What a year. Those three short words are always loaded with meaning but maybe never more so than now, as we look back on the past 12 challenging months. Today, however, we also look to the future — a future that imbues these words with hope and optimism for the year that lies ahead.

Our time spent sequestered has taught us some important life lessons, among them that our homes matter and that beauty is life enhancing. Perhaps more than anything else, we’ve learned that if we are fortunate enough to surround ourselves with objects that are rich with craftsmanship, character, memories, patina and originality, then the spaces we inhabit truly can become our sanctuaries.

The exceptional international design talents who compose 2021’s 1stDibs 50 may well understand this better than most. Their careers — whether recently launched or decades long — have been built on their impressive ability to create rooms that are not merely photogenic but richly textured, uncommonly comfortable and smartly curated.

They cleverly combine furniture, art and objects that represent a broad spectrum of styles, time periods and places of origin — and they do it with seeming ease. Authored by 50 of the most gifted practitioners of our day, the rooms gathered here serve as repositories of material culture at its very best.

In this, our fourth annual iteration of the 1stDibs 50, we celebrate the remarkable creative achievements of the designers on our list. What a year, indeed!