Spend any time on social media, and you’ll come across campaigns to Buy Local, Buy from the Bush and Shop Small. These aren’t just campaigns to us; rather they’re our long-held philosophy as Australian interior designers. We believe that one of the keys to our clients’ happiness with their spaces is the relationships we’ve nurtured over the decades with our local manufacturers.
There are many benefits to working with a local maker. Obviously, there’s an economic impact of spending within a community. The money you invest in your pieces stays local, supporting jobs, families and the broader community. The environmental impact, often overlooked, is also significantly less when a piece is built locally, however, one of the greatest benefits we see is the incomparable quality. We have clients who have inherited their grandmother’s living room furniture, sometimes many, many decades old- the record is 46 years. While the material and colour choices may have not stood the test of time (hello, green paisley!) the actual construction is as sturdy as the day it left the Glen Iris factory floor. While that specific maker now has their construction housed overseas (not naming names), the makers we collaborate with construct to Australian standards for safety and quality, widely recognised as being some of the stringent in the world.
We’re not saying that there’s no place for the impersonal, big box interior retailers. However, if you’d like something for your home that is bespoke or unique, then a local maker is definitely the way to go. We worked with a client recently who had an awkward, unusual space in their home. She had collected images from interiors magazines from across the world, and I immediately had in mind one of our local makers who could bring the vision to life. The maker and I met on site, and within 5 weeks the client had delivery of a beautiful, bespoke kidney shaped sofa. It was made in Melbourne, with impeccable quality and finishing. Price-wise, it actually came out as much cheaper than what a high-end retailer would have charged for a similar piece, without the potential for customisation beyond limited colour and fabric choices.
You can wander in to any big box retailer and quickly select your furniture for your space, but it’s not possible to do the same with a local manufacturer. We don’t think that lack of access is a negative- rather, it means you can enlist the practical support and expertise of your interior designer. We have connections across Australian manufacturers and can cherry pick the most appropriate for your project. We can take you to meet with them if required, and we can translate your hopes, dreams and preferences for a piece into full specifications. We can, almost always, get a much quicker turn around for you as well. Who needs to wait 14 weeks for a sofa from the retailers?
