Visit to Grant Dorman
Long overdue was our visit to Grant Dorman this week to see the extensive Schumacher fabric range we have been eyeing off of late. You’ll know from a previous post we finally sourced a Martyn Lawrence Bullard Adras Ikat print for our office chairs from this range. Such great stuff from chunky upholstery basics to beautiful embroideries, big scale geometrics which I am loving at the moment and a bold use of no holds barred colour. With so much to choose from, we selected in colour stories so that when we start to work with a fabric we already have a range of complimenting fabrics that work back with it. This is a great tip for working with pattern or colour. It’s kind of the same as buying an outfit rather than individual pieces.
CHDC Studio Revamp
We’ve been spending a little time of late planning a small revamp in our office, that has involved us swapping our old trusty meeting table & chairs & replacing with a more relaxing pair of armchairs, coffee table & ottoman. Not content with just any old fabric on our chairs, we set about finding the most perfect geometric fabric that was full of colour. We, or should I say I, was determined to find a pattern that would make me feel happy everyday I walked into my office. Now, this is a miniature job for us, we take on large scale renovation projects, we do up whole houses with new furniture, fabrics, rugs, lamps, the lot & had we been doing it for a client we would have done it in two seconds flat. But it’s a well known fact that when designers do things for themselves, even we find it hard to make decisions! That’s right, we do this for a living, but we tie ourselves up in knots in search of the perfect thing. So, we empathise when clients are faced with the same dramas in their houses. But I’m happy to report the perfect colourful geometric has been found – and it wasn’t deliberate but it is a fabric from the man of the moment Martyn Lawrence-Bullard – who I have mentioned in this blog before (see Decoration and Design Entry). Have a look below at the fabric and furniture we’ve chosen – Adras Ikat Jewel Print & check out the range from Schumacher designer collaborations with great ranges from Trina Turk & Kelly Wearstler – its definitely worth a look. Stay tuned for the blog post with our final office revamp…
Jardan Winston Chair – Schumacher Adras Ikat fabric, Pierre & Charlotte Butler Coffee Table and Town & Country Gaston Bench (unfortunately now discontinued)
Visit To Tigger Hall Design
I stumbled onto Tigger Hall Design whilst doing a bit of background research on Martyn Lawrence Bullard, the keynote speaker at Decoration & Design recently held in Sydney. He does a really interesting range of fabrics stocked exclusively by Tigger Hall. After having spent a couple of afternoons in her showroom, poring over all her gorgeous fabrics & hearing about how she gathered such an eclectic range together I consider her to be one of the best kept secrets around. I mean, we source everything from the sublime to the ridiculous in our work, so when I come across a genuine person with a real commitment to going against the norm & doing what she loves, I sit up & take notice. Tigger has worked long & hard to assemble a fabric range that draws from the more obscure names who have not previously been represented in Australia like Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Kathryn Ireland, Jed Johnson, Laura Lienhard, Sequana, Vanderhurd, John Stefanidis & my new favorite Raoul who do the most fabulously huge range of hand block printed fabrics that have the wonderful quality of being fresh but incredibly timeless all at the same time. I spent a couple of hours assembling my own Raoul box of samples organized into colour stories that I can’t wait to use for window seats, kids rooms, anything. Not to mention the outdoor range which is better than anything else I’ve seen. So if you are looking for that effortless european ‘I just threw this together & it happens to be amazing’ old but new look, Tigger Hall is for you. We’ve also fallen for the Nautic lighting from Tekna which is going into two of our current projects. Beautifully detailed, definitely not cliched, classic weathered brass wall lights & lanterns… a bit Copenhagen-esque.