The Columbus Dispatch

Black-owned home décor brands you’ll love

- Felicity Warner and Kaleb A. Brown Reviewed.com

No matter if you prefer a bold, eclectic look or a modern, minimalist approach to your interior design, upgrade can add a refreshed touch to the place where you live. That said, finding the right home décor brands to shop can be tough, especially if you want to support small businesses and under-represente­d groups in the process.

February is Black History Month, a great time to combine these efforts by putting your money into Black-owned brands while redecorati­ng. We’ve compiled some Black-owned home décor brands that you can shop online, whether you seek out art, rugs, candles, or covetable knickknack­s. If you’re looking into small businesses beyond home décor and furniture, check out the sites like The Nile List and Beyoncé’s Black Parade Route for directorie­s of Blackowned businesses online or near you.

1. Jungalow

Beginning as a design blog, Jungalow is a Black-owned furniture store, décor destinatio­n, and lifestyle brand for the free-spirited and bold home decorator. Justina Blakeney, Jungalow’s founder and creative director, brings good vibes to the home with décor items from her Justina Blakeney Home and Jungalow collection­s, along with curated goods from other makers around the world.

With the tagline “decorate wild,” Jungalow is home to playful designs and colorful accents for those with eclectic taste. Some of the must-haves include art prints, totally unique wallpaper, beautiful ceramic planter pots and much more.

You can find a wide assortment of Jungalow home goods sold at Target, too.

2. For Alma Home

Traci Ford launched For Alma Home in loving memory of her aunt Alma. Once a passion project, For Alma Home has transforme­d into a destinatio­n for jewelry, home accessorie­s, and more covetable products. Ford fondly remembers her aunt Alma, writing on the brand’s website that Alma could do anything from sew a leather coat to build miniature dollhouses with estate-quality furniture.

Today, For Alma Home offers everything from candles to furniture to bedding, making it a delightful destinatio­n for home goods. This bamboo and rattan pendant would be perfect in a bohostyle living room. For a more chic look, For Alma Home also features this stylish modern bar cart.

3. 54kibo

Founder Nana Quagraine brings a contempora­ry twist to African design at 54kibo. Born in Ghana and raised in South Africa, the now New-york resident founded her company because she wanted to make the contempora­ry African design items she loved more accessible to the world.

Today, she brings underrepre­sented creativity and talent to U.S. shoppers and beyond with a wonderful array of bright and vibrant accents for the home, including furniture, lamps, rugs, art, and more.

Some of 54kibo’s newest arrivals include this mesmerizin­g double panel artwork made by designer Lisa Hunt, a Brooklyn-based artist who often uses a wide range of African and Eastern textiles in her work.

4. The Fond Home

While we as humans are full of experience­s and stories, our homes are the true story-teller of our lives – this is, at least, The Fond Home’s mantra. This Black-owned, fully-online boutique offers home products meant to reflect “where we’ve been, and where we’re headed.”

Thoughtful minimalist accents like abstract prints, neutral pillows, and elegant vases for the home are in-store, including this gorgeous wood and marble décor that are the perfect stylish accent for a modern home.

5. Don’t Sleep Interiors

Don’t Sleep Interiors aims to combine décor and culture from the African Diaspora, featuring pieces meant to invoke meaningful conversati­on and encourage exploratio­n into the past. You’ll find everything from pillows featuring logos of post-civil War Black-owned newspapers to museum-quality kifwebe African masks poster prints on Don’t Sleep’s Etsy shop. These historical and cultural touches are not only stylish for the home, but make for great conversati­on

starters, too.

6. Vela Negra

Vela Negra should be on your radar if it isn’t already. The Black-owned candle company creates ethically-made luxury candles with a powerful meaning behind them.

Inspired by elements of founder Aisha Cort’s Afro-cuban and Guyanese heritage, Vela Negra crafts its candles specifical­ly with black wax. According to Cort, the color black is meant to absorb and dispel negative energy as the candleligh­t brings clarity and new beginnings.

Each is individual­ly hand-poured using 100% vegan coconut wax and made with ethically sourced wooden wicks, fragrance, and dye.

Cort says her favorite fragrance is Morena. “If ‘Brown Skin Girl’ were a fragrance, this would be it! It’s a blend of creamy cocoa and vanilla bean topped off with nutty hints of roasted almond, golden honey, and fresh berries.”

She continues, “It definitely fills a room, and I always keep one burning in the house.”

7. Home by BE

For curated pieces from a designer’s eye, look no further than Home by BE, an online marketplac­e created by seasoned interior designer Brittaney Elise Minton. She also owns and runs BE by Brittaney Elise, her interior design services firm.

Minton has worked on interior design projects spanning from California to the South of France and beyond, and has even worked with celebritie­s like Selena Gomez and Zendaya.

Home by BE is Minton’s shoppable extension of her design expertise, offering curated furniture and home décor items that you can buy online.

Minton’s vision for chic, contempora­ry elements blended with traditiona­l detail can be seen throughout the marketplac­e, with modern essentials like this square oak coffee table and this sandalwood candle.

8. Rayo and Honey

Chances are you may have already seen Rayo and Honey’s pennant flags splashed across your Instagram or Pinterest feed this past year. They’re just that popular – and completely worth the hype. Rayo and Honey’s inspiring tote bags were even featured on Oprah’s Favorite Things 2020 list.

Brand founder Roachele Negron creates “goods with positive intent,” bringing witty pop-culture references, powerful quotes, and daily positive affirmatio­ns to wall pennants, tote bags, pins, and more. There are plenty of handmade canvas pennants to choose from, including those featuring the uplifting words of Maya Angelou and an ever-sorelevant

ode to washing your hands.

9. Made By Rheal

If your home needs an extra boost of personalit­y, Made By Rheal’s shop of handmade goods is your go-to for functional art pieces. This Black-owned Etsy shop based in Oakland, California, makes minimalist plant pots, dreamy marbled glass coasters, and most notably these beautifull­y unique hand holders for your jewelry and other tiny trinkets.

Handwoven art throw blankets are also available to shop at Made By Rheal, with each design bringing abstract designs and splashes of color to a cozy, 100% cotton blanket. Best of all: It doubles as a wall tapestry, making it a perfect accent for a bedroom or living room.

10. Linoto

If you love the look and feel of linen, you’ll quickly fall in love with Linoto, a Black-owned linen brand from Jason Evege that’s dedicated to creating highqualit­y linens with exceptiona­l attention to detail in an array of beautiful colors.

While shopping for linens back in 2007, Evege realized the scarcity of simple and modern real linen sheets in the U.S. Fed up with waiting weeks for linen shipments from Europe, Evege decided to make his own. Since, Linoto has become a hub for 100% linen goods beyond soft and breathable sheets, including curtains, napkins, and towels. All the fabric is woven in Italy, but the items are made in the United States.

11. Tackussanu Senegal

The art of basket weaving is a tradition that has been passed down for centuries, and Tackussanu Senegal aims to showcase this tradition.

The story started with co-founder Jasz Dio, who would receive woven baskets as gifts from relatives that traveled from Senegal. Feeling inspired to bring these woven goods to consumers around the world, Dio joined forces with co-founder Cheikh Biaye. Biaye was born and raised in the west African country and had connection­s with the artisan women living in Senegal. The partners brought these hand-woven baskets to the global market, and the rest is history.

Today, they still work closely with Senegalese artisans guaranteei­ng them a fair, living wage for their work. Additional­ly, all items are handmade from sustainabl­e and eco-friendly materials like locally grown grass and recycled plastic strips.

Check out baskets, bowls, and more available to shop online. Tackussanu Senegal’s latest – the Winter Reuge Collection – combines timeless technique and sophistica­ted primary colors to create gorgeous handwoven vessels that require 26 days of meticulous work from artisans.

12. Bespoke Binny

For ultra-vibrant additions to the home, Uk-based Etsy shop Bespoke Binny brings African patterns and prints to must-have home and kitchen items.

Founder Natalie Manima may be best known for her creation of beautiful African wax print lampshades, which made her a 2020 finalist for the Etsy Design Awards in the Home & Living category. But you’ll also find several other gorgeous goods, including this apron and this notebook.

If you love the Bespoke Binny lampshades, Manima also offers virtual lampshade making classes where you’ll be sent a fabric of your choice and the components you need to create your own lampshade.

13. Reflektion Design

Beginning in Ghana in 2006 and officially launching in 2013, Anitra Terrell created Reflektion Design to bring beautiful African art, décor, and more to homes in need of colorful touches. Terrell designs and sources all of Reflektion Design’s African décor, working with artisans in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda to offer unique and authentic accents.

Shop everything from rich and colorful woven African baskets to handmade African art pieces on the storefront. You’ll even find a gift ideas section, filled with thoughtful items you can gift for someone’s housewarmi­ng or birthday.

14. Goodee

From essential furniture needs to beautiful accent wants, Goodee is the curated marketplac­e for all things home.

After launching a successful luxury travel essentials brand, founders Byron and Dexter Peart wanted to move into conscious commerce with a focus on creating positive environmen­tal and social impacts.

Goodee works with artisans and partners across the globe to provide high-quality home items, all while ensuring an ethical supply chain, proper labor standards, and an intentiona­l ecological footprint.

At Goodee, you can shop online by the room you’re looking to decorate, by category, or even by brand. You’ll find intricate woven baskets from Ghanian artisans, beautiful throw pillows made by hand in India, and much more.

15. Aptdeco

If you’re on the hunt for pre-owned home goods and furniture, check out Aptdeco, a Black-owned online community of sellers and buyers. Co-founders Reham Fagiri and Kalam Dennis noticed their fair share of headaches and dangerous encounters when it came to buying and selling furniture in New York City and envisioned a better experience.

Artdeco streamline­s the experience for all parties, putting in parameters for safe payments and even a profession­al delivery service team.

You’ll find furniture and accents from well-loved brands like West Elm, Ikea, Wayfair, and more available to buy. This service is currently only available in select cities like New York City, New Jersey, San Francisco, and a few others.

The product experts at Reviewed have all your shopping needs covered. Follow Reviewed on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok, or Flipboard for the latest deals, product reviews, and more.

 ?? 54KIBO/SHINE SHINE, ?? The Lady Leopard Pillow, featuring a colorful print from South African design house Shine Shine, is available at 54kibo.
54KIBO/SHINE SHINE, The Lady Leopard Pillow, featuring a colorful print from South African design house Shine Shine, is available at 54kibo.
 ?? DON’T SLEEP INTERIORS ?? Explore the culturally significan­t décor of Don’t Sleep Interiors.
DON’T SLEEP INTERIORS Explore the culturally significan­t décor of Don’t Sleep Interiors.

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