Monograms showing up on many household items
Thanks to modern technology, we’re now able to monogram just about anything cheaply and easily. • Teens can initial their water bottles, kids can get their names on lunchboxes, dads have their own golf balls, and moms can have personalized garden tools.
Whatever the occasion — birthday, wedding, graduation, hostess gift — retailers carry monogrammed items that fill the bill.
Pottery Barn offers lofty and light fakemohair throws in a palette of soft hues, embroidered with an initial — perfect for summer’s air-conditioned rooms.
For a graduate headed to college or a pair of newlyweds, consider a lettered linen pillow or a pretty art piece with a monogrammed initial on linen, framed in alder wood.
Simple paperwhitescented soaps etched with initials would make a nice-smelling gift for a bathroom. (www.pottery barn.com)
Or consider an initialed acacia-wood bath caddy, with spots for a beverage, a phone, an e-reader or a book A luxurious linen throw can be embroidered with either hot-pink or limegreen thread. (www.red envelope.com )
Jonathan Adler loves a monogram. His chic initialed Lucite trays in Acapulco and Bargello prints kick up the modern vibe. Adler also carries Trey Speegle’s customized vintage pop alphabet collages, which incorporate whimsical elements such as vintage paint-by-number art. (www.jonathanadler. com)
Lily Pulitzer-print acrylic trays with initials in the center would make pretty yet practical gifts for entertaining or to hold fragrances or trinkets. For a home office, consider a magnetic note board covered in an elegant black-and-white damask print. (www.the stationerystudio.com )
Girly-Twirly has a wide range of fun gifts that can be monogrammed. Chinoiserie and preppyprint cutting boards, umbrellas and unscented candles are part of the product mix. Also among the items to be found there: laser-cut monograms in unfinished wood that you can paint or decorate yourself and hang with ribbon on doors, windows or anywhere else. (www.girly twirly.com)
For the gardener, check out Williams-Sonoma’s monogrammable gardening tools, including Sophie Conran’s potting scoop, and a chic copper trowel. (www.williamssonoma.com)
San Francisco designer Jennifer Morla offers her signed typographic giclee prints exclusively through personalized gift retailer Mark and Graham. She composes her pieces using a variety of fonts and midcentury elements.
Also at Mark and Graham are linen shower curtains, chambray pillow shams and a selection of totes.
Company spokesman Michelle Bowler says the newest monograms have a fresh, refined look.
“Our library’s top sellers are balanced between modern and classic designs. Sans-serif fonts, like Neutra, and singleletter initials are popular,” she says.
People are also adding their own elements such as dashes, dots, lines, circles and parentheses. (www.markandgraham. com )
If you’re craft-savvy, there are online tutorials on creating your own monogram using Photoshop or Word programs, then affixing them to all sorts of things. (www. inmyownstyle.com)