Design Within Reach, Inc. Appoints Retail Industry Veteran Peter Lynch to Board of Directors.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Design Within Reach, Inc. (Nasdaq:DWRI) today announced that Peter Lynch, a thirty-year veteran of the retail industry with experience as President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer for many high profile and successful specialty retail, big box, outlet and department stores, has been appointed to the Company's Board of Directors effective October 24, 2006.

"We are pleased that Peter Lynch is joining our board," said Ray Brunner, President and Chief Executive Officer of Design Within Reach. "We welcome the financial knowledge that he brings to the board and his many years of retail industry experience. We look forward to working with Peter as we continue our turnaround plan to return the Company to profitability."

Mr. Lynch is Senior Managing Director of DJM Realty, LLC, a diversified real estate consulting and advisory firm. Prior to joining DJM, from 1997 to 2003, he served as Executive Vice President Worldwide Operations of Warner Bros Studio Stores, where he led a complex closedown of the Studio Stores following the merger of AOL and Time Warner. Mr. Lynch has also been Chief Operating Officer of Sideout Sport, President and Chief Operating Officer of The Registry Stores, and President of Baby? Guess/Guess? Kids retail division. Prior to that, he served as Chief Financial Officer of House of Fabrics, Inc. and Store Furnishings International, Inc. From 1982 to 1990, Mr. Lynch was with The Emporium Capwell Department Store, where he rose through the ranks to become the Executive Vice President, Finance and Operations for this $800 million department store division of Carter Hawley Hale.

Mr. Lynch will stand for re-election to the Company's Board of Directors when his current term expires at the Company's 2009 annual meeting of stockholders.

About Design Within Reach, Inc.

Design Within Reach, Inc., founded in 1998 and headquartered in San Francisco, is an integrated multi-channel provider of distinctive modern design furnishings and accessories. The Company markets and sells its products to both residential and commercial customers nationwide through the DWR catalog, studios, website and direct sales force, and a single common "in stock and ready to ship" inventory.

"Design Within Reach" is a registered trademark of Design Within Reach, Inc.

This press release includes forward-looking statements, including statements related to anticipated revenues, expenses, earnings, operating cash flows, the outlook for Design Within Reach's markets and the demand for its products. Factors that could cause Design Within Reach's actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements including the following: if we are unable to continue to increase our net sales while reducing our promotional discounts, our profitability may be impaired; if we fail to offer merchandise that our customers find attractive, the demand for our products may be limited; we do not have long-term vendor contracts and as a result we may not have continued or exclusive access to products that we sell; our business depends, in part, on factors affecting consumer spending that are not within our control; our business will be harmed if we are unable to implement our growth strategy successfully; the expansion of our studio operations could result in increased expenses with no guarantee of increased earnings; if we do not manage our inventory levels successfully, our operating results will be adversely affected; we depend on domestic and foreign vendors, some of which are our competitors, for timely and effective sourcing of our merchandise; declines in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies could adversely affect our operating results; and we face intense competition and if we are unable to compete effectively, we may not be able to achieve and maintain profitability. Furthermore, if we fail to file our Form 10-Q for the period ended July 1, 2006 by November 24, 2006, the Company's securities may be subject to delisting from the Nasdaq Global Markets. Please refer to our reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our latest Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, for a further discussion of these risks and uncertainties. We also caution you not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date they were made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.