Importers of Home Decor & Gifts

• You don't need to travel to find imported items for your home. Jupiterimages/Creatas/Getty Images

  Nowadays you don't need to spend buckets of money on a trip overseas to get original gift and home decor items. A wide variety of companies import striking furniture and small furnishings that complement a wide variety of home decor styles and tastes. The majority of such companies carry an assortment at moderate prices.

Pier One Imports

• Pier One is a home furnishings company whose name clearly shows that it prides itself on importing home decor items and gifts. Pier One has over 1,000 stores across America; the first store opened in San Mateo, California, in 1962. The company imports all their furniture from a number of overseas locations offering consumers a range of items, from gifts like scented and colored candles, vases, mirrors and frames to furniture, such as arm chairs and lounges, to intricately carved wooden furniture and unique wall decor. Pier One introduces new and eclectic items on a consistent basis.

Cost Plus World Market

• The first Cost Plus World Market opened in 1958 in San Francisco's famed Fisherman's Wharf. The company has now expanded to over 260 stores across the country. The company prides itself on offering exotic items from a range of countries around the world, such as Indonesia, Portugal, Africa and Spain, at reasonable prices. For example, you can purchase hand-woven wall hangings and baskets; place mats; handmade pottery; pillows; lamps; and pieces of furniture, or you can buy smaller edible gifts like wines, jams and cheeses from around the world. Cost Plus World Market is also an environmentally friendly company.

Crate and Barrel

• Gordon and Carole Segal founded Crate and Barrel in 1962, opening their first store in Chicago. They were inspired by a recent trip to Europe, where they saw a large variety of contemporary, sensibly priced housewares that simply weren't available in America. They began buying goods from all around Europe and selling them in their initial store. Now they have 160 stores around the U.S. and continue to import fine items at moderate prices from Europe, also carrying imports from Thailand, Mexico and India. Crate and Barrel offers modern furniture for every room in your house, as well as contemporary gadgets for cookware, bakeware and entertaining. Their stores have a variety of items, both functional and decorative, which make suitable gifts, such as vases, glasses, mirrors and frames.