Decastelli Marea

In its creative exploration of industrial processes, Italian furniture manufacturer DeCastelli transforms brass, copper, stainless steel and other metals and alloys into eye-catching cabinets, cocktail tables, chairs and even decorative vases, bringing out the design potential of each raw material with its decades of expertise.

Adhering to what the brand calls "hard couture," DeCastelli positions metalworking as an art form. The brand, with four generations of ironworkers at its core, was established in 2003. DeCastelli works with designers and studios such as Marco Pisati, Emilio Nanni and IvDesign to create wondrously sculptural pieces that are at once imposing in their rawness and delicate in what is often an ode to natural forms. The tall metal storage cabinets of the Ripple collection, for example, feature concave doors that mirror the surface of a lake or a river while the spiraling etchings that adorn the iron and copper surfaces of the Syro coffee tables, with their tree branch-like supports, similarly evoke the movement of water.

Every piece of the company's furniture is made at the DeCastelli headquarters in the northern Italian commune of Crocetta del Montello, where metal and its potential ties all of the designs together — even upholstered pieces like sofas and ottomans feature brass bases and sophisticated brushed stainless steel embellishments.

DeCastelli has found great success in recent years partly due to collaborations with well-known brands and designers. At the Geneva International Motor Show in 2019, the company partnered with Maserati to fashion sheet metal into the shape of the Quattroporte Maserati dashboard. In 2021, DeCastelli collaborated with Adriano Design on a mobile copper liquor cabinet called the Barista. A few months later, it unveiled a collection of storage pieces called Marea with design studio Zanellato/Bortotto.

DeCastelli has also recently opened a new showroom in the historic city center of Milan. The space was designed by Cino Zucchi Architetti, a leading European design studio, to showcase the company's furniture and metalworking expertise.

On 1stDibs, find DeCastelli storage cabinets, tables, decorative objects and more.

The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”

Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.

Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.

It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.

Of all the antique and vintage case pieces and storage cabinets that have become popular in modern interiors over the years, dressers, credenzas and cabinets have long been home staples, perfect for routine storage or protection of personal items. 

In the mid-19th century, cabinetmakers would mimic styles originating in the Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI eras for their dressers, bookshelves and other structures, and, later, simpler, streamlined wood designs allowed these “case pieces” or “case goods” — any furnishing that is unupholstered and has some semblance of a storage component — to blend into the background of any interior. 

Mid-century modern furniture enthusiasts will cite the tall modular wall units crafted in teak and other sought-after woods of the era by the likes of George Nelson, Poul Cadovius and Finn Juhl. For these highly customizable furnishings, designers of the day delivered an alternative to big, heavy bookcases by considering the use of space — and, in particular, walls — in new and innovative ways. Mid-century modern credenzas, which, long and low, evolved from tables that were built as early as the 14th century in Italy, typically have no legs or very short legs and have grown in popularity as an alluring storage option over time. 

Although the name immediately invokes images of clothing, dressers were initially created in Europe for a much different purpose. This furnishing was initially a flat-surfaced, low-profile side table equipped with a few drawers — a common fixture used to dress and prepare meats in English kitchens throughout the Tudor period. The drawers served as perfect utensil storage. It wasn’t until the design made its way to North America that it became enlarged and equipped with enough space to hold clothing and cosmetics. The very history of storage case pieces is a testament to their versatility and well-earned place in any room. 

In the spirit of positioning your case goods center stage, decluttering can now be design-minded.

A contemporary case piece with open shelving and painted wood details can prove functional as a storage unit as easily as it can a room divider. Whether you’re seeking a playful sideboard made of colored glass and metals, an antique Italian hand-carved storage cabinet or a glass-door vitrine to store and show off your collectibles, there are options for you on 1stDibs.