Pattern, Pattern, Chair

A fun part of my schedule this week was shooting remotely at home for Citytv’s Cityline. The subject was our principal bedroom, a space that had a forced renovation due to some major construction we endured over the summer.

Things have definitely changed in the space, and for the better for sure. I can’t wait to share the results with you, and it’s extra fun looking back at how the space looked when it was shot by Angus Fergusson for House & Home magazine more than 11 years ago.

Cheers, Arren


Dots and squares, oh my! Just say yes to this rather fab collab between creative consultants and 3D designers Terzo Piano and Or.nami wallpaper, which playfully toys with trompe-l'œil to stunning visual effect. Think simple graphic shapes and drop shadows inspired by architectural design.

Available in either vinyl or rather covetable silk, there are 4 designs in different colourways to whet your whistle - I’m already dreaming and scheming of a space where I can use them.

Terzo Piano X Or.nami - Pattern 2

Terzo Piano X Or.nami - Pattern 2

Terzo Piano X Or.nami - Pattern 3

Terzo Piano X Or.nami - Pattern 3


While one of my current projects includes a chic little bathroom in white and grey, this brand new collection by artist and designer Nathalie Du Pasquier for Mutina tiles definitely has me drooling.

More is definitely more here. Du Pasquier’s wonderfully barmy layering of pattern on pattern is key, with a perfect mix of fifties modernism and vintage designs all thrown together with gay abandon. And, if the 41 tiles in the Mattonelle Margherita collection aren’t enough, there’s also 11 coordinating paint colours for all you OCD design fans out there that want everything to match. Seriously.

Oh, and the art direction for the collection’s launch? It’s all feeling very cinematic and inspirational, and honestly I could happily post every single shot, but will show some restraint with the three faves below. Scope out the rest of the collection, here.

Wall: Star, Stripes, Marghe Black. Floor: Double Red, Stripes.

Wall: Star, Stripes, Marghe Black. Floor: Double Red, Stripes.

Wall: Marghe White, Frame Black, Marghe Half White, Marghe Half Black, Line. Floor: Petals, Line. Margherita Paint: Sand Matt.

Wall: Marghe White, Frame Black, Marghe Half White, Marghe Half Black, Line. Floor: Petals, Line. Margherita Paint: Sand Matt.

Wall: Marghe Light Blue, Stripes, Star, Kite White, Square Black, Marghe Black. Floor: Marghe Light Blue, Double Red, Stripes.

Wall: Marghe Light Blue, Stripes, Star, Kite White, Square Black, Marghe Black. Floor: Marghe Light Blue, Double Red, Stripes.


Am I the only person that dreams about chairs? This one in particular sent me down a bit of an internet rabbit hole, to be sure.

I first spotted the vintage originals in this stunning apartment in Florence, with masterfully edited interiors by Massimo Adario (click here to see more). Though they couldn’t look more at home in this space with views across the Arno, these spectacularly curvy seats were originally designed by Czech architect Jan Bočan for furnishing the Embassy of Czechoslovakia in Stockholm in 1972.

While the originals, made for Bočan by Thonet in lacquered bentwood and cane, deservedly fetch a pretty penny, I was fascinated to see that new versions of the chair are de rigueur in all sorts of chic interiors in Australia.

Available in both black and natural from the folks at Worn, and stunningly well priced I might add (I did the conversion), the sad news is that they won’t ship outside of Australia. But, kudos to Worn for their commitment to ethical sustainability, since their Cane Loungers are made of non-chemically treated materials harvested from sustainably managed plantations. Plus, for every chair sold a native tree is planted to help offset carbon emissions.

Brownie points to whoever can send me a source closer to home…

Photo: Laura Fantacuzzi and Maxime Galati-Fourcade

Photo: Laura Fantacuzzi and Maxime Galati-Fourcade

Worn’s Cane Lounger in Black

Worn’s Cane Lounger in Black

The Thonet obsession continues...

While waiting for the paint to dry I hit the internet and stumbled across Suzy Hoodless, onetime Wallpaper* mag staffer and now an interiors guru with her fingers in quite a few pots (check out her Osborne & Little wallpaper line). Anyhoo, I was happy to discover that she appears to be as obsessed as I am with Thonet chairs. Take a boo below at a couple of her spaces, both with the chairs in question - La-di-da, don't they look lovely? My mismatched (and rather motley) collection of vintage Thonet-ish dining chairs are destined to be sprayed out in a crisp white sometime soon, that is, if the sprayer guy ever comes back off vacation and answers his phone...

 

Thonet-ish and Thonet-redux

This is turning into a bit of a slow slog looking for dining chairs... We need eight in all and have found three so far that fit the bill. Check out the first shot below of the miscreants in question. I'm now constantly on the hunt for chairs (we found one this weekend, yay), but of course I've added a degree of difficulty. The look I want is a mix-and-mash of bistro/diner/cafe style chairs that don't, to my eyes at least, have a hint or country about them. They'll possibly end up getting sprayed white and upholstered in perhaps a silvery gray; all the better to contrast with our rustic scaffold plank dining table.

Thonet chairs would be the total ideal since they're workable, durable and still feel classic, even though they first hit the floor more than a century ago. To drive me entirely bonkers Thonet has gotten together with Japanese retailer Muji and created a chic and simple Thonet for the 21st century, influenced by one of Thonet's original releases; the No. 14 chair. Check out the second snap below, and to read more on the project click here. They'll be available at Muji stores worldwide this Spring, so when we're in London I'll be trying to squeeze one or three of them in the suitcase.