A firm believer in investing in quality products that will be cherished forever, interior and product designer Lorena Gaxiola bought her original Zanotta coffee table over 10 years ago. “Despite its age it continues to look impeccable,” explains Lorena. “I love the size, height and Carrara marble top. It is both durable and sleek, my daughter loves to use it as a mini stage!”
Lorena
A place to display her travel treasures, it’s home to an ever-growing collection of design books, healing crystals, a one of a kind sculpture made with Mexican clay and relics that hark back to a transformative experience. “I have a collection of Egyptian memorabilia which inspires me daily,” says Lorena. “I once had a life regression experience that placed me back in the ancient Egyptian era, so the pieces refer to that.” For those unsure, past life regression is a hypnosis technique that help you recover what practitioners believe are memories of past lives or incarnations!
With an opinion that more is less, Lorena isn’t afraid of – as she puts it – ‘overwhelming’ her table. “I love having a lot of objects on my table. I like having items that are stackable like books to add scale, with contrasting organic shapes to add a sense of whimsy.”
Treating her coffee table like a bookshelf, she doesn’t often change the contents: “I might add flowers or crystals but generally I just pile more books onto it.” More than anything the coffee table acts as a place of expression and individuality, which is Lorena’s big tip when styling yours at home. “It doesn’t need to follow any specific rule or decor. It can be a standalone eclectic piece or a very understated piece perfect to display funky objects.”
While born and raised in Mexico, interior and product designer Lorena Gaxiola studied in the US before launching a successful interior design career and eponymous homewares line that is now available in Australia for the first time.
La Loteria dinnerware set
After meeting her Australian husband in an American bar, Lorena and her husband-to-be went on to enjoy a transcontinental courting period. “We met in California in 2006. Back then, my husband was involved in property development with an Australian group. We mastered the art of long distance dating and marriage. We could focus on our businesses when apart and enjoy the dating life when together but after we had a baby it became very hard to manage,” says Lorena who now calls Sydney her permanent home.
‘Soft Rocks’ glasses
Lorena’s US interior design career had enjoyed a swift ascendancy. “In a short five years, I moved up from an entry level intern to senior architectural designer. At 24, I was responsible for nearly 50 homes a year and dozens commercial spaces. After a few clients urged me to breakthrough, I decided to venture on my own and started my first company Kuatro Design,” says Lorena who serviced clients across the US before launching her homewarjes line and moving to Australia.
With an aesthetic that merges old with new – think Mexican folkloric symbols with modern execution and colours – Lorena has found a lot of inspiration in Australia since arriving, influences that can be seen in her latest collection. “I worked with Australian artists and illustrators on my new collection and it was probably one of the most fulfilling experiences of my career. I love how open Australians are to creativity. I love the diversity in this country as to me it feels like living in a utopia. Australia is far more progressive in that regard and decades ahead of the US,” says Lorena who finds parallels with her birthplace.
‘La Mano’ cutlery
“I always say that I was born in a country where rules were made to be broken and that made me a forward thinker, hence the reason why I like to draw outside of the line and think outside of the box. I am very comfortable working with colour and you could say it’s because I grew up in a colourful environment but all of that is unintentional,” says Lorena of her homewares that are stocked in iconic US department stores Bergdorf Goodman, Bloomingdales and Macy’s.
‘La Vida’ dinnerware
“I like to showcase my sense of humour with objects from a Mexican board game called La Loteria (the Lottery) where I bring characters of that game and flip the relation to our human desires. Like La Estrella bowl (The Star) is our need to shine. El Mundo plate (the world) represents our ambition. La Mano cutlery (The Hand) our need to control even what is put in our mouth,” says Lorena of the gorgeous ‘La Loteria’ dinnerware set.
‘El Apache’ bed linen
Of her move to Australia, Lorena is optimistic. “I am excited to see where life takes me creatively. I have no doubt the Australian market will inspire me create more designs, expand on the collection and give them life,” says the designer who will continue her interior projects too. “I am working as a creative consultant in hospitality and high-end residential projects. I am very selective with my interior design work mainly because I am one of those people who likes to keep it real. I like to be very involved and care deeply about each one of my clients and my projects. I would like to continue designing interiors for people who get the inspiration behind my creativity but have no intention of running a design machine like I did in the USA,” says Lorena.
Interior designer Lorena Gaxiola shares 5 cost-effective tips to refresh your home this New Year, from painting a blackboard wall to incorporating the colour green.
Interior designer Lorena Gaxiola
“Our home is the perfect place to start when it comes to kicking off a successful new year. It’s our bedrock, our retreat and for many of us, the centre of our universe. It makes sense to spend some time making it a place we feel good about,” says Lorena.
