Store

Sleek Italian lines are as avant-garde now as they were 50 years ago. Diva, the Seattle showroom for the BB Italia and Kartell design lines, promotes a few carefully selected pieces that range from funky to classic modern - and they're all Italian. Clever, fun and clean are the operative descriptions that work overtime here. Couches are long and low-slung, beds are simple platform affairs. A lamp might come dressed as a pillar of light, a coffee table an unapologetic slab of glass with industrial-grade casters on the bottom.

One of the store's best-selling items, the Up series chair from BB Italia, is an organic-shaped blobby number that looks like it comes straight from the Saturday morning cartoons. And upstairs, you'll find accessories such as brightly colored plastic chairs, stainless cocktail shakers and far-out tea kettles that will make even the most wizened of grannies do a double-take.

Tip: Get on the mailing list to score an invite to the fall sale, which includes a swanky cocktail party.

By Vanessa McGrady
Special to NWsource