Decoration + Design

There’s nothing quite like free-falling backwards onto freshly made bedding after a long day. It’s one of life’s simple luxuries.

Deluxe Beds have a heritage associated with some of the finest quality in bedding design and craftsmanship.

Six years ago, the boutique bedding company delivered their niche product into the market, adapting current trends to create unique products from all natural fibre materials.

“We feel natural fibres have a better quality and feel to them. In addition, they provide a high amount of natural antibacterial and antifungal qualities. They are longer lasting with a high durability.”

Deluxe Beds work closely with interior designers to create a special sanctuary in the bedroom, one that encourages the perfect night’s sleep.

“We are always sourcing new products to add to our range based on customer feedback. We are excited to introduce our custom-made bedheads as part of our new collection at Decoration + Design.

“We had a very positive experience last year at the show and felt that our product was showcased to so many people of many different industries and from all over the country.”

View the Deluxe Beds range on stand AC16 during Decoration + Design, co-located with Furnitex, from 18-21 July at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

For more information, visit decorationdesign.com.au

Register to attend HERE.

How do you update your home without investing in a complete overhaul or re-painting the walls?

Often it can be as simple as rearranging your space with a few key pieces that make a subtle or bold statement, depending on your end decor goal. Handcrafted homewares are great decorator items to refresh a tired interior.

Lemongrass Homewares specialise in one-of-a-kind handicrafts from India from coloured enamel platters and bowls, to Australia’s largest range of highly polished aluminium, high gloss, coloured and enamelled decor products.

Many of their products are designed in Australia and individually handmade by skilled overseas craftsmen, commissioned for the Australian decor market.

In 2006, Lemongrass Homewares started out with a seven-piece enamelled aluminium collection and the small family-run business has steadily grown to where they now develop most of their products in house.

And the name says it all.

“We chose the name Lemongrass as something which is easy to remember and something most can relate to as a distinctive flavour in many foods,” said Steven. “Lemongrass is a herb that stimulates the senses and likewise we design our products to create that wow factor.”

We took five with the team to talk inspiration, design, and their love for Decoration + Design.

What’s the best part about working in the interiors/furniture/design industry?

Its a challenging but at the same time an exciting industry that is constantly on the move. We love the aspect of keeping up with all the latest trends and ever evolving colours. It provides us with the opportunity to travel overseas to gain inspiration from other related markets from which we can apply to developing our unique range of seasonal shapes and colours.

What inspires you? How does this influence the design?

We are inspired from the feedback we get from our customers who love our range. Believe it or not we actually listen to the feedback our customers provide as they ultimately echo the opinions of the final consumer. Whether its a customer who runs a retail outlet or an interior designer we regard all feedback as a valuable source of free advise.

Good feedback or bad feedback inspires us to keep doing the good things better and the not so good things as opportunities to learn and improve. Our most popular designs have been inspired by customer feedback together with our own learnings and experience.

What kind of materials do you source for your product range? Why?

The majority of our products are made from food-safe highly polished aluminium with high gloss, coloured enamel finish. The highly polished metallic and coloured gloss finish give each piece a distinctive and eye catching appeal.

The pieces can be used as stand alone decor to create that special focal point and they are versatile enough to use for serving or presenting food. Aluminium is a superior conductor of both heat and cold which means that the pieces are ideal to use for both hot or cold serving of both wet or dry foods.

Are you working on any special projects/ranges/collections at the moment?

We are constantly evolving and developing our range of colours and shapes. Colour and Gift boxing has started to become a popular part of our business which we will continue to develop to help further promote our branding.

You are about to showcase at Decoration + Design Melbourne, why did you choose this event? What can we expect to see when visiting your stand?

We love this event! Its our most favoured Trade Show. We started with our first Decoration + Design show about 5 years ago and have never looked back. As exhibitors its a relaxing environment to work at. From the moment you walk in on setup day to the time you walk out the door after pack-up you are always well looked after by all the event organisers.

The visitors are always well received and the relaxed atmosphere of the show provides for better trading. It’s an event we do as it opens up a variety of different markets for our products that we would normally not achieve.

Visit Lemongrass Homeware on stand AC42 during Decoration + Design from 18-21 July co-located with Furnitex at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

For more information visit, decorationdesign.com.au

To register, visit tradeevent.com.au

When designing your dream home or space, lighting is equally as important to achieving the final vision as is finding the right couch or wallpaper.

We all hope for the end result to reflect our personal style, and lighting is a big part of this expression.

An electrician for over 30 years, Sam Carpinteri – Director ClassicLite Australia – has worked his lighting magic for numerous clients across a diverse design spectrum.

He has seen the evolving trends first hand, and has enjoyed watching the rapid evolution of the lighting and furniture industry.

“Lighting has changed so much with the introduction to LED being more prominent in all lighting today,” he said.

“We are constantly looking at energy efficiency now with the introduction of our LED range. Our new Spanish Brand OLE features great earthy pieces using natural cord.

“Our PENTA range uses hand blown Murano glass, all made to order, straight from Milan, Italy.”

ClassicLite Australia are exploring more of these high quality European brands and working to bring these designs to the Australian market. They are already well known in their country and are prominent at the lighting fairs in Europe, so we would love to see more of their collections in residential and commercial projects Australia-wide.

ClassicLite will showcase their new range at Decoration + Design Melbourne for the 3rd time.

“We think it (Decoration + Design) brings a great range of people to us, from designers to builders to architects all looking for something new and exciting,” he said.

“At ClassicLite we always have some new and innovative in Lighting, something with function but yet stylish. Visiting our booth you will see the latest designed LED decorative fittings from Spain, natural earthy lighting from Spain, and some great murano glass pieces from Italy.”

View the ClassicLite collection on stand AC15 during Decoration + Design co-located with Furnitex from 18-21 July at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

For more information visit, decorationdesign.com.au

To register, visit tradeevent.com.au

Since they dropped on the scene 2 years ago, designer duo and best friends Lauren Bennett and Genevieve Fennel have quickly won over the hearts of the interiors community with their eclectic range of high end, handmade textiles and soft furnishings.

The Walter-G textiles are lovingly designed and made in both India and Australia. Working with the skilled hand dyers, block printers and weavers of India, Walter G aims to foster a movement that reintroduces colour and pattern to western consumers by using everyday objects as a conduit.

The girls took time from their international schedule to chat with Decoration + Design blog.

How did it all start? Tell us the history of your brand?

Genevieve was born in Sydney and grew up next door to the zoo! Her mother was a textile designer and she grew up being surrounded by beautiful patterns, textiles, paints, curios and colours. Genevieve’s mother really fostered within her a deep love for all these things from an early age. I (Lauren) was born in Sydney and grew up in the beautiful salty shores of Avalon beach.

With my father an architect, mother a woman of many trades and a brother who is an artist/film producer, I grew up being surrounded by an innate appreciation for design, paint, colour and all things visual. Being constantly surrounded by the sea, sun and the naturally weathered landscapes created my style and approach to design.

Even from an early age we had both had a love (or obsession one could say) for all things textile. Every year we would work three of more jobs to save our pennies for a yearly trip to somewhere steeped with culture, tradition and of course home to beautiful crafts. First was Vietnam followed by South America, China and then India. After all these wonderful adventures and rooms that were bursting at the hinges, we thought it was a little greedy not to share these special treasures with the rest of the world.

Within a year of each other we both experienced the sad passing of our grandfathers and both inherited a small sum of money. We decided to invest this into something we truly believed in and something that would make them proud as punch. Hence the name is a tribute to these two wonderful men – ‘Walter’ and ‘George’.

What’s the best part about working in the interiors/furniture/design industry?

We are a niche producer of beautifully hand printed and dyed fabrics. Each piece is a little different and keeps us out of the mass-produced market! Fabric is our core product, however, we also have fun converting this fabric into cushions, ottomans, lampshades, chairs and much more!

What inspires you? How does this influence the design?

The adventure. Textiles take you to the four corners of the earth and beyond, to long forgotten times. Each different technique and piece tells a different story. It is much like reading a great book, you cant put it down, and you never know what adventure awaits you on the next page.

We design all the fabrics together and collaborate closely with the artisans, drawing on their intimate knowledge of the traditional printing processes. We take inspiration from antique wood blocks, Indian and Australian landscapes and ways of life, our travels and our dreams, to come up with Walter G’s patterns and colours.

We are not predictors of trends… at the heart of Walter G is just two friends conjuring up mad patterns and wild colours and creating fabrics that make us smile – I guess being on trend is down to luck and timing.

What kind of materials do you source for your product range? Why?

All our fabrics are printed in a town called Sanganer, which is just outside Jaipur, Rajasthan. This is pretty much the block printing hub of India. The majority of our designs are mud printed using natural dyes. Basically mud printing involves mixing a mud paste and then printing with it using wooden hand blocks. After this, wood chip is sprinkled all over the the fabric and dried in the sun.

From here the fabric is dipped into a big 10 foot indigo dye vat and again dried in the sun. This process can be repeated a number of times depending on how many tones of colour you want. The mud acts as a resist, so wherever you see white in the print is where the mud had been printed. Mud and natural dye are a match made in heaven.

Our wild lamp bases are all hand picked by us in Jodphur, Rajasthan. They are vintage Indian army canisters, tea urns and wattle vessels. We team these with some even wilder vintage turban shades. This is one of our guiltiest pleasures! Trawling through an abundance of Aladdin’s caves to find the pinkest, brightest turban really gets our hearts racing.

Are you working on any special projects/ranges/collections at the moment?

Always! We recently spent a month in India sampling our new fabric range and fossicking through an abundance of Aladdin’s caves searching for some wild and whacky new bespoke pieces. The new range is currently floating on the Indian Ocean and will arrive just in time for Decoration + Design!

You are about to showcase at Decoration + Design Melbourne, why did you choose this event? What can we expect to see when visiting your stand?

Melbourne’s good food and wine of course! Well apart from that, the Melbourne design scene seems to love our weird and wonderful creations. It is also a really great platform to chat to other people within the industry and broaden our creative circles.

Melbourne can expect a big burst of colour this year from Walter G with our new block printed linen range being launched there, along with some quirky new lamps and some seriously yummy stools upholstered in Walter G’s infamous indigo and hand sourced vintage pieces.

View the Walter G range on stand AE39 during Decoration + Design, co-located with Furnitex, from 18-21 July at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.

For more information, visit decorationdesign.com.au

To register, visit tradeevent.com.au

For over 20 years, Xavier Furniture has supplied Australia’s decorators and designers with their French style, antique reproduction and modern furniture with a traditional twist.

Proudly Australian owned and founded by Wendy Neilson in 2004, Xavier Furniture was initially established to provide the Queensland interior design market with unique and exclusive quality pieces. However, as word spread, they quickly became highly sought after and coveted by designers, decorators and clients nationwide.

The Brisbane-based company now proudly offers state of the art quality bedroom, dining room, living room, study and occasional furniture, such as hall tables and wine tables both formal and casual.

Xavier Furniture were a popular feature of Decoration + Design Sydney, co-located with the Australian International Furniture Fair. We loved their modern elegance with a traditional twist, see our previous article HERE.

Now they return to the D+D fold with their new collection at the Melbourne trade event from 18-21 July, co-located with Furnitex.

Read our interview with the Xavier Furniture team at Furniture Online, visit furniturefaironline.com.au

Respected international trend forecaster and life style consultant, Milou Ket has launched her new website, Ket Styling & Design.

Drawing on her 40 years in the field of fashion, design and innovation working with customers such as Samsung, Walt Disney, Ikea, Marimekko, Volvo and Swarovski, the new site is a visual feast with corresponding intelligent analysis for the discerning design devotee.

Be inspired by various categories such as architecture, design, innovation, textiles/surfaces, colours, fashion, interiors, window displays and video’s.

“As an international speaker I travel the world and report from my trips and from international trade fairs and design events,” says Milou. “It (website) will be a work in progress, with regular new additions on the latest trends.”

Some of Milou’s products, lectures and presentations will also be available via the new site.

Decoration + Design blog readers can take advantage of a 2-month free trial subscription, visit: milouket.tv

Given Milou’s recent schedule that takes her from the Asian Luxury Hospitality Projects in Singapore to Surtex in New York and the Evteks in Istanbul next month, her website is sure to be brimming with international reports.

We caught up with Milou en route to Milan Design Week to chat career highlights, design trends and the importance/relevance of trends today.

Head to Furniture Online to read our exclusive interview, visit furniturefaironline.com.au