Skyline chili, Watch out. You have a contender for “Best of Cincinnati” title. That would be David G. Smith’s designsmithgallery.com, the digital doppelganger of the store that bears the same name. Besides the usual-suspect classics, Smith’s inventory cottons to the esoteric, including the double-headed floor lamp Greta Grossman designed for Ralph O. Smith, and a Maitland Smith–designed commode that features soldierly lines of green-marble cabochons. There are also accessories, books and contemporary artwork to round out the mix. We appreciate Smith’s honesty: He supplies multiple views of the items for sale, almost proudly supplying detail photos of minor nicks and scratches. The prices are a fraction of what you’d find at a hip vintage store on either coast, too.
Smith launched his virtual showroom in 1997, so despite the unnecessarily complex graphic design of the site (all those color blocks), its fairly straightforward architecture (few clickthroughs, simple drop-down lists) is proven to work.
Another reason to thank Smith for his website? Designsmithgallery is located in Cincinnati’s run-down Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, so even native Ohioans may rather punch in keystrokes than make a visit in person. (via Elements of Living)