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Hello readers…
It’s October, and I’m already looking at Christmas ornaments. My textile company has been working on beautiful handmade decorations, including heirloom ornaments for the tree that fold away like a ninja until next year. It makes my heart sing, and if the forecast I mention below is correct, America is in for a $275 billion online holiday spending season.
The best thing is, since we don’t have public shareholders or any private equity bros to answer to, we’re taking our time with a new line of products, letting the team learn, and seeing what customers actually want to buy. There’s something wonderful about watching makers try something new. And there’s no better season to find out whether people love your idea.
That’s the cheery mood I’m bringing into this week. So I was surprised to read Derek Thompson’s excellent piece on the decline of having people over. My house is going the other way. My wife and I love cooking massive meals and opening our home. There’s no better way to show love and be loved. I’d like for design to help more people have that pleasure.
It’s also why I can’t stop thinking about a story I read about a group of friends in Oakland, California, who built a compound together. They live in separate homes on the same plot, share dinners, and the children all run around between the buildings. To me, it sounds like a dream come true.
My mother and her nine siblings each had an apartment in the same building in Egypt. When we visited in the summer, we’d run up and down between everybody’s apartments. Someone was always having tea, or my aunt was making kefta (a seasoned minced meat dish), or butchering a live chicken. There was always somewhere to go. A compound like this is just one way to cure the loneliness epidemic, I think.
I enjoy a version of this in Venice. I can be there alone over a weekend, walk down the street, and find a friend who wants an espresso or a beer. I’ve been telling my wife for years that I’d love a family compound, with enough space for everyone to have their own life and a short walk between the houses. Maybe I’ve always wanted to live in a sitcom, where Kramer stops by at any moment unannounced.
Imagine getting that brief as a designer. A small backyard home for elderly parents, somewhere the cousins can stay at Thanksgiving, a table that multiple families can break bread around. You’d have some fantastic problems to solve. If this really is the direction living arrangements are going, our industry could do so much good with it.
Keep reading for my solution to the ongoing destruction of heritage sites, and more good news about Christmas, especially if you’re in the furniture biz. Then, in Mr. Thread Insider, two color experts cut through the BS and tell us what they really think of the five popular picks for 2027. There’s “butter yellow turning saffron” and a blue-gray that reminded one expert of a car undercoat. This should be fun.
See you next week!
Mr. Thread
🎲 P.S. Don’t just read—play. We’ve woven a new mystery into this issue in our PLAYTIME segment. Let’s see who has the “eye” to claim the win this time and secure a spot for our grand prize draw. Scroll to the bottom to join the fun.
💰OPPORTUNITIES
Your next design brief could be a whole compound
Here’s that story I was talking about. In Oakland, a group of friends has spent years living across seven homes at a compound called Radish. They share meals and childcare, and have a regular “baby happy hour.” Now the property is on the market for $3.95 million, the New York Times reports. Some residents are moving into new compounds nearby. Co-founder Phil Levin has also started Live Near Friends, a business helping other people put this sort of arrangement together.
I’d absolutely love it, providing that there are options for separation and space, and assuming nobody’s dog is pooping all over your yard. When I moved to North Carolina, I realized how much I missed having people close by. Working from home was wonderfully convenient. I could do everything on my own schedule and be there entirely for my growing family.
But there was a very deep hole where that everyday community had been. The serendipity of the water cooler, blowing off steam over a drink after work, and of course, seeing the style and personality our colleagues brought through the door every day. It is good to know I am not alone in yearning to be surrounded by people again.
For designers and architects, the opportunity is immense and gratifying. Think about the brief. You need places to gather and doors people can close. Kitchens for a crowd, somewhere to sit when a neighbor stops by, and a way for an older parent to feel part of the household without having to live in the middle of it. Architects and interior designers have plenty to contribute. Of course, there’s the less photogenic work of deciding who buys the groceries and takes out the trash. Radish’s co-founder Kristen Berman calls that the “coordination tax.” Fair enough.
I’d happily talk bins if there’s someone down the path who’s always got people over for Sunday evening gravy. Rooting hard for this trend to continue.
“What we basically learned over the course of Radish is like, there’s a pretty universal desire to live this way.”
— Phil Levin, Radish co-founder, via the New York Times
Furniture companies make Santa’s nice list.
An Adobe forecast expects Americans to spend $275.1 billion online this holiday season. Phew! I was thrilled to see furniture among the stronger categories, with sales expected to grow 7.3%. What great news for furniture companies, who have had a disastrous year.
But anyone in the interior design industry can cash in at Christmas and during the sales periods. A designer could offer past clients a living-room consultation around Black Friday. You might get a new project, or a referral to a daughter who’s getting married. A maker might try a small giftable object. You don’t have to invent an entirely new business before Thanksgiving. In fact, please don’t.
🏭 INDUSTRY
Make the AI giants pay for our heritage
According to a World Monuments Fund study in Wallpaper*, 86% of sites nominated for its next World Monuments Watch are suffering from a lack of funding and resources. That’s not shocking news. These beautiful heritage sites cost money to keep up. Somebody has to repair the roof, and the people who know how to do it properly need to earn a living. We can’t lose these places because nobody profits from paying the bill.
Why are these sites falling into disrepair while the SI industry builds data centers?
By the way, if you haven’t heard, it’s “SI” now. Super Intelligence. Trump signed an order this week directing federal agencies to use that name instead of AI. He also met with technology bosses and announced a voluntary agreement on overseeing their technology, which he called “morally binding.” That’s a doozy, Mr. President. (It sounds to me like the foxes guarding the chicken coop.)
I think the biggest SI companies should be required by law to pay a small share of their revenue into preserving cultural heritage. The government should make it part of the cost of doing business. They’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars building data centers so we can use LLMs to answer our emails, and I’d like some of that cash spent on keeping beautiful buildings going. I’d also base the contribution on revenue, not profit, so these companies can’t try and use Hollywood accounting to pretend they make no money.
I discovered that there’s already a useful example in India. Its corporate social responsibility law requires qualifying companies to spend at least 2% of their average net profits over the preceding three financial years on approved causes. Heritage restoration and the promotion of traditional arts and handicrafts are explicitly eligible. For these tech behemoths, contributing to society should be a legal obligation.
Does anyone have any ideas about how our industry can turn these words into real action? We would welcome your thoughts in the comments section.
A craftsperson should be able to pay the rent
Homo Faber’s Venice exhibition closed this week, but I hope the ambition behind it lasts a lot longer. In Surface’s interview with Alberto Cavalli, the Michelangelo Foundation’s executive director talks about helping talented craftspeople build businesses. The work can be difficult. Earning a living from it shouldn’t be made any harder than it already is.
That’s right in line with Mr. Thread’s mission statement. I know how hard it is to make a career out of being an artist or a craftsperson. You need someone who’ll talk honestly about the business as well as admire the work.
Cavalli wants people to see a future in their skills and stick with them. I love that. Imagine being brilliant at something and abandoning it because you can’t see how to pay the rent.
I want us to be the force that helps these brilliant creative souls not end up as the proverbial “starving artists.” In the coming robotic age, human-made arts will be the most valuable thing in the world. Let’s make sure that makers are paid the money they deserve.
“That there is a bright future for craft. That it is possible to earn a living from human skill. That there is an audience and a market for craft in today’s world and they do not have to abandon their passion out of fear or disillusionment.”
— Alberto Cavalli, executive director, Michelangelo Foundation, via Surface
📊ECONOMY
Lower asking prices, expensive mortgages
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s average 30-year fixed mortgage rate reached 7.3% in the week ending September 25, Realtor.com reports. Purchase applications fell 4% from the previous week. Separately, Realtor.com’s September report found that roughly one in five listings had a price cut. Basically, sellers are trying to get people through the door. I know people who are renovating a kitchen to improve their chances of selling.
If your pipeline depends on clients buying houses, you can see the problem. Instead, I’d talk to the clients who are locked into their homes. Maybe there’s a kitchen they’ve been putting off or a room they’ve stopped using. We can give people a reason to love where they live.
“Mortgage rates jumped to their highest level in almost three years, pushing borrowers to the sidelines.”
— Joel Kan, MBA vice president and deputy chief economist, via Realtor.com
Consumers are worried. They’re still looking at furniture.
The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index fell to 81.9 in September. (This monthly survey shows how real people feel about the economy and whether they plan to spend money.) Respondents were worried about prices and jobs. But in the board’s six-month average of buying plans, furniture remained one of the leading durable-goods purchases people were considering over the next six months. More good news for the furniture companies.
Those of us running a business need to pay attention. A client can still want to renovate a room, even if they have to look at the budget a little closer. Explain what they’re getting and be prepared to work with them on the cost. If consumers are in a buyer’s market for properties, they may feel the same way about buying a sofa. I’d make it very easy for somebody to ask a question before they buy. Answering the phone remains a fairly impressive sales tactic.
“Consumer appraisals of current business conditions became negative for the first time since September 2024.”
— Dana Peterson, chief economist, The Conference Board, via CNBC
📈TRENDS
NY NOW makes room for the handmade
NY NOW is bringing back its Handmade division for its winter edition. The show will have three sections: Gift & Lifestyle, Home, and Handmade. A jury will reviewing applicants for the Handmade section until October 15. I keep telling you, hand-made, artisanal crafts are BACK. How wonderful.
I talk all the time about protecting craft, but the real challenge is to get craftspeople paid fairly. A trade show can help, provided the right buyers turn up and the maker can afford to be there. If you’re exhibiting, treat it as a business decision. Have a plan for whom you want to meet and how you’ll follow up. Compliments are lovely, but they don’t pay the bills.
“We want to create a platform where the quality of the work, the story behind it, and the people making it are truly valued.”
— Dorothy Belshaw, CEO, NY NOW, via Home Accents Today
🧵LOOSE THREADS
Es Devlin’s rotating library opens tomorrow at London’s Design Museum with over 2,000 books. There goes my afternoon.
A very funny piece from McMansion Hell that asks “what is going on with ceiling fans” (stay for the “Fandelier”).
Check out the Skywalker Grill at the Lucas Museum in Los Angeles.
🎲 PLAYTIME
The UFO has landed
Last week’s Verner Panton prototype UFO lamp sold for $61,920, including buyer’s premium. Avner L. came closest with $45,000 and took this week’s entry in the October 15 grand-prize drawing. Congratulations, Avner!
How much is this 27-foot table for your family compound?
This week’s object is Object #MT-V1, a 2019 mirror-polished stainless-steel table by Zhang Zhoujie. It stretches more than 27 feet from end to end, which should make seating plans interesting when you buy that massive compound for your family and friends.
Your clues:
✅ Made from 304 mirror-polished stainless steel.
✅ It is actually ten independent tables. Each can seat one to four people, or join the others for a larger crowd.
✅ This is an edition of six: five pieces and one artist’s proof.
What is the asking price? The person who guesses closest to its final price wins!
Reply to this email or click the button below to submit your guess.
Honor system, please—no using Google to look up the answer! (If you do cheat, we still get the engagement, but you’ll have to live with yourself!)
The Stakes
Whoever gets the closest guess each week wins an entry into our grand prize drawing! We’ll be holding the final drawing on October 15th—the more weeks you win, the higher your chances! Our winning threader gets:
A featured spotlight for you/your firm in an upcoming issue of Mr. Thread.
Another special mystery gift from yours truly, Mr. Needle.
Stay sharp,
Mr. Needle
🎨 THIS WEEK’S ART
In keeping with this week’s theme of community and compounds, I’ve selected a bunch of paintings that show families coexisting throughout history. Look at them all. Not a cell phone in sight!
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🕵🏼♀️ MR. THREAD INSIDER #00011 - One of 2027’s Colors of the Year looks like “car undercoat”
Our experts’ unvarnished verdict on next year’s biggest shades
Welcome to Mr. Thread Insider, our members-only section.
Every year, paint companies look into their magic crystal balls and, by the power of self-fulfilling prophecy, try to tell the future. They choose a color, give it a silly name, and tell us this is The Color of the Year. Sometimes they’re right. Sometimes everyone ends up painting their walls the color of porridge.
I never advocate following trends blindly. I’ve been in this industry long enough to know that good taste doesn’t arrive in a press release. But color forecasts can be a tea-leaf reading of where people’s tastes, anxieties, and money are going. If you run a creative business, you should know what’s coming—even if you use that info to sprint in the opposite direction.
In this week’s Insider, we reveal five leading paint and color brands’ official 2027 shades and ask two color experts what they really think…
