Design Porn: Areaware's animal affair

Areaware's stack of interlocking wooden crocodiles is a wonderful thing. I say that as a grown woman with no need for toys in her life. In terms of things I need in my life that are made from wood, it should really be a dining table I'm after, not a pile of crocodiles. Yet, my hand is poised over the 'buy' button, and I'm positive this is a good move. That's because:

1. Domestic Sluttery always fully encourages more animal-related items in the home.
2. Wooden animals have the Scandi-chic stamp of approval. Just look at the work (and prices!) of Kay Bojesen. In comparison, these are £31 for five.
3. This Croc pile is sold at The Goodhood Store. The Goodhood Store is so flipping cool I truly believe by buying anything they sell I will become cool too. You can imagine what a pain in the wallet it is they've opened their 'life store'.
4. They're really cute.

Case closed, no? Well, no. If you - like me - have got yourself into some tortured stream of justification over the crocodiles, wait until you see the rest of Areaware's adorable animals.

If you like the wile of the crocodile, you'll also want to be seeing this alligator later. Made, like the crocodile, from solid beech it's designed to be played with (by hands young or old), coming as three different shapes you push together. And, despite that alligator smile, it definitely is £17 - as are all the rest of the Areaware beasts. Who's next?

It's a llama! Ah, actually apparently it's an alpaca. I'm not quite sure how you can tell when it's made of wood, with no hair, and not made to actual size - sorry if that fooled you - but it's still pretty cool. Even if you can't use it as an excuse to pull out Sian's amazing llamazing pun (NB: I totally used it as an excuse to pull out the llamazing pun).

Now, even I can guess this one. It's an inexplicably timid looking elephant (perhaps it's just scared of what comes after the llamazing pun).

No need to be scared. It's a lovely horse, ready to be showered with sugar lumps.

My final woof of approval goes to their dog for giving me a tenuous excuse to say that, with a collection of animals made from wood, their bark is always going to be better than their bite. And, in this case, the bark happens to be pretty adorable indeed.