The Little Ivy Designs Ethos
Why throw away an old, solid wood, crafted, handmade piece of vintage furniture that does exactly what you need it to do to replace it with a new piece?
If it doesn’t look right then let’s just change the way it looks, and if it isn’t right for you, surely it could be the fresh, bright and beautiful piece someone else is looking for. It is a shame to continue draining the Earth's precious resources to make new products when we already have exceptional quality pieces of furniture lying in unloved corners of people’s homes or worse still, headed to land fill.
If you don’t mind, I would like to take you on a little journey to explain how the business name and my style of art came about…
As a child I was outside all the time, I loved our garden, going for walks in the countryside, woodlands, and our family holidays to the coast. I was brought up not just to respect every living thing but to actively care for it and give it protection. Time taught me that nature will pay you back ten-fold what you put in and so it has always been a big part of my life.
When I bought my first house the only room, I wanted to spend time in was the garden. I cannot put into words the joy it has given me to create a colorful, natural, biodiverse space that attracts so much wildlife. When I realized, I was going to need a studio for Little Ivy Designs I couldn’t think of a better place to put it than in the garden.
Having always felt such comfort when out in nature, I would do whatever I could to bring that feeling inside. We are used to seeing floral curtains, framed pictures of landscapes and the odd potted plant in our homes but having woodlands, plants, flowers etc. painted on to furniture itself creates a feeling that nature grows through the home, wrapping itself around its contents.
I have always loved the ivy plant; it is beautiful in every season and literally wraps itself around what stands in its path. Even in the most built-up environments a little trail of ivy can often find its way up a wall or out a corner reminding us that humankind can build on this earth, but they don’t own it, it will always belong to mother nature. My Sprocker Spaniel is also called Ivy, always by my side and turned out to be much smaller than most Sprocker’s earning her the name “Little Ivy dog” so “Little Ivy Designs” seemed the obvious choice for the business.
Being such an admirer of the flora and fauna of the Great British Isles I plan to champion it whenever I can in my artwork. I hope that by taking the time to study, draw, paint and pull out the colours in UK native species, plants that encourage pollinators, wildflowers and diverse environments that it helps promote public appreciation and encourages more planting.
The methods and products I use to prepare, clean, fix and paint with are all selected with the environment and sustainability in mind. On the odd occasion a stronger substance is needed to remove glue, paint or stains from the original furniture piece this will be cleaned and removed before finishing with non-toxic, VOC free paints and seals.
Each piece of furniture sold comes with an adoption certificate. This will give you more information on the piece’s history including country of origin, maker, wood type and age when known. It will detail the work done since reaching The Little Ivy Design studio and all products used in the re-design process. After care and cleaning information will be on the certificate. This certificate also provides authentication that you have a true Little Ivy Designs original. If in the future, you decide your piece needs a new look you can bring it back to the studio as a commission or send it on its way with adoption certificate in drawer to be loved in a new home. The pieces I paint are picked to last so there will never be a need to take it to the furniture graveyard.
Please feel free to contact me for any more information on the above.