Lichen is a design studio in East Williamsburg that sells vintage furniture and home goods alongside original pieces made in its in-house woodshop, with prices accessible to people living in small apartments.
Lichen runs on the premise that good design shouldn't require a trust fund or a design degree to access. Co-founders Jared Blake and Ed Be (who met over a Craigslist Eames chair) built their East Williamsburg store around the belief that a coffee table, a Pierre Paulin three-seater, or a self-taught ceramicist's work all belong in the same room, at a price someone in a 400-square-foot apartment can actually spend. Their in-house woodshop produces original pieces alongside the vintage floor stock; their satellite boutique FF&E at 109 Montrose handles fragrance, fixtures, and equipment. The 2024 retrospective book *Our Floors Are Uneven* documents more than 75 original designs and the community that made them. What Lichen keeps returning to is a straightforward question: who gets to live well?
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