Ask the Expert: Gift-Buying Tips from Designer Harry Washington

Harry Washington, one half of the El Salvador-based design duo Claudia & Harry Washington, gives us advice on buying the perfect gift.
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What’s your go-to host gift? 

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What’s your favorite kind of towel?

Egyptian cotton Kassatex bath towels. They come in basic solid colors and are super soft. They’re really well priced and do the job. There’s nothing worse than a soft towel that does not dry you up.

Bath towels from Kassatex, from $7.

An upcycled wood chopping board by the Carrot Concept.

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What is your everyday bedding?

The Oake Box Coverlet Collection and a handmade indigo-dyed blanket by Lourdes Mena for Qumbo, an El Salvadoran artisanal design store.

Oake Box Coverlet Collection, from $240.

What is your everyday bedding? 

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What would you give to a recent college graduate?

A wooden pen, a wooden propelling pencil, an aluminum pen case, and an aluminum business card holder from Muji.

Wooden Hexagonal Mechanical Pencil, $6.50.

The Oake Box Coverlet Collection and a handmade indigo-dyed blanket by Lourdes Mena for Qumbo, an El Salvadoran artisanal design store. Oake Box Coverlet Collection from Bloomingdales, from $240. 

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Thick Aluminum Card Case from Muji, $5.50.

What’s your favorite kind of towel? 

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Claudia & Harry Washington run an eponymous design studio in San Salvador, El Salvador.

Egyptian cotton Kassatex bath towels. They come in basic solid colors and are super soft. They’re really well priced and do the job. There’s nothing worse than a soft towel that does not dry you up. Bath towels from Kassatex, from $7.

What would you give to a recent college graduate? 

A wooden pen, a wooden propelling pencil, an aluminum pen case, and an aluminum business card holder from Muji. Wooden Hexagonal Mechanical Pencil, $6.50; Thick Aluminum Card Case, $5.50.

William Lamb
Will Lamb is a writer and editor based in Jersey City, New Jersey. He served as a senior editor at Dwell from 2013 to 2015.

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