When a Pinterest image leads to you to discover a new furniture brand

You can discover the most wonderful things on Pinterest – you can just be scrolling aimlessly through a rabbit warren of inspiration and then discover a piece of furniture, something for the home or something to wear that you would never have discovered otherwise. Like last week, when I spotted the perfect grey armchair of my dreams (below). Simple and minimal in profile, with a wooden frame and leather straps to hold the seat cushions in place, it looked Scandinavian, perhaps it was by Skagerak or another similarly stylish Danish brand I thought?

After a bit of research, which took me from Pinterest to a blog post, through Instagram and then to the designer’s website, it turned out the chair wasn’t Scandinavian at all, but conceived by emerging young Australian industrial designer Tom Skeehan, of Skeehan Studio for Australian company Stylecraft. Not a huge amount of Australian design filters across to this side of the globe – I discovered another Tom, Tom Fereday and his work for SP01 at Stockholm Furniture & Light Fair, but I wouldn’t be able to recall many other names. So it was with great pleasure that I discovered another design scene with the same philosophy to the Scandi design I admire so much.

When you think about it there are plenty of similarities between Australian design and Scandinavian design – both have an appreciation for nature and the outdoors, for natural, tactile materials and craftsmanship. Tom Skeehan draws influences from Japanese culture and design, which again ties with the Scandi mentality – designs from both corners of the world share a sense of harmony and knowledge that there’s beauty in the functional.

The Hoshi collection is Skeehan’s first for Stylecraft. Skeehan Studio, established in 2011 and based in Canberra, specialises in commercial furniture, lighting and product design for the home made by local manufacturers. The studio takes a ‘material driven approach’ that considers the long term lived experience of the product and its environment. Skeehan Studio seeks to find ‘inspiration around the notions of perception, connection and the value of “playing” in the production of design for manufacture’.

The Hoshi collection comprises an armchair, lounge sofa, bench, ottoman, coffee table, side table and coat stand. They all share a simple, minimal expression, with a smooth, tubular profile to the wooden frame.

The range comes in light American Ash wood or a more striking Japanese black and also walnut option.

The lounge sofa and armchair feature a beautiful natural leather strap detail that connects the upholstered cushion pads to the wooden frame. The armchair appears lightweight and fine, but comfortable and welcoming too. It has an honesty and sense of refinement to it that I like. There’s no superfluous details or unnecessary finishes – the Hoshi collection is beautiful in its simplicity. Now I’ve just got to work out if it’s available in the UK!

All images courtesy Stylecraft unless otherwise specified