Latest Interior Design by ifdesign :: The New Wardrobe, Brisbane

I am so excited to tell you that one of our latest projects, a new women' s fashion store called The New Wardrobe, opens this Friday here in Oxford Street, Bulimba.

I was approached by the owners Lisa Norman & Maree Diamond to come up with an interior concept using natural colours and materials that reflects the feel of a walk-in wardrobe.

An early design style mood board

The store itself is a cute size so the next challenge was to create a store that felt brighter and more spacious. To do this we kept the joinery lightweight in look, used glass for some of the shelving, made the clothing, rear wall and central table the focus of the room and introduced plenty of mirrors. The use of a natural colour palette for the materials and finishes also helped to keep the room looking light and welcoming.

An early sketch of the shopfront

A sketch of the proposed interior design

Rather than selecting mass produced furniture Lisa & Maree had a fun time sourcing reclaimed and second hand furniture from the Woolloongabba Antique Centre and Brisbane Fabric Market. A few of these items were then re-upholstered for a fresh new look.

Shoe lasts and recycled furniture

For some of the smaller details timber shoe lasts were sourced from a small shoe making business in New Zealand and used as feature display mounts. Black cord was also used to make the drawer handles and timber from Dwyers Recycled Yard was used to make the mirror frames.

The store finished and ready to shop!

The use of low VOC paints for the walls, wood wash from Porters Paints for the display cabinets, 100% wool carpet for the central floor finish, recycled timber for the feature table and recessed LED lights were used to create a healthier, sustainable and low energy environment.

This has truly been a self build with a lot of love put into the construction as vast amounts of the store fit out has been implemented by Lisa, Maree and their supportive families.

This approach has given a small space a new lease of life with a strong identity and with the added bonus of reducing their energy and fit-out costs. 

If you are in Brisbane this week and would like first dibs at their gorgeous selection of clothing and shoes click here for information on the opening day this Friday.

I wish both Lisa and Maree all the best with their new business venture and an exciting journey as one of Brisbane's new fashion retailers.

Have fun.

Interior design by ifdesign, Brisbane :: Three Little Girls and a Boy Named Ted

ifdesign recently completed the interior design scheme for Three Little Girls and a Boy Named Ted on Oxford Street, Bulimba, Brisbane.

Owned by Charmaine McDonald, this young children's clothing store sells quality children's clothing made from natural fabrics with labels from Australia, France and Italy.

With an increasing awareness of the benefits of healthy environments and natural materials we were delighted to work with Charmaine, Greener Kitchens (for the joinery) and Building in Green (the builders) to create a natural and healthy environment one should expect from a Children’s clothing store.

The project involved the strip out of existing walls and finishes to allow for a new retail layout, new kitchen and stock area all with new floors, lighting scheme, bespoke joinery and furniture.

new store plan

Our brief was "to create a French inspired retail store" with healthy low toxic materials and a sustainable focus. Working closely with Charmaine our inspiration was drawn from an ecletic mix of French shabby chic, the Hamptons and shaker styles. We also combined a mix of hand crafted items, fair trade products, reclaimed and natural finishes. The use of healthier materials and finishes such as low VOC and no VOC natural paints, low energy light fittings and recycled timber was used to create a healthy and sustainable retail environment.

early design ideas

Rather than select mass manufactured retail fixtures and furniture we designed a family of “Shaker inspired” original joinery cabinets. A local wood turner was commissioned to make traditional “Shaker coat pegs” for product hangers and many decorative items were sourced from local reclaim centres around Brisbane.

ideas from our trip to reclaim centres

The biggest delight was finding some vj’s from an old Queenslander in West End. These timber panels were stripped of nails and old paint, then installed to create a feature display wall to the rear of the store. Once installed they were painted with a natural based paint made from milk bi-products and given a wax finish as shown in the images below.

the feature VJ wall "under construction"

Hand made jute display baskets were also sourced from the Dharma Door, a local supplier working with a “Fair Trade” program in Bangladesh.

Finally, many thanks to Katrina Philips of Style My Room in Brisbane for all your beautiful final touches such as the beautiful French jars that complete all the joinery cabinets.

For a fine afternoon of retail therapy why not pop along to Three Little Girls and a Boy Named Ted located at Shop 4, 77 Oxford Street, Bulimba.

We are also very proud to be featured in this months copy of Brisbane's River Wrap... Thank you!

Also just stumbled across the October's issue of Style Magazine Brisbane and seen an article on one of my latest Interior Design projects. 

Three Little Girls and a Boy Named Ted, owned by Charmaine McDonald, is a beautiful young children's clothing store selling Australian, French and Italian labels in Oxford Street, Bulimba.

image by ifdesign

articles by Style Magazine, Brisbane

With an increasing awareness of the benefits of healthy environments and natural materials, we were delighted to work with Charmaine, Greener Kitchens (for the joinery) and Building in Green (the builders) to create a natural and healthy environment one should expect in a Children’s clothing store.

Our inspiration was drawn from an eclectic mix of hand crafted items, fair trade products, reclaimed and natural finishes reflecting the quality clothing and natural fibres available within the store. The use of healthier materials and finishes such as low VOC and no VOC natural paints, low energy light fittings and recycled timber was used to create a healthy and sustainable environment.

I hope to explain the interior design in more detail later on, but in the meantime if you fancy some retail therapy in Brisbane, feel free to pop along to Three Little Girls and a Boy Named Ted, Shop 4, 77 Oxford Street, Bulimba.