Design Skool

This is going to be a new feature, okay?
Together we are going to get skooled in the world of design.

Mostly I want us all to get to know lesser-known designs and designers from the Mid-Century era because they are WAY more exciting than the over-exposed normal stuff (tomorrow, Charlotte Perriand...doesn't ring a bell, does it? It should, it will, and you will die, but don't skip ahead!)

But today, let's go to Australia. Australians are crazy drunken koala lovers. All of them. No but really, as a whole Australians don't seem to be big rule-followers. So, Australian design seems very fresh to me.

Let's look at this pretty great example of ethnic-modern by Thomas Hamel, koala-hugging Aussie dude extraordinaire.

kuba cloth pillows + sofa of your dreams + sexy graphic ethnic rug =



candy-colored leather + every house needs a Persian rug =



super-classical ebonized klismos chairs + fretwork screens + lean/modern chandeliers=



built-in sectional that goes on for days, oh my gosh I would never leave =



What makes this modern, despite lots of antique and classical pieces?

Chalky-white walls

Bleached and pickled woods

Heaps of natural fibers (that's fibres to you Aussies)

No heavy/dark/ornate fixtures or old-people art (you know, gold framed portraits etc.)

Good job, Thomas Hamel. You have the Modernhaus seal of approval. The apex of your career, I'm sure!

Read more about talented Aussie dude here.

p.s., Thom (can I call you that?) ummm can we re-think the shell mirror though? I mean, I know the house is in Florida and you're referencing the ocean thing and all, but I'd almost rather see something cheeky like a giant plastic Marlin hanging there. Every house needs something sort of out of place to throw things off a bit, yeah?