Spring has officially sprung, in the interiors world this means a launch of new collections that are presented at London Design Week at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour. The domes were equipped with a fresh green palette and beautiful blooms.
The central dome was brought to life with a gigantic blossom tree and striking giraffe sculpted out of flowers.
I was invited to Porta Romana for a breakfast workshop and to explore the new collection – Enchanted Forest.
We were treated to delicious pastries before watching a demonstration of how one of the new collection pieces was made.
The concept began when Sarah the creative director for Porta Romana met with Tord Boontje at the Chelsea Flower Show. The idea behind the collection was inspired by a fairytale approach, combining nature, wondrous patterns, creating depth with shadows and whimsical pieces of furniture.
‘As if under a spell the trees that come out of the ground, do so as twisted chairs. Parts of trunks and their branches form themselves into magical trunks and their branches form magical tables. Mushrooms from the forest floor dance around mirrors. Water from the stream pours and hardens into glass – sometimes spikey and sometimes fixed with ripples, as though it were still flowing. When ivy grows in the forest it creates tangled shapes of a chandelier or cascades like a hanging sculpture. Pine cones swell into husks for lamps.’
We learnt the process behind hand finishing the mushroom mirror. A mixture of finishes was applied to the surface; building up layers develops the finish.
The gold leaf foiling was applied, dabbed on with a paintbrush, and sealed to create the finish to the mirror.
The depth and patina is carefully applied, the process is time consuming and intricately formed hand made with the highest quality finish.
Even a standard finish requires 8-10 layers and is rich in character, creating a long lasting and interesting finish.
All the products are made in England with specialist crafters that collaborate with the owners of Porta Romana to produce the beautiful pieces.
It was incredible to see the level of work involved in applying the finish, and great to see how the finished piece was created.
After the workshop we went to check out the showroom displays, Zimmer and Rohde represented a fun fabric display with a quirky bicycle floating in the air.
Green was a keen colour for this season and could be spotted in most window displays.
Romo, kept it bright with pops of colour and watercolour fabrics.
The colour concept continued with a cool laser cut stand, that looked great against the lovely blossoms.
Turnell and Gigon boosted bright patterns and fresh spring tones.
Fifty shades of cosmo colours, created a lively wheel of fabrics.
Lastly, I admired the glass piano that was surrounded with delicate fabrics from the new collections from a mixture of showrooms.
