I think what stikes you as "heavy" is excess ornamentation that strikes me as overwhelmingly fake. I spent an afternoon shopping in Manhattan for a desk recentl

I think what stikes you as "heavy" is excess ornamentation that strikes me as overwhelmingly fake. I spent an afternoon shopping in Manhattan for a desk recently, and was pretty surprised just how hard it is to find anything remotely attactive. The big mainstream American players, say, Ethan Allen, Crate & Barrel, and West Elm have so much stuff that, while generally decent quality, is so disconnected from the time and place. So much of it is designed as if it were to go in a french country cottage, or a log cabin, and so little of it looks like it is was made in the 21st century. Although Ikea is a bit low-end for me, their designs at least have an honesty about them. There's nice stuff to be had at, say, Design Within Reach, various European brands, and smaller U.S. manufacturers, it's just amazing and frustrating how far from the norm it is, and how difficult it is to find.