A couple of weeks ago I was walking through Manhattan’s Chelsea Market (on a mission to buy Mahi Mahi fillets, gin and green beans) and something caught me eye. Oddly, for a food market, Chelsea Market has among its tenants, Imports from Marrakech, a shop featuring Moroccan lanterns, tile, rugs and other decorative accessories. Piled high outside its doors were leather Moroccan ottomans (known, charmingly, as “poufs” in Morocco) in a variety of great colors, one of which was a fuschia that was perfect for our one-year-old daughter Julia’s room. Five minutes and about $125 later, I strolled out with my groceries in one hand and Boolsie’s pouf in the other.
Sometimes I sit on the pouf while we play with blocks or bunnies or finger puppets. Sometimes Julia holds herself upright on it and beats it like a drum. It works for all of us.
Years ago on tours of tanneries in Marrakech and Fez I had seen poufs, and I always liked the idea. The designs seemed cool, but a little hard to work with unless you were furnishing, say, a retro-70s basement rumpus room (lots of high contrast harlequin patterns, gold debossing, that sort of thing). In the last few years, though, poufs have been appearing in Moroccan markets, and in shelter magazines, in designs better suited to a family home than a hookah lounge. If you need some casual seating, somewhere to rest your feet, or an occasional drum, there might be a pouf in your future.
If you’re in New York, Imports from Marrakech (at the Chelsea Market, 75 9th Avenue, at 15th Street, no website) is a fine place to get one. If you’re in San Francisco, or want to shop online, Tazi Designs also has a nice selection at good prices (333 Linden Street, off Gough Street in Hayes Valley, www.tazidesigns.com ).
