Investing In Design

Last week I was absolutely delighted to open a delivery of two pieces commissioned from young furniture designer, Matt Robinson. I had seen his creation of a revolving vanity mirror which would be absolutely perfect for our cottages. His original piece was finished just with a danish oil, looks fabulous and is wonderfully contemporary; our holiday cottages are a rich and stylish mix of contemporary and modern but still maintaining strong connections with nature and the countryside so, following a conversation with Matt, he used our very own beeswax to finish the items and bring a warm honey oak look to the new revolving vanity mirrors.

I love the combination of shapes and planes on these products with their gorgeous curves, beautiful lines and a bold, decent sized rectangular mirror which is just perfect for what we need. The stylish design incorporates various shelves, pegs for hanging jewellery and plenty of space for bottles and the bits and pieces of toiletries and make up you bring on holiday. The beeswax was produced here in Gartocharn by our fabulous honey bees; we've got 6 hives in total, all in pretty good health so far through this winter which is always a great feeling. Its nice to incorporate this local and personal element into the new mirrors.

Here's a few words from the designer, you can also follow his work via Instagram mattrobo

"I see myself as a designer interested in all areas of design, gaining knowledge to create future work. I am interested in using locally produced materials and components which will benefit the people I work with (eg by using beeswax from your own hives) as well as the ultimate consumer of my work (your holiday cottage guests). Overall, this should create a more sustainable design system and provide an authentic story to my work. I see myself as an up and coming designer within London where I currently study, using my background of growing up in the Lake District, working in forestry and within a strong community; just showing how my life experiences so far reflects in the body of work I produce.

From September 2019 I shall be living and working in Barcelona for a year and this will mean my creative and manufacturing skills will continue to grow and develop at a high level in order for my design process, and final product, to be immensely relevant, not just for commercial reasons but also for benefiting the community and consumers. Producing more work in the year ahead, will add to a collective body going forward for my final major degree project as well as what I do after graduating. The future is exciting."

Here's how Matt Robinson produced these fab pieces .