 to 8.30pm. Call (02) 935 9350 or (02) 515 0563.

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Top drawers

Cabinets made of pinewood with a natural finish for Bt3,800.

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Off the shelf

 Complete this ash-wood bookshelf with a few of your favourite novels. Price is Bt12,000.

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Stationery orbit

Design your own masterpiece with these precision tools. Linex cutting mats are Bt210 and Bt1,320, scale rulers in black and grey are Bt260 and Bt270 and Mapped's cutters are Bt50 and Bt78.

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All systems go here

Clean up your desk with a multifunction 'System Cube' - a stapler, paper cutter, scissors, pencil, pen, hole punch and more for Bt620. The cellophane tape holder/cutter is Bt330.

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A bench or a box?

This fibreboard bench in black and natural finishes transforms into a huge storage box. It costs Bt3,200.

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Zesty desk

For work and play, this children's desk comes with a lime-green top (Bt1,900) and adjustable wood legs (Bt800 each).