United Interiors have launched a colourful and on trend new 2017 collection styled by James Treble and our #UIStylistScout competition winner Jen Waite.
“Styling with James — what a blast! He was so wonderful to work with, really easy going, fun and so eager to let me get stuck into the styling,” Jen said. “He was great in sharing his industry experience and tips and tricks with me. I came away feeling tired but thoroughly pleased with what we’d achieved for the campaign.”
The photoshoot focused on the new artwork and rug collections, and Jen and James picked their favourite furniture pieces and new accessories from the Melbourne showroom to complete the look.
The 2017 art collection was curated with diversity in mind. They wanted to offer something for every home and every palette. It focuses on colour and movement, with mostly minimalist abstracts, a handful of figurative pieces and botanical designs. The result is an eclectic assembly of colours, textures and contrast; tied together with a dramatic theme and pops of electric summer hues.
The summer 2017 rug collection, designed with James, continues to focus on the natural and textural elements that are predominantly handmade. They’ve introduced more colour to the collection, concentrating on the weave, offering interesting textures and styles, as opposed to patterns and prints. There’s a focus on coastal, contemporary and tribal.
Jen was one of two finalists who took part in a style-off at the United Interiors showroom at the end of last year. Our readers then voted for their favourite styled image. “Styling the campaign was quite different to the style-off,” Jen says. “United Interiors provided the brief and there was a clear direction in which to head which was great. For the style-off, I had completely free rein to come up with a look that suited myself, and in some ways the lack of brief made it more difficult. The style-off only involved one look, whereas the campaign involved multiple looks, so we moved much more quickly and were finalising pieces for the next shoot while the last was being photographed.”
Jen said this was the first time she’d worked with such a well known brand and industry professional and she loved it! “It’s given me invaluable industry experience and I learnt so much. The reactions from the community have been really encouraging and supportive, and I found a lot of people came out of the woodwork to congratulate me, which was so unexpected and lovely. The campaign, working with United Interiors and James and being paid to do it was amazing, but the support from the community really blew me away.”
Her own favourites from the new range? “Namibian which is more a monochromatic look with a touch of colour, and Beyonce Blue (below) which has a real contrast of light and dark.
“I also love Nether Streams (below) in the acrylic round artwork range – an interesting take on an abstract/resin/marble look. Hard to choose favourites though!”
James, who has been collaborating with United Interiors since 2015, thinks Jen will go far: “It was great working with another creative on the photo shoot. What Jen lacks in experience she more than makes up for in creativity, energy and ideas. Like many out there, she has a great eye and as she simply loves styling, she learns fast, takes direction so well and has her own very strong and valid design voice! I had a great day working with Jen.”
James loves the new collection. “There’s an eclectic mix of styles, colours and tones, making it easy to create totally different looks with the change of a canvas! I like the dramatic pieces with a dash of vibrant colour to really make your room pop. Very summer chic. Of course, I couldn’t go past the new accessories we styled with – in particular there was a printed cockatoo cushion (below) that really sung out to me – no pun intended.
“I particularly love the new product category coming soon in 2017 — the acrylic prints (sneak peek in the very top image). The team at United Interiors have been developing this new artwork for a while, using modern print technology to create artworks printed onto acrylic material. The reflection adds another dimension to the work.”
Here’s a behind the scenes video of James and Jen at work!
Special order the acrylic prints by emailing [email protected] to make an enquiry.
