$42,000 Council Design table versus $799 Z Gallerie piece

Only one of these pieces is the $42,000 Periodic Table by One & Co., the San Francisco design firm that put a luxurious spin on the rustic lumber trend. Using a specially developed process, the 44-inch square table is produced by Council Design using reclaimed Douglas fir coated in silver.

The original costs such a huge chunk of change that a smaller version, the 47 (named for silver's number on the periodic table of elements), was released last year and featured on L.A. at Home. The 47 sells for $1,200 at Design Within Reach.

Now, Z Gallerie has minted a lookalike coffee table that sells for $799. Which of the photos is the original Periodic Table, and which is Z Gallerie's Timber Coffee Table?

Keep reading to find out which is which and why they cost what they do ...

Paola Navone's Taste vs. West Elm's NeoBaroque

The Look for Less -- Paola Navone's Taste vs. West Elm's NeoBaroque: Designers have taken the florid, ornately carved patterns of Baroque and Rococo furniture designs and flattened them to stark silhouettes. Here the trend is translated into tableware: Italian design superstar Paola Navone's 2009 Taste collection, and design-democratizer West Elm's subsequent NeoBaroque dishes.

One of the pictures above is Navone's Taste dinner plate, which she designed for Reichenbach, a prestigious porcelain manufacturer in Germany. It costs almost $80. Per plate. The other is West Elm's NeoBaroque dish made of stoneware in Portugal; a set of four costs $32. 

Which is which, and why does one cost nearly 10 times more than the other? Keep reading ...

The Look for Less: Philippe Starck's Mademoiselle chair versus the Miss chair

Philippe Starck's Mademoiselle chair was designed in 2003 but got a fashion makeover four years later, when its manufacturer, Kartell, teamed with Italian fashion houses to upholster the minimalist piece. Moschino and Dolce & Gabbana contributed fabrics for the seat and back of the Mademoiselle, but the most striking was a floral print by Missoni.

It is also the most widely imitated. Floral-print chairs are big these days. One of the chairs above is the authentic Starck design with Vevey fabric by Missoni. The other is a made-in-Asia copycat called Miss.

Which is which? And why does the authentic model cost $950 and the other one $275? Keep reading to discover why.

The Look for Less: Ceramic books by Klein Reid versus Z Gallerie

Books have been a staple of decorating for so long that it's hardly surprising that some enterprising designer kept the form and did away with all of those pages. In 2004, the New York porcelain studio Klein Reid created handsome books in bisque and glossy finishes as part of its Stilllife series. The books were bestsellers for Klein Reid, and two years later, the studio expanded the line with new sizes.

Now Z Gallerie has produced a less expensive set of ceramic books. One of the photos above shows the Klein Reid original, sold in a set of five for $350. The other shows the Z Gallerie library, $119.60 for eight volumes. 

Keep reading to find out which is which and how their differences go well beyond prices ...

The Look for Less: Ligne Roset's classic Togo sectional and its budget lookalike

The Togo sectional, which Michel Ducaroy designed for French furniture maker Ligne Roset, is nearly 40 years old but still looks incredibly fresh, especially in an era when floor cushions are the height of bohemian chic. I've always loved how the Togo's thin horizontal tufting resembles the wrinkles of a Shar-Pei and, as someone who once had a sofa delivered through a window on a third-floor apartment, I've long admired how easy Togo is to maneuver. 

The design comes in five easy armless pieces, each of which can be purchased separately and arranged in a variety of ways: a three-seater sofa, a love seat for two, a corner chair, a single chair, an ottoman.

Imitations were inevitable, and at least two are being sold online for dramatically less than the original. One of the photos above shows the original Togo from Ligne Roset; the other is Waverunner, a copy by Lexington Modern. In five-piece configurations, the Togo starts at $10,800. The Waverunner configuration has a list price of $2,880 but is sold online for $1,499.

Keep reading to see what sets these two designs apart ...

Look for Less: Anthropologie vs. Pier 1 flower power chairs

Let's give a nice big hand to the garden-variety armchair. Done up in bold floral prints, the seats that once conjured Granny curling up with her needlepoint have now become hip. Based on French and English country chairs, they're the go-to accent pieces for livening up contemporary living rooms and boudoirs. 

A case in point: The chairs above share a similar profile, with gently flared arms and lathe-turned legs. One is the Blythe chair from Anthropologie and costs just under $1,600 (shipping is $150 extra). The other is a Pier 1's Liliana, available at the company's retail stores for $379.95.

Keep reading to find out which is which and why one costs four times as much as the other.

The Look for Less: Heath Ceramics vs. Noritake Colorwave dinnerware

 

Sausalito ceramist Edith Heath (1911-2005) created the Coupe line of dishes, a 1948 design for stoneware plates, bowls and accessories that grew in popularity and, in the 1960s, became symbols of Northern California modernism. The shapes were simple, and Heath's signature glazes had a satiny matte finish in earthy colors. Today, the Coupe line is still going strong. It includes Heath's original designs in solid colors and two-tone versions with matte exteriors and glossy interiors. Prices run from $17.50 for a 6.25-inch bread and butter dish to $33 for a 10.75-inch dinner plate. 

Fifty years after Heath introduced the Coupe line, the Japanese manufacturer Noritake released its Colorwave stoneware collection. In 2003, the firm added a matte brown glaze that has become the second-most popular shade in the pattern's 12-color range. In sizes comparable to Heath, the Noritake Colorwave plates run $10 to $18 apiece.

The photos above show the two collections. Keep reading to see which is which and what each design dishes out for the money.

The Look for Less: Blu Dot vs. Crate & Barrel tables

On a recent spin through Crate & Barrel, the $999 Walker table had a long, lean look that stopped me dead in my tracks. Surely, this was a ripoff of the $1,099 Strut table that furniture maker Blu Dot launched in 2005. Did I smell a rat?

No, not even a copy cat.

"We designed and also make the Walker table for Crate & Barrel," Blu Dot  chief executive and co-founder John Christakos said by e-mail. "Since our goal is to make modern design more democratic with pricing that resembles Banana Republic more than it resembles Prada, we are not knocked off that often. We have been designing and making pieces for Crate & Barrel  for over 10 years."

Blu Dot's Strut is the bottom table pictured here. It's made of a powder-coated steel base with a lacquered engineered wood top. The large-size model measures 74.5 inches long by 34.5 inches wide, providing dining space for eight. It is available in ivory, white, slate and the red shown here, called "watermelon." Blu Dot sells variations on the design, incuding consoles and coffee tables. A version of the dining table in olive green is currently reduced to $719 on the Blu Dot site.

The Crate & Barrel Walker table, top, is made from the same materials but is 3.5 inches wider and has a top that extends to 95 inches. The store, Christakos said, "wanted a version that makes sitting at the ends of the table easier, thus the overhang and the removal of the bottom stretcher." The smaller amount of steel in the base translates to the smaller price. The Walker also is available only in one color: cherry.

"Crate’s is more red and ours slightly pink," Christakos said. "Of course we like both versions: the Strut for its clarity of form and the Walker for the ability to sit at the ends more comfortably."

-- David A. Keeps

Photos, from top: Crate & Barrel, Blu Dot

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The Look for Less: Staffordshire dog purebreds vs. HSN's new pups

A couple of summers back I wrote about the Los Angeles residence of fashion designer Johnson Hartig, a home filled with recent Damien Hirst paintings and a curious collection of antique ceramic figurines, including packs of Staffordshire dogs in almost every room. It seemed quaint and eccentric, even for the creator of the trendy Libertine clothing line. 

Named for the county of Staffordshire, where potteries produced these ceramic mantel piece canines, the dogs are Cavalier King Charles spaniels named for the British monarch, Charles II (1630-1685) who was said to give these royal hounds the run of the castle. In the early 18th century, the figurines were made from china and hand-painted in a labor intensive process of repeated kiln firings. They reached the height of their popularity in the late 1800s and were mass produced in the 20th century. 

It turns out that Hartig's collection was ahead of the curve. As designers look back to the 19th century for inspiration, these pups have emerged as iconic symbols of Victorian decor.

They are now so hip that in 2010, young British designer Donna Wilson sweetly reinterpreted them in signed and dated limited edition pairs, right. Wilson, who is known for handmade animal dolls and vividly patterned pillows and blankets, has the figures made in Staffordshire and hand-paints a Fair Isle sweater pattern on the neck and chest. They sell for $400 per pair in the U.S. exclusively through The Future Perfect. 

Original Staffordshire dogs are far more expensive, starting at about the $1,000 mark and rising in cost based on age, condition and rarity. One of the above pairs is an antique, the other a new reproduction by Carlton Varney for HSN that's just under $40.  

Keep reading to see which dogs have the pedigree and which are fresh from the puppy mill -- I mean ceramics factory.

The Look for Less: Ross Lovegrove's Supernatural chair versus an eerily similar imitation

London designer Ross Lovegrove, who calls his design process "organic essentialism," introduced the stacking Supernatural chair in 2005 for the Italian furniture manufacturer Moroso. Inspired by cellular forms found in nature, Lovegrove said his work creates industrial objects that are aesthetically elegant and functional.

Made from injection-molded polypropylene reinforced with fiberglass, the Supernatural chair is recognizable by its rounded, perforated back. The holes are not merely decorative; they eliminate excess material, reduce the chair's weight, provide elasticity and improve comfort.

One of the photos above shows authentic Supernatural chairs, which sell for $217 apiece. The other photo shows imitations that sell in a set of two for $87.91. 

Keep reading to discover what makes them different, other than the price ...