Meet the Australian design brands bringing a sunny sensibility to British homes

Perhaps it is the result of living in such bright, endless sunshine, being close to the ocean and surrounded by some of the world’s most magical flora and fauna, that makes Australian design so uplifting. Or maybe it’s the laid-back, ‘you’ll be right, mate’ attitude that often makes the impossible seem entirely plausible.

Either way, there is a fresh, pared-back vibe to the country’s design output that makes it work for and bring joy to all manner of different spaces. Here, we take an up-close look at the leading Aussie brands currently taking British homes by storm.

Dinosaur Designs

Husband-and-wife founders Louise Olsen and Stephen Ormandy (below) started Dinosaur Designs in 1985 – crafting jewellery, first out of polymer modelling clay and then painted resin – during their final year of art school, with fellow student Liane Rossler, as a means for supporting their painting.

‘There’s been such an evolution of ideas in understanding, creating and making with the materials we work with since we began 38 years ago,’ says Olsen. ‘Each piece is handmade in our Sydney studio and we still relish the juxtaposition of modern materials like resin and the effecting touch of the human hand – it gives each piece a warmth and tactility.’ Bracelets, necklaces and earrings were soon joined by homewares, from jugs and platters to vases and serving spoons, all in the brand’s distinctively vivid chromatic palette – from turquoise, cobalt and sea blues, hot and blush pinks and sandy white, to rainforest green, sunset orange and outback russet – that is inspired by the colours of Australia’s oceans, flowers, foliage and wildlife and, adds Olsen, ‘hopefully carries a life force that embodies the place we come from and love’.

The new ‘Paradise’ collection (pictured top) is a case in point, reimagining the shape of a frangipani flower into a bowl and cups, and the forms of sea-worn rocks and bent branches into vases. Gauguin’s painterly gardens and Miro’s birds are other references, but realised in electric shades such as ‘Flamingo’ and ‘Lychee’. Then there’s Olsen’s ‘LO’ series of brass objets, including the sensuously curved ‘Bean’ vase and the witty ‘Cone Shell’ jar.

In the past decade, both Ormandy and Olsen (the daughter of the late John Olsen, one of Australia’s most respected and acclaimed modern artists) have also become hugely successful exhibiting artists, but Dinosaur Designs continues to be their driving force. ‘We love the creative journey of Dinosaur Designs and our art practice informs our work,’ says Olsen, who sees her making process as closer to sculpture than design. ‘Living by the beach, Steve’s passion for surfing and being immersed in sunshine and nature have infused a sense of light and colour into our subconscious that is uniquely Australian.’ dinosaurdesigns.co.uk

Mud Australia

‘At the beginning, it was about creating pieces that were functional as well as aesthetically pleasing,’ says Shelley Simpson, of founding her Sydney-based ceramics company Mud Australia in 1994. What started as Simpson’s natural but untrained flair for crafting chic, clean-lined and long-wearing porcelain vessels on a pottery wheel has since become a booming global business, selling slip-cast and hand-finished tableware and home accessories (such as door numbers and scented candles) in a rainbow array of matt and glazed colours, across standalone stores in Australia, London, New York and LA. Fans include chefs Neil Perry and David Chang, Nigella Lawson and Gwyneth Paltrow.

The durability of Mud’s pieces owes much to Simpson’s technique of adding pigment to the base clay before firing, so that the colour goes all the way through it, and to the toughness of the porcelain which is microwave, oven and dishwasher-safe. Available in 19 different shades, from the vibrancy of sunshine yellow, wasabi green and inky cobalt to dusty slate grey, blossom pink and creamy milk, Mud’s collections are intended to be mixed and matched to create different moods, and are never seasonal.

‘I want people to build their collections over time, so they can always come back to find the exact same colour palette or style,’ says Simpson. ‘I like to think of our pieces as timeless – one of our bowls isn’t just to house a salad, but something to be cherished and passed on to the next generation.’

Mud Australia’s new range, a lighting collection that further pushes at the possibilities of porcelain, includes the ‘Flared’ table lamp (crafted from three porcelain pieces), the pivoting ‘Flared’ floor lamp and an LED ‘Pop’ lamp, all made in collaboration with the young Sydney-based industrial designer Zachary Hanna.

In other recent projects, Simpson has worked with indigenous artists of Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands (APY Lands) APY Art Centre Collective in South Australia, and has introduced a generous $10,000 prize to support upcoming Australian ceramicists. ‘Being Australian can provide a general sense of freedom and an ability to break the rules without too much criticism,’ she reflects, but today she is focused on mindful manufacturing, ‘supporting handmade, quality and sustainable design and looking after my team and our collaborators who help bring everything to life’. mudaustralia.com

King Living

Australian furniture brand King Living arrived on UK shores in late 2022, with its first showroom on London’s Tottenham Court Road. It’s a long way from the days when co-founder David King, and his mother Gwen, ‘began making simple foam chairs back in the 1970s, selling them at Paddington markets,’ he says. ‘At the time, my mother was renovating properties and had the idea to create casual furniture that would look minimal and beautiful in the living space and help sell homes. We had no idea it would be life-changing for us both.’

Founded in 1977, King Living has come to epitomise Aussie excellence, combining innovation with the traditional handcrafted methods forged by King’s in-house design team in Sydney. There are pieces for every room in the house, including modular sofas, chairs, tables, beds, desks and lighting. Marked by sleek, modernist, sculptural lines, the brand’s latest ‘Curve’ collection celebrates the seductiveness of 70s-inspired rounded silhouettes and unexpected muted edges with chubby armchairs as well as pebble-shaped sofas and ottomans.

King Living’s furniture is crafted from quality materials such as leather, and bouclé made from renewable and biodegradable Australian wool, as well as suede and linen in moody, earthy, outback-inspired shades of baked clay, eucalyptus and burnt umber. Its frames are crafted in sturdy, galvanised steel (originally inspired by King’s discovery of a steel suspension system used in European cars, guaranteed for 25 years), and every piece benefits from the brand’s signature combination of own-design memory foam and feather overlay that moulds to the body to offer exceptional comfort.

The designs embrace that ‘relaxed Australian love for indoor-outdoor living,’ says King, who has even managed to make the recliner sexy, with discreetly located control buttons – Chandler and Joey would be in heaven. ‘We want our designs to be the backdrop to both daily life and special occasions,’ he adds with characteristic enthusiasm. ‘We hope the experiences you have around our furniture will become some of the greatest moments in your life.’ kingliving.co.uk

Cultiver

Nicolle Sullivan, founder and CEO of Sydney-based linen brand Cultiver, grew up with a love of high-quality textiles and fabrics, having spent a lot of her childhood visiting family in Eastern Europe with her Czech parents who had moved to Australia before Sullivan was born. ‘Exposure to a culture that values handing beautiful textiles down from generation to generation has been an invaluable source of inspiration,’ she says.

She started from her kitchen table in 2012 while on maternity leave and, encouraged by the rise in online shopping, the former banker wanted to ‘offer a new way to shop for the home. A more curated, boutique presentation, with added convenience.’ Buying quality over quantity had always been her mantra, so she brought this ethos to Cultiver, designing bed and table linen, cushions, throws and towels with expert producers in Portugal and China, using the finest European linen flax, 100 per cent mulberry silk and certified organic cotton.

Now sold around the world, you’ll find Cultiver’s cloths on the restaurant tables at Tasmania’s Mona art gallery, and on the beds at Sydney’s Paramount House Hotel and The Dutchess in upstate New York. ‘We continually think about the daily rituals of our customers, and how we can enhance them,’ Sullivan says, such as making the bed with finely woven linen that feels cool and cossetting, wrapping yourself up in a sensually soft, lightweight organic cotton towel after a bath, or laying the dining table for a meal with family or friends using a tablecloth that drapes beautifully to the floor.

‘Mindfulness can have a positive impact in our lives, and I hope our collections can contribute to those little moments of appreciation,’ she adds. Recently, ‘The Stylist’s Collection’, a collaboration with American designer Colin King, launched, featuring heavyweight linen bedcovers, throws and long dress cushions in rich shades such as aubergine and truffle. ‘If you have nice things that don’t feel disposable, or that they’ll be out of fashion in a year, and are produced with care, you enjoy being around them. It’s simple, but it works,’ beams Sullivan. cultivergoods.co.uk

More Aussie-born designers to have on your radar

Looking for extra sunshine in your life? These are the creatives to follow

Peter Mikic
Lauded for his redesign of Langan’s restaurant in Mayfair, the designer has also recently launched a collection of 1960s-inspired trays, lamps and tables with The Lacquer Company. petermikic.com

Studio Peascod
This sought-after glass artist’s work appears in Claridge’s, as well as Skye Gyngell’s Spring restaurant and the new Raffles OWO spa designed by Goddard Littlefair. studiopeascod.com

Brodie Neill
Constantly challenging the possibilities of materials with innovative techniques, furniture designer Neill creates seamless, sculptural and quite frankly extraordinary forms posing as chairs, tables and bookcases. brodieneill.com

Rebecca Körner
The interior designer who brought a poptastic vibe to Tom Aikens’ Muse restaurant in Belgravia. Her curvaceously futuristic furniture designs are also available through The Invisible Collection. @kornerinteriors

Catherine Martin
Widely known as CM, this legendary costume and set builder (and Baz Luhrmann’s other half) now creates furniture, fabrics, wallpapers and glassware – you may have seen her capsule collection with Anthropologie last year. catherinemartindesigns.com

Anna Spiro
Inspired by Queensland’s maritime wonderland, this interior designer’s ‘Island Garden’ mural, originally created for a private home in Brisbane, has now been produced in collaboration with de Gournay. annaspirodesign.com.au