Bringing nature into the home
Words: Tous Mag editor | Image Credits: © Wondrwood |
Tous Mag met Wondrwood - Design and Eco-Conscious Wooden Kitchenware & Home Decor - to discuss the important topic of all things sustainability and conscious interiors. Read the full interview, below!
Tous Mag: For those that don’t know you, could you tell us a bit about Wondrwood?
Wondrwood: Wondrwood itself was born in late 2018 and the website officially launched on 14th feb 2019. The idea behind it stems from a concept/fantasy of entire urban areas that would be plant and nature infused... there would be vertical jungles climbing up buildings, grass-covered footpaths and recreation parks would be hard to distinguish from central business districts. Of course, at present, this is a bit of an idealistic, or aspirational, end-goal.
Wondrwood, for now, is intended to be a step in this direction - beginning in the place we all consider most important, our homes. Too much of modernity is in artificial environments, or surrounded by synthetic, cold materials. It's unnatural and has a real effect on our wellbeing. Changing up your living spaces to include some Biophilic Design can make a very big impact on our lives, there are a lot of credible studies to back this up. Now, everyone wants a cabin in the woods but, unfortunately, most of us cannot have one. However, just because you can't bring your home out to nature doesn’t mean you can’t bring nature into your home. That's where Wondrwood comes in. There's a shift happening in the world around us, many of us are steering back to a slightly more simplistic lifestyle and including more raw, natural materials and influences in our home and work interiors. We are here to help make that happen!
Tous Mag: How would you describe the pieces you create and is there a message that ties them all together?
Wondrwood: Our current collection is a carefully curated range of pieces made by craftspeople who we work very closely with. The central elements tying all of our products together are: practicality, beautiful design, and paying homage to nature.
We look for a minimalist elegance, while still maintaining that natural feel and all the benefits that come with it. In short, a natural, beautiful and useful design. We like things that serve many purposes and satisfy many senses, which is why it's important that we keep the highest standards to ensure all the right boxes are ticked when selecting our products.
Throughout 2020, we will be adding more to our collection, then towards the second half of the year, we will begin launching a range of products that are designed and made entirely in-house, which we're very excited about. Our in-house collection is going to branch out into different areas of the home, including lighting, shelving and houseplant accessories.
Tous Mag: That’s very exciting. So, what defines your inspiration?
Wondrwood: I would be a fool to ignore that a large part of our inspiration comes from the Scandi-boho lifestyle and way of decorating. There is also inspiration taken from modern coffee bar decor and hints of Asian minimalism. All are very stylish and visually pleasing, without being over-the-top or stagnant, which makes for the perfect living environment. With our own in-house collection coming towards the second half of 2020 - I can't reveal too much yet - you’ll see that there is definitely an influence derived from patterns that occur in nature, particularly geometric shapes and the fibonacci sequence. What I’m most excited about, which is planned to launch towards the end of the year, is a range of lighting that will be partially influenced by modern architecture and incorporate biomimicry.
Tous Mag: We’re looking forward to seeing the new range already. So, tell us, is there an overall ethos to Wondrwood, that you’d like our readers to be aware of?
Wondrwood: In a nutshell, the overall ethos is to bring more nature into the modern lives of everyone. We also want to challenge the conventions of design and continue to steer towards a more sustainable future for everybody. I've always been fascinated with bio-architecture and biomimicry - where observing and imitating things in the natural world is used to solve problems in the 'human world'.
A driving force of Wondrwood comes from a core belief that having more nature and elements of natural design around us everyday can and will alleviate a lot of issues - from the individuals’ wellbeing level, all the way to the macro-societal-environmental level.
Tous Mag: That’s a strong message, something we hope everyone will be considerate of. Lastly, what's your favourite element of the process of making?
Wondrwood: I love the fact that you can take different elements, both in the sense of materials used and inspiration, from a variety of different places in the world around you and make them into a unique, new object. What's more is that you might not always associate the source of inspiration and/or materials with one-another. The new object, which is entirely different, still has elements of the original sources so it adds something to each part of the process.
An example of this could be if you arranged triangles made of copper piping, to form a spiralling structure, which might end up mirroring a seashell, for example. There's also something incredibly satisfying about immersing yourself in an activity - which only begins as an idea - and through your work, materialises before your eyes. Then, when the appreciation is shared by others it's another level of satisfaction!
www.wondrwood.com
Instagram: @wondrwood