The Billy Cotton x West Elm Collection Features 25 Essentials

For his first collection with West Elm, interior designer Billy Cotton focused on the basics. The brand-new line consists of a tight 25 products, and if the names didn’t already tell you that the well-known maximalist wanted to pare things back (the dining table is literally called “The Simple Dining Table”), just look at the sleek pieces. Almost everything is white.

“I approached the design to create the essentials that can travel with you anywhere and give you the canvas of a fresh, clean room,” says Cotton. So what makes a piece of furniture or decor absolutely “essential” in his eyes? For starters, Cotton homed in on the things we interact with on a daily basis, delivering a low-slung sofa, a lacquered coffee table with a single drawer, and an etched glassware set.

But knowing his West Elm audience well, he also turned to mid-century modern design greats like Charles and Ray Eames, whose lounge chairs and storage cabinets have endured for decades, for inspiration. That explains why so many of the pieces in the assortment—the $80 chrome salt and pepper shaker set, the Bennett light fixtures—look like they came straight from a vintage shop.

If you think the collection is only for minimalists, don’t let the lack of color turn you away. The West Village triplex Cotton designed for artist Cindy Sherman will tell you exactly how to decorate around predominantly white furniture: Bring on the colorful art.