Reception desk by Steve McIlveen for my recent office design project at Good Energy in Wiltshire
For a small island, Britain certainly has a lot of talent. I’ve been following the handmade trend for several years now and it’s been a real pleasure to see local designers and craftspeople make their mark in a mass-produced world. There’s a lot to love about handmade; from the quality of each carefully crafted item, to the originality of designs and the eco-factor of shopping locally. The handmade trend is honest, nostalgic and somewhat romantic; it harks back to a simpler time when quality was more important than quantity and traditional skills were highly valued.
Modern interior design is really benefiting from the handmade movement with world-class designers creating beautiful bespoke items for the home.
Handcrafted Furniture
Machines just can’t compete with the precision and skill of a trained carpenter. A few of my favourite British furniture makers are Pinch, Benchmark and locally, Steven McIlveen, a skilled cabinet maker based in Somerset who’s worked on a number of projects with me.
Pinch was founded in 2004 by a husband and wife team whose sole aim was to create pieces they would want to own. Their designs are simple, modern and in touch with their surroundings.
Benchmark is a much larger and older firm, founded in 1983 with a team of 70 designers and craftsmen. Benchmark’s furniture shares a similar simplicity and honesty; their pieces are effortlessly cool and stylish.
Textiles and Wall Coverings
Of course, modern interior design is much more than just furniture. If you’ve fallen for the handmade trend you’ll want to fill your entire space with handcrafted items. For beautiful Welsh woven textiles, I love Melin Tregwynt. They have been making blankets, throws and cushions by hand for more than a hundred years, so they really know their stuff.
Marthe Armitage’s handmade wallpaper is simply wonderful. She lino-prints and cuts her intricate designs by hand and has been doing so since the 1960s.
A world-renowned San-Franciscan textile and knitwear designer whose work never fails to be quirky and fun is Kaffe Fasset. You can see his work currently in the colourful and eye-catching exhibition at the American Museum in Bath. I’d certainly recommend a visit! There are hundreds of talented makers in the UK and it would be impossible to list them all here, so for more inspiration follow my Pinterest board dedicated to handcrafted modern interior design.
