It’s worth more than you think

Every humble object in this book has won design awards, some are in the collections of major museums -- and most will bring a smile when you look at them because they’re so darn cute. From Michael Graves’ iconic teapot with a little bird that whistles ($135) to Karim Rashid’s plastic, torso-shaped wastebasket called the Garbo ($12), every item here is the product of a great design mind. And that includes a number of toilet brushes, salt and pepper shakers and plastic watering cans, some of which originally cost less than a few lattes and might eventually bring you 10 times what you paid.

The book is filled with photos and information about the small, functional objects of everyday life that are so well designed they may increase in value and become the antiques of the future. The lesson here? Don’t be afraid to buy something you love to look at. In fact, buy two, the author says. Use one and put the other one away, leaving it in its original wrapper with the sales receipt attached. Many great objects, such as the Garbo waste basket for example, are no longer produced and therefore increase in potential value.

Roberts also tells readers what publications and websites are helpful for beginning collectors, an aid to researching items before buying them. Of course, some purchases are no-brainers. The author paid $5 for a set of 16 colorful, X-shaped rubber bands, which holds things together in two directions rather than just one. The X-bands, by an unknown designer, are now in the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

--Bettijane Levine