Behind the design: Aurélie furniture collection

The inspiration

The Aurélie range was inspired by traditional hand-painting techniques. ‘We wanted to harness this skill and craftsmanship but give it a more contemporary edge with our own in-house pattern and style,’ says Head of Home & Gift Design Kate Butler. Careful consideration was given to the colours used in the collection, too. Traditionally, this type of furniture is very colourful and has an antiqued finish on top, but the design team also chose a white base for some of the pieces for a more contrasting feel.

We wanted to harness this skill and craftsmanship but give it a more contemporary edge with our own in-house pattern and style.

The process

Each piece of the collection takes around two to four days to paint, with the smaller bedside table and dressing tables taking around two days and the larger armoire taking around four. The design is traced onto butter paper, which is then perforated, and chalk powder is used to transfer the design onto the surface of the wood. Once the design outline is transferred to the furniture, the painter then gets to work shading in the details and intricacies.

‘The flower patterns were elements taken from print designed in our in-house studio,’ says Kate, ‘But the beauty in the product comes from the hand-painted application, where the style of the person painting the piece comes through. No two pieces are the same – each furniture item is like a canvas with its own unique stamp.’

Flowers always feature heavily as a key motif in these pieces, but the team wanted to move away from the traditional style to give a more current look. ‘We are so excited and proud to showcase the combination of our skilled suppliers and our in-house design capability,’ says Kate.

No two pieces are the same – each furniture item is like a canvas with its own unique stamp.