It’s a Wednesday morning, I've just bought a flat and so I am daydreaming about furniture. I subscribe to a school of thought that doesn't allow me to buy cheap furniture just because I need a sofa and all I've got is one week’s grocery money to pay for it. No, I'd rather condemn myself to relaxing on a folding camp chair for 3 months than purchase something I don't like - that might (and probably will) end up following me around for the rest of my life. I believe the best things come to those who wait and who are prepared to have a sore back to get it.

Having saved for a reproduction Eames RAR rocking chair some months previously I've gotten to know Vitra well. They are manufacturers of all things gorgeous and expensive, so I decided to slap the URL into my browser and window shop.

The Vitra site (like its products) is, in my opinion, the very essence of great design. The first thing that strikes me is the clarity and perfect simplicity of the layout. Knowing from experience how hard it is to design a structured site that has many different templates which are all based on one grid, I breathe it all in. At first glance the site looks quite easy, but spend five minutes flipping from page to page and you'll notice just how considered every decision was. The placement of each element, the position of the typography, the hierarchy of information, the beauty of the photography - yum, yum, yum.

Being the anal sort of designer that I am means that I love site architecture. Some people call it user experience. But what ever you call it this site has had the love and bucket loads of it. It is clear to me immediately that the client has not been afraid to spend the money where it counts.

Created in mid 2008 by the London digital studio De-Construct, Vitra.com has four key sections; Home, Office, Public Spaces and a magazine called 'Collage'. Each section has a clear secondary navigation overlaid on a large feature which can be rotated by the user and also links through to the product page. Visiting the 'Range' page provides you with an unusually uncomplicated third tier of navigation and glorious coloured rollovers on the product list. Each product page has related items that take the user off on in search of new furniture perfection.

How do I know this is a great site? Because to tell the truth I'm jealous and I wish I'd done it.