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Design Furniture

Mudroom ideas: Willow & Wood introduce mix ‘n match

What’s a mudroom, I hear you ask? (I really have heard a lot of you ask this!). I think we’ve seen a few on shows like The Block, only they’re not always an actual room, are they?! So I’m here to demystify a little and tell you why you need one!

They can be a whole room of course, if you have that luxury of space. But the great thing is, you don’t need a whole room with a door on it to get the same effect. The way I look at it, it’s a place between outside and inside. So when you come home, you can sit and take off your dirty outdoor shoes, hang up your bag and coat perhaps, pop your keys and mail down, and in doing so, avoid a whole lot of mess and clutter. It’s my idea of storage heaven, which is why I have one in our entryway, which opens onto our living room!

Mudrooms, or mudroom areas, can be built into the smallest of underused spaces in a hallway or entryway, under the stairs even. And thanks to Australian brand Willow and Wood, you don’t need to go custom to get a great looking and functional solution that suits your home’s size and style, and the number of people in it! They’ve recently introduced a mix and match solution, with a variety of hooks and benches, with or without a wall panel between the two, and whether you want to hide those shoes right away or have them in open baskets. You can even choose a classic all-white solution or something a little more traditional or rustic with some unpainted timber. Or a combination of the two! For the Scandi fans, there’s even a look for you. The options are endless!

We are big fans of this Australian brand started by a father and daughter. 25 years ago, Russell Tyndall helped his 18-year-old daughter Rebecca build a wall-mounted bookshelf that, to this day, still sits in her home holding many treasured possessions. It’s been through 13 moves, five coats of paint and wax and is still as strong as ever!  “That’s because it was built with love and made to last, says Rebecca, who went on to start the family business with him. “We take great care to produce quality, functional and beautiful products, all of which are made for longevity and timeless style. Our products are designed by us, right here in our Melbourne workshop, where we hand make all of our prototypes to make sure they are just right. Both our local craftsmen and craftsmen in Vietnam then produce our products to exact specifications to ensure the quality people have come to expect from Willow & Wood.”

Rebecca Tyndall

Rebecca adds: “The Mudroom has slowly been making its way into Australian homes. As a mother, I understand the struggle families face each day to get out the door on time simply because they can’t find shoes, hats or school bags! Now that can all be solved simply and beautifully with a Willow and Wood Mudroom that can be customised through a range of mix and match pieces. Every home needs a well organised space where the family can hang their bags, backpacks, coats and hats in a central location. Our new mix and match range helps ordinary families design a custom look storage station to suit individual needs and styles.”

My own Mudroom from Willow and Wood was one of the first things we installed in our house two years ago and it is a lifesaver! (Photo by Jacqui Turk)

Willow and Wood don’t just sell Mudrooms, they have all manner of storage solutions you didn’t know you needed, trust me, with great stuff for kids’ rooms like their bestselling Bookworm Bookrack!

Shop online now (there’s currently 20% off preordered new Mudroom pieces and 10% off when you buy any three Mudroom pieces)

Categories
Bedrooms Furniture Homewares Interviews Kids Rooms

The wall-hung shelving you never knew you needed. Until now!

After growing up with a dad who made her furniture and later living in New York, where the shopping is (let’s be honest) a lot better than in Australia, Rebecca Tyndall finally came to start her own wall-hung furniture business after having her first child.

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“The first item I designed was the Baby Bunting, which is still one of Willow and Wood’s most popular pieces. It’s a really beautiful piece of furniture for a nursery and there just wasn’t anything available to buy here in Australia that was similar. I spent nearly three years living in New York when I was younger and of course they have everything you could possibly want over there. I had serious shopping envy so I thought I would just make it myself.”

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That’s when she called on her dad, Russell, a builder, and now co-director of the business. He makes all the prototypes by hand in Sydney and most pieces are then manufactured overseas. “After I had designed a few pieces, everyone seemed to love them so much that in a moment of extreme confidence (because who would just start an online furniture company with no experience?) my Dad and I started Willow and Wood. Not that it happened overnight; in fact, it took about nine months to tweak the designs and get the company and website up and running. We launched with just six products.”

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The Bookworm Bookrack is the most popular product by far. “I designed it because we live in a small house but with heaps of wall space because the ceilings are so high. My boys just devour books and even with bookshelves everywhere we needed something more practical that would show off the artwork on the book covers. The artwork on kid’s books is so amazing and why wouldn’t you want to display them all the time? It attracts little ones to the books and because they are easy to access, more books are read. And you can never have too much storage.” Amen to that!

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Rebecca says she is her own customer which is great because she knows her well! “Pretty much everything that we design has been in my house at one time or another. It’s because I design what I need and that’s what we sell. Women are the biggest deciders on decor in the home but they don’t just want things to look good. We want things that are also practical and that make our lives easier. And in my world, storage is king.”

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Rebecca and Russell recently decided to open a bricks and mortar store in Sydney’s Willoughby, so customers could see the products for themselves. And Rebecca believes what they offer is really unique.

“Most furniture stores have some items of shelving but we are unique in that most of what we sell is wall mounted. We do this to create more floor space in a home. We also like to decorate walls with our products. The Cloud Shelf and the Alps Shelf are cute pieces to decorate kid’s rooms with. You’re killing two birds with one shelf, so to speak.”

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They have just branched out into hallway storage with their Cloak Room Series, which is a take on the traditional American mud room and they’ll soon be adding the increasingly popular barn doors to their product line.

“Willow and Wood wouldn’t exist without my dad, Russell. Most weeks, he gets handed a design that has been scribbled on a scrap of paper by me and magically, it appears in the shop a few days later.”

Rebecca with dad (and business partner) Russell and mum Veronica in her shop
Rebecca with dad (and business partner) Russell and mum Veronica in her shop

Visit Willow and Wood online or at 553 Willoughby Road, Willoughby, NSW 2068.