STORE PROFILE
HEATHERLY DESIGNS Grace your bedroom with these stylish upholstered bedheads. Georgie Leckey chats with us about the creation of Heatherly Designs Tell us a bit about Heatherly Designs? Heatherly Design offers custom made upholstered bedheads, beds, footstools and shoeboxes via our website and showroom on site at our workshop at Knoxfield. Tell us about yourself and your background? My mother always had the sewing machine on the dining table when I was a child. She was always sewing us clothes and I was always there by her side. I went on to do a Textile Merchandising course at RMIT and then started in the buying dept at Laura Ashley. From there, Georges of Collins St decorating dept was calling where I immersed myself in beautiful fabrics. Following this, my dream position came up at Wardlaw fabric house where I had the opportunity to work every day with fabric designers such as Designers Guild, Nina Campbell, Osborne and Little and Liberty. It was during this period I met a handsome farmer on a plane coming back from England
who I was later to marry and move to the country. What sparked you to create your business? With young children at my feet, I was desperate to get back into playing with fabrics. I had made upholstered bedheads for our home and friends from mothers group admired them and asked if I could make something similar for their own bedrooms. The staple gun was getting a good work out, my girlfriends were thrilled with the results and it planted the seed to launch a simple website with a few bedhead designs and fabrics to choose from. What processes are involved in creating your pieces? These days all our designs are made in our workshop in Melbourne by a team of upholsterers who have over 100 years experience in upholstery amongst them.... yes I am in good hands! Inspiration for our designs comes from many different avenues,
in particular our clients inspire us with their requests. With 24 designs now, we think we have all options covered but we always find we are custom making or “tweaking” existing designs often which is all positive as that is the beauty of offering a bespoke service. What do you love the most about having your own label? That we never have to say no to a client, that as the director of the brand, we can always push the boundaries in meeting crazy deadlines. Who are some of your favourite designers? Kit Kemp, Abigail Ahern and Tricia Guild. All of these designers are passionate about layering textures and pattern to create their signature styles. Kit Kemp once said “The most welcoming rooms are always those in which you can see and feel the character of the person who lives there.” Couldn’t agree with her more! continued on next page >