Today I’m pleased to introduce Jelle and Helen, the married couple behind Joug Design. After Jelle spent a year buying coffee from Helen (he worked across the street from where worked), she asked him out on a date. Fast forward five years and they have a baby named Hendrik and are partners in a creative business. Though their studio is out of a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, where “even though the city is only a few miles away” they have “native New Zealand bush and sea views from our home and office/ studio.” The beauty of the surrounding landscape is a constant source of inspiration.

Some of their designs photographed in what looks like a FABULOUS shop.

Hmm, good question. It usually takes a customer who wants something new and they want it in a ridiculous time frame to make us super creative. To be really creative we need to be relaxed and this usually happens while we are on holiday or away on a weekend break (and away from the office). So when we are stuck, we take a break from making the shades and go away somewhere where we can relax. It also helps to constantly think about how you want to create it. We think a lot and then create it once and that’s it for a product. We still have it in our memory and sometimes come up with improvements. I guess we do not like making prototypes and get bogged down by details that we can’t solve in our head before an actual product is made.  I surf a lot and that’s my time to think.

More of their shades in another shop

Any advice for those who are working from home on how to create a space where they can be creative and productive?

You have to have a space set aside in your home that is solely dedicated to what you want to do.  For us it needs to be a clean and an orderly space to be beneficial to being creative and productive. It is also sunny and open so that we can see outside and enjoy the scenery. It is only used to work in and being able to shut the door is important to us so that you do not quickly pop in there at some crazy hour to quickly do a few things.

Jelle and Helen’s Home Studio Space

Do you and Helen still make every piece by hand? That’s so amazing to me! Yes we do. We have three part-time employees who work depending on how busy we are. They are all at university so it fits in with their schedule too. The Frangipani still takes a couple of hours to assemble and we are getting pretty quick at it now. It’s all hand made!

Their son Hendrik gets in on the Frangipani action!

Any advice for other creatives who are looking to quit their day jobs and sell their creations full time?

I used to work for a patent attorney firm. My very first client whom I had brought in for the company asked me much later if I liked working in a job. I hesitated at first, but then told him I’d rather do something that I love doing. He became a good sounding board to ask questions about running a business. Having this really helped me. I think that if you love to do something it no longer becomes “work”. You jump out of bed to get cracking for the day and easily work till 10pm. I would add that having a business plan, selling skills, somebody to ask questions and to have determination are fundamentals to succeeding.  Finding out if there is a market for your product is also essential.  We only ask questions to people who have an answer through experience.

On to specifics: The Frangipani Shade! How did you come up with this idea?

We design a lot of products by taking known elements in nature and math and combine them to form a completely new product.
The original concept was created while sitting around a table with some friends and doodling on a piece of paper thinking how I could design a globe light shade and incorporate a flower pattern into the design.

Here’s a closer look at the Frangipani’s weave. Jelle says “ The elements of the interlocking surface are made from polypropylene plastic.  Where possible we use recycled white polypropylene.  The polypropylene can be cleaned with hot water and soap or if you have stubborn dirt, with a biodegradable cleaner.”

Jelle and Helen enjoy the fruits of their hard work, including this lovely glow:

Thanks so much to Jelle and Helen for taking the time to share their process with us. Doesn’t it make you want a Frangipani Shade?

I have lost track of how many reality shows Sharon Osbourne has been on, but I know the first was MTV Cribs, and that spawned the highly entertaining reality show The Osbournes, which changed reality television as we know it. It launched a jillion  celebrity reality shows where has-beens try to jump start their careers by airing their dirty laundry, or checking into rehab, or both. What followed were  a bunch of  shows about wanna-be celebs with serious addictions to hair extensions, botox and filler let people shoot them in the bathtub with their partners just to try and vie for some housewife air time, and lord knows the list goes on.

Frankly, no one has ever topped The Osbournes, and no design show has ever entertained me as much as Flipping Out, but for the love of all that is Oly, I like to watch high end design shows so much more than I like to watch  a bunch of tacky D.I.Y. kountry krafty krap that seems to have taken over the airwaves. Let’s see some real designers, the kind with degrees, experience, and mind-blowing portfolios. Let’s see some that have celebrity clients and no budget. It’s television. It’s fantasy.  Before you say anything, I don’t care that we’re all on IKEA budgets and one light fixture on one of these shows costs more than our yearly mortgage payments or a college education; it’s fun to watch dammit! Million Dollar Decorators premieres tonight at 10:00 EST  on Bravo and I cannot wait to see craziness ensue, or the overexposed Sharon Osbourne. Her houses usually look pretty cool, devil heads and all.  It looks like this show could produce some new entertaining guests for Andy Cohen’s show as well. Mazel!

Ever since I visited the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, I’ve had my eyes open for rope used in design, and someone just forwarded me Morgan from The Brick House’s latest project. Check out the idea she came up with for defining spaces here:

To see more spectacular images of this, check out her full post over on The Brick House. WARNING: If for some strange reason you’ve never visited The Brick House, you should know, you’ll be sucked in for hours; it’s a stunning blog, and it’s a design blog where I actually want to read every word and not just peruse all of the gorgeous pictures.

Here are a few of the ways the Ace used rope in its lobby and restaurant, The King’s Highway (best breakfast EVER):

Hey Design Public Peeps, we hope you have a fantastic long weekend. Take some time to think about what Memorial Day is all about, but let yourself enjoy a bit of a break as well. This picture I snapped in Savannah sums up what I’m looking forward to. Cheers!

Today all of our pictures come from Flickr member ardelclaveria, who is currently in Manila. Isn’t it great to be able to look through so many photos from all over the world on Flickr? It still blows my mind. Just a teeny tiny little thumbnail of this image jumped out of our Fresh New Spaces pool and bowled me over:

This is such a great way to make the most of a small dining area. The bench keeps the view open, the banquette hugs the wall, and the shapes of the furniture  and the fabrics are gorgeous choices.

A clear coffee table adds visual space, the tablescapes are brilliant, and the shaggy rug defines the sitting/lounging area. Note the way the bench straddles the two spaces and can be used in either area for seating.

Finally, I just really love ardel claveria’s photography skills. Taking interior shots that look this beautiful takes so much skill and talent. Thanks so much for adding them to our group!

All photos from Flickr member ardelclaveria.