Flowers, Patterns, Memories

Arren Williams May 28, 2021

Well, here we are. The grey days have given up and we’ve slid deliciously into lovely lilac season, which sidestepped briefly into wisteria hysteria and will soon shift into peony pandemonium.

As flowers bloom and the temps rise, so it feels like we’re stepping finally out of the dark and returning slowly - and carefully - to ‘normal’. Personally, I can’t wait to get my second shot and may start randomly hugging people on the street. You have been warned…

Large and in charge, chunky yet funky. While I might be paraphrasing Latrice Royale’s description of herself, this is exactly what popped into my tiny mind when I spotted these fab bar stools from Only Good Things.

To me, the Sir Burly stool hits the nail on the head from a style perspective. Cool and modern, yet functional, with just the right amount of wit. Designed by Dowel Jones, a firm fave of mine, these hefty little loves come in both counter and bar height, and a range of white/black/natural oak combos. I’ll take two, please.

Sir Burly in white/natural oak seat. Interior design: Artem Rechitsky

Sir Burly in black/black oak seat. Dowel Jones for Only Good Things

By any marker, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House in LA is an architectural marvel. Built in 1924 of 30,000 concrete blocks it’s quite the Mayan Art Deco Moderne fantasy, and is the largest of four FLW ‘textile block’ homes built in California. And yep, you might recognize it, from appearances in everything from 50’s B-movie horrors to classics like Blade Runner and, more recently, Westworld.

So, of course it’s super cool to hear that Eso Surfaces has announced a partnership with the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to reproduce a series of four designs inspired by the houses, This is all of course fuelling my dreams of cladding a fireplace in the Ennis 3D tile or building a pierced concrete block wall in the futuristic Albin design. Check out all the designs here.

Ennis and Millard tiles, Storer and Ablin blocks. Eso Surfaces

While the gorgeous My Home in Porto - both designed and run by our talented friend Juan de Mayoralgo - is now sadly closed, its memory and influence live on. This shot below is a particular fave, especially the perfectly imperfect two-tone hexagon floor tiles, and the memory of our stay there came flooding back when I spotted a particular rug the other day.

With it’s similar colourway and bold tiled design the Coronado rug, designed by artist John Zabawa for EQ3, feels just about perfect for an interior that needs a major hit of pattern (don’t they all?). And it’s one of those designs that could as easily slide into a modern space, as one with trad details, like My Home in Porto. Definitely one to bookmark!

Finally, if you’ll permit me a bit of horn tooting, I’m extra-happy to say that my latest project, a bed, bath and beach collection for Hudson’s Bay, recently launched. We first started working on it back in early 2020, with the plan to come up with something bright, patterned and optimistic, and I think we really hit the nail on the head. The inspo came from favourite high-points in design and, as I truly believe, “Living with colour and pattern is definitely where it’s at!”

There are 3 patterns, and I love ‘em all, but Ponti is a definite standout. Find it in yellow and beige for the bedroom (see below), and then turquoise and blue for the bathroom and beach. Plus the intense shades of the Portuguese matelassé coverlets and toss cushions are to die for. You can check out the whole shebang here, and I couldn’t be prouder.

Ponti duvet set, Texta coverlet, Trig and Miel toss cushions, Skye bed. Hudson’s Bay

Chairs, Shelves, Channels

Arren Williams May 28, 2020

As I write this, Kate Bush is on the record player, her Lionheart album to be exact. While I collect bits and bobs - more on that later - my husband David collects records. Currently his collection stands at more than 600, housed alphabetically in glossy white Besta cabinets from Ikea.

Music is always so perfect in setting a mood. In fact, I think a touch of Kate Bush would fit perfectly in the Venice Beach home included today.

Cheers, Arren

Call me a heathen, but I don’t usually think of Northern Ireland as a hotbed of modern design. Well, Orior has definitely changed that, especially when AD has proclaimed them ‘The chicest furniture company you’ve never heard of’.

Based in Newry, 40 miles outside of Belfast, the company was founded with a Scandi point of view in the late 70’s by Brian and Rose McGuigan . Now with their son Ciaran as Creative Director that mod tradition continues, with a seriously sizzling collection of upholstery and more.

The Bianca chair is a hot pick. Built for lounging, the seat is a total sensual delight in leather and velvet (just say yes to the Brick colour). Supported by a frame in either oak or walnut, the chair’s wingspan hits wide at 46” - This baby needs room to breathe.

Photo: Bianca in Brick (left) and Flamingo (right)

Try as I might to curtail my habits, I am an inveterate collector of, well, stuff. Early days was Art Deco objects, that gave way to an obsession with scientific glassware, which waned when I slid into white midcentury vases.

So, there is always something that needs a home, a moment to shine as it were, which is why I’m taken by Amsterdam-based designer Mickey Philips ceramic wall-mounted Shelf. Each is handmade, meaning each is slightly different - ‘wobbly’ explains Philips. But, to my mind at least, that makes them even more perfect.

Currently, I’m veering between that sunny yellow or the murky green to display a favourite Rosenthal vase. What colour would you pick?

Photo: Shelf in yellow, mint green and dark green

A good designer feels the soul of a space, and that’s what I love about this Venice Beach project by Electric Bowery, where they preserved the charm of a 1927 Spanish Revival, while layering in special moments that makes it feel very now.

That custom channelled leather sofa, designed for the project by Tess Bethune, is the total cat’s pyjamas. And, I love seeing something that feels so contemporary played against the trad wood millwork and funky vintage finds. Boho, but in the best sense of the word. Scope out the rest of the interior here.

Bringing The Looks

Arren Williams May 19, 2020

I’ve been having a bit of a design moral dilemma on Instagram with the number of fabulous interiors which, once you check in on the details, do not actually exist. Yep, 3D visualizations are the deepfakes of the interior world, and they’re kind of bumming me out.

You see, to me at least, part of the art of interior design is dealing with the reality of clients, budgets, contractors and trades - plus the sourcing of fabulous furnishings - to end up with something that’s real and tangible. That’s where the real beauty is.

Thoughts? Should I just get with the program, double tap and be done with it?

Cheers, Arren

While my accidental fascination with green continues, this particular room is so much more than the wall colour. Truthfully, it has also been given a generous helping hand by those mile high baseboards and that deep panelled window, but I have to tell you, this time I’m going gaga for the furnishings.

The shot is from that design mag marvel, House & Garden UK, which always brings serious LOOKS to the fore. I wish I could tell you the creative minds behind it, but alas the Google machine is no help - Any ideas?

Okay, back to the bits and bobs that make it special. Let’s start with the fab Hepplewhite sofa from Ensembliers London, shall we? The blue and white fabric is TO DIE FOR, but it’s the eye for detail and the fully upholstered legs that are really delivering the goods. This crew is not messing around. That sofa, plus the weird tramp art style table and kooky yellow wrapped frame chair, oh, and the art! It all adds up to perfection.

While many of you - well, maybe it’s just me - constantly scream, not another Jeanneret chair, when trawling through interior images, help is at hand. This week, I’ve been spotting chairs by designer Mario Milana instead. And I couldn’t be happier.

If the first shot below looks familiar, that’s because Milana’s rather stunning Brooklyn abode was featured in AD, and has just made a reappearance in the pages of Living - Corriere de la Serra. That’s his Rulla Lotto rocker in the foreground, and his Masand lounge in behind, but it’s his fun, fun, fun dePostura dining chairs that seem to be having a bit of a moment. Literally. Chair. Heaven.

Photo: Max Burhalter. Styling: Colin King

dePostura dining chair. Photo: @PalermoUno

Australian designer Chelsea Hing’s latest project is a stunner. Orchard House is the name, and Hing describes it best - “Avant-garde furniture, art & objects were layered to create a deliberate tension in an otherwise monochromatic palette.”

That tension definitely comes to play in the kitchen, with the scene stealing Verde Rameggiato marble slab counter set against the murky blue-green painted cabinetry and that boffo Shogun lamp from Artemide. And hello, that lamp! Designed in 1986 by Mario Botta it has deservedly attained design icon status.

Moving onto the living room, I had a complete, have I died and gone to heaven, moment over the Edra On The Rocks modular sofa and Indian green marble Salute tables from La Chance. Lordy!

You really must check out the complete Orchard House interior on Hing’s website. Styled by Beck Simon, it’s a winner baby.

Way Down South

Arren Williams May 14, 2020

Australia is amazing. And stylish. And cool. And I have never been.

A visit is definitely on my ever growing bucket list. Until that happens, I thought I’d share some brand new faves from that part of the world.

Cheers, Arren

I’ll never not say no to art with a strong, graphic point of view, so the work of artist Emma Lipscombe is right up my alley.

I love how restrained each piece is, yet bright and playful at the same time. Each is painted in oil on timber board, and sized a diminutive 31cm square, they’re a snap to sneak into a gallery wall.

The shot below, styled by Natalie Johnson and Lisa Burden for Real Living mag, shows how fab Lipscombe’s work looks layered into a contemporary space. Not your thing, perhaps? Well, they can also look equally at home somewhere more relaxed, rumpled and deshabille. Get the vibe here.

While the redoubtable Patsy Stone believes you can never have enough hats, shoes and gloves, I’m of the same mind when it comes to occasional tables. In our living room, we currently have 3 that get dragged hither and yon, just so a cocktail can perch within arm’s reach.

Here’s a perfect little number from architect and interior designer Daniel Boddam. His M-Side Table - part of a series inspired by architectural forms - is both stylish and sturdy, set just-so in this interior he designed in Hunter’s Hill.

I love this look, and how well the table works with Jaime Hayon’s rice paper pendant light for &Tradition. It’s so simple and chic against all of the room’s trad details.

I am a longtime fan of Popham Design’s contemporary concrete tiles, made the old fashioned way in Marrakech. The patterns are always spot on, giving a designer just enough leeway to mix it up and create something special.

So, it’s their Squarish On Four tile that drew me to this swish guest bathroom designed by Studio Parker. That off-kilter mod pattern, paired with brushed brass fixtures and a chunky built-in vanity is making it all happen. Yes, to all of it!

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