Interview | Paper Plane

If I happened to reside in the gorgeous NZ town of Mount Maunganui I'd be feeling pretty happy right now, thanks to the recent opening of the new design store Paper Plane. Instead I'm a tad envious, especially after looking through photos of the amazing interior and range of products sent to me by co-owner Krista. 

Luckily for us, Krista very kindly agreed to be interviewed along with her husband and business partner Timothy John. In case you missed my last post on the creative couple, Krista is an interior designer and Timothy is a talented NZ furniture designer and creator of the fabulous Sidekick Collection of furniture. In addition to Timothy's own designs, Paper Plane stocks an exciting range of homewares and furniture from NZ and around the world. Hotly anticipated, I'm very excited to be able to share these photos and the story behind the new store with you today.  

Timothy and Krista in their new store, Paper Plane

Gorgeous products on offer. Loving the custom made shelving


Aahh.. so much eyecandy 

Have you always lived at Mount Maunganui? What do you love about living there?

We’re the new kids on the Mount block! We moved here from Whakatane back in May this year and are loving it. Timothy grew up in Whakatane but spent a lot of time in the Mount over the years, camping at the base of the hill, and surfing off Matakana island. I grew up in Vancouver, Canada. A beautiful coastal city but a far cry from the world class subtropic climate and coastline we’re spoiled with here.

The Mount has a great vibe all year round. There’s a fascinating melting pot of travellers, good cafes and a seriously talented group of young local creatives we’re getting to know like the Y.S. Collective, George & Willy, the crew from You Know We Ain’t Limited (who are behind the fashion brands Lower, Five Each, Now & Then etc), Chaos & Harmony and so many more.

Our favourite Mount pastimes definitely revolve around the beach and activities that don’t require shoes. We play in a beach volleyball league most of the year which I’m shamelessly obsessed with and Timothy spends a lot of time on his surfboard.

Can you tell us a bit about your backgrounds and how you came to launch Paper Plane?

I did an Interior Architectural Design degree in Calgary, Canada then worked in the industry for seven years before meeting Timothy while he was peddle biking across the country, training for Ironman. We moved back to NZ and I did a six year detour into Regional Council IT and Civil Defence, oddly enough.

Timothy is a builder by trade, but when we met in 2006 he became interested in furniture design and studied pretty intensively for a couple of years, then launched his first collection at the MOAD exhibition in Auckland. The work was very experimental and art based which was a fun period governed by nothing but imagination.

We’d been toying with the idea of opening a design store for years and in 2012 we decided to actually bring Paper Plane to life. I was ready to get back into the design industry and we’d taken a turn with the Timothy John design brand to a more accessible direction. Paper Plane is a lifestyle choice for us professionally and as a couple. I love business and product sourcing, and Timothy now has a platform and specific target market to design for. When the perfect location on mainstreet Mount Maunganui opened up, we sold our house, packed our bags and moved up the coast without any hesitation.

What can people expect to see on offer at your store, and where are the products sourced from?

Paper Plane is all about thoughtfully curating products with a point of difference but at an accessible price point. That’s a huge challenge in itself, but a welcome one. Rather than clutter and knick-knacks, I appreciate and want to offer practical every day items with a twist. There is a heavy focus on quality materials.

When sourcing, we start in our own backyard, Mount Maunganui, then branch out to the rest of NZ and then globally. I do a little victory dance when finding new independent creatives to work with or when Timothy comes back from the workshop with something spectacular for the store.

Beautifully presented, design goodness at its best

Do you have any favourite products from the store?

Timothy’s top three are the woven Palm Leaf & Leather Bags from France, the Hand Made Slingshots from Fallen Trees in San Francisco and Cork and Ceramic Range from Portugal.

My favourites are the Washable Paper Bags from Tuscany, Timothy’s hand carved solid ash Cutting Boards and the range of beautiful Soft Leather Goods. Oh, and the Sidekick Stools. I better include those, right?

The clear public favourites at this early stage are the Art Prints. NZ artists such as Evie Kemp, Birdinabunnysuit and Endemic World are making a well deserved splash.

Some of the gorgeous leather products on offer. The soft Leather Clutch and Leather Bin are both calling my name

Hand carved Wood Boards, Washable Bags and Slingshots - oh how my boys would love those! The ceramic & cork Tea Pot which also makes a great vase is definitely on my wishlist

The famous Sidekick Collection

Always a winner, Paper Plane has a fantastic range of Art Prints on offer 

How would you describe your personal styles and how does this reflect in the store aesthetic, interiors and fitout?

We both verge on being minimalists but with different flares. Timothy loves extreme contrast and the contradiction of a modern fitout in a raw industrial space. My aesthetic is a little more subtle, with a focus on quality materials and architectural details. We definitely agree that less is more.

If Paper Plane was in the middle of Amsterdam you’d see a much bolder space and product range. Here in Mount Maunganui we have applied the needed restraint to relate to and transport our customers, just the right amount.

What inspires you - other creatives, travel, the web etc?

The vast potential of raw materials, young creatives who love what they do and do it well (like Polka Chocolate growing the roses they put in their bars), the beauty in simplicity, our flawless local beach, and enthusiasm in general.

Retail therapy and chocolate. What more could you ask for? 

Timothy, you've had amazing success with your Sidekick Range of stools and tables. Are there any new designs in the works?

At this stage, all my new work is designed exclusively for Paper Plane. We just launched the Nordic Chair with every single piece being meticulously hand turned. I hand carve our Kitchen Boards and oversized Wall Hooks from solid American ash which is a fun way to offer something a little more personal to the public. We’re also just finalising a table and floor lamp design.


Closeups of the stunning products in store, including Timothy's Nordic Chair and hand crafted Hooks, hand carved Wood Boards and Ash Houses 

Luckily for those outside of Mount Manganui, Paper Plane has a webshop which is now up and running. Yeehaa! You can also follow Paper Plane on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest.

Huge thanks to Krista and Timothy for both the interview and images.

Material Matter | Exhibition at BLOC

Any collaboration involving the talented NZ designer Rebecca Dowie of Douglas and Bec is worth checking out, so when I received an email recently with news of an upcoming exhibition at BLOC that Rebecca was involved in alongside AUT University, I immediately sat up and took note. With the launch date now just around the corner, this is one you must mark on your calendar!

The exhibition, Material Matter, will run from the 18th of July until the 3rd of August, and will showcase the work of AUT University second year product design students. While aiming to "disrupt the traditional uses of natural materials like wood, metal and fibres", to design a functional design product, they were very lucky to be monitored by Rebecca, who says “I encouraged the designers to push their concepts and their materials further and further. Good design is not about complacency or competency. It is about going against the grain, pushing a concept beyond the bounds of reality. The beautiful and deceptively simply pieces in this exhibition are the result of imagination, experimentation and determination.”

Bedside Lighthouse made from cork and wood (tawa) by Tinghui Su

The Globe made from NZ pine and stainless steel by Chels Munro

In an age of mass production, I love how that this exhibition focuses on handmade objects made from natural materials. Looking through the 20 design objects that will be exhibited, it's exciting to get a taste of the up and coming design talent here in NZ. What's wonderful is that this collaboration gives students the chance to put their work into the public eye, in the surrounds of a beautiful local design store.

Nessl: ceramic and hardwood nesting jars by Meliza Deocales

Reflect: cypress macrocarpa play on a mirror by Antonio Wan

Awards for the best overall design, designs with commercial potential and people’s choice design will be announced at the exhibition opening on the 18th of July.

To check out all the designs, and to vote for the people's choice award pop over here. 

Dining Rooms | Bright, White & Green

I've been thinking a lot about the dining area of our new home lately. The pendant lights arrived yesterday which is very exciting, and I've found both the trestle legs and the table top that I want. The chairs will have to wait but our existing ones will work for now, with the help of some sheepskins to warm up the cool steel seats. What I'm really looking forward to however is the surrounding space. The open-plan layout that includes the kitchen and living, the white walls, black joinery of the windows and doors to the adjoining deck, and white ash wood flooring. 

I really love dining spaces that bring in lots of light and greenery from the outdoors. Indoor greenery is wonderful too, and that's one of the key elements of these spaces I'm going to show you. Plants and fresh flowers really brighten up the room, adding texture and life. Regardless of style, be it vintage-industrial, rustic or modern, adding touches of green to bright white interiors is a simple formula that works every time.  

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I hope you've seen something here that inspires. I'm heading off to seek out some cosy sheepskins! See you back here tomorrow. 

Interior Styling | Rustic Doors

Last Friday I wrote about rustic style bathrooms and how I love seeing natural elements such as wood and concrete in all white interiors. Even in small doses these materials have the ability to add so much depth, texture and warmth. Well, recently I've stumbled across some interiors that feature vintage or recycled doors and the effect is striking. I can't seem to get enough of the contrast between the raw timber and pristine white surroundings.

This beautiful minimalist home is a great example...

These connecting rustic timber and glass doors work well in the industrial style kitchen...

This home in Brazil features a lot of raw timber and concrete. The pool house with its rustic doors is spectacular...

These doors have been given a personal touch with geometric designs...

  

And splashes of colour in this hallway of a renovated barn in the Netherlands... 

More fabulous contrasting here with vintage details...

and bright, white Scandinavian interiors...

White shutters look lovely in the bedroom... 

You could also use recycled doors purely as a decorative element, as shown with the shutters (above), or as a bedhead...

A room divider...



Or even just leaned up against the wall...

So there you go. If you're renovating, don't throw away your old doors just yet! Whether you're remodelling the living room, bedroom or any area of your home that has internal doors, they could become a standout feature of your freshly painted white interiors. 

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Interior Styling | Rustic Bathrooms

As we make the final decisions on the bathrooms for our new house, which are very simple and predominantly white, I can't help but be drawn to rustic styled bathrooms whenever I'm on the internet. There's something about the textural surfaces of concrete and wood that really appeal. The grey floor tiles we've chosen look a bit like slate, and I'd quite like to find a vintage wooden stool, but that's about as close as we're getting to rustic. If you're braver than I am and want to give this look a try, here are some inspiring images, starting with something I'm particularly fascinated with right now, concrete basins.

Concrete vanities create a bit a of drama and look especially earthy against white walls and modern ceiling lights.  

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I love the simplicity of raw wood. Thick cut, rough-hewn timber certainly adds plenty of warmth to a bathroom. To me, these bathrooms above work really well in terms of balance. The natural wood contrasts beautifully with the white walls, grey floor tiles and minimalist sinks, tapware and mirrors. I'm also crazy about large, rectangular counter top basins. If they're doubles, even better! 

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Either freestanding or built-in, a rustic wood bench is both stylish and practical.

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Finally, you can not underestimate the power of a simple wooden stool in adding a rustic touch to your bathroom. So easy to come by on auction sites or second-hand stores, a tree stump would also work really well!

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If you'd like to see more rustic style bathrooms, I have pinned loads to my bathroom board. Have a lovely weekend everyone. I'll see you back here on Monday with an exciting giveaway!