Homegirl London pays homage to Baines & Fricker. The husband and wife team making cool furniture, wallpaper and screen prints. Steve Baines is a furniture maker and Eliza Fricker is the illustrator and screen-printer. Together they make an interesting range of desirable pieces for your home; floor rocking chairs, crate sideboards, simple ascetic chairs and a range of wallcoverings featuring cement works, rooftops and cacti. I caught up with Eliza to find out more …
Q: Tell me about your design backgrounds.
A: Neither Steve nor I have degrees. Steve commuted from London to Brighton for many years and daydreamed about what he wanted to do. He retrained as a furniture maker and gained a City and Guilds qualification and has since spent a number of years producing bespoke work for private clients and continues to do so alongside our business. I studied Art and Design at Chelsea and Photography in Brighton (both BTECS) and have been screen printing and illustration work since our daughter was born.
Q: How did you meet?
A: We met (very worse for wear) at an LCD Sound System gig.
Q: What made you decide to set up your business?
A: We have both shared very similar interests and it grew organically. We officially launched 2 years ago at London Design Week.
Q: How do you divide the roles between you?
A: Steve is in the workshop and on-site. I am printing and drawing. We work separately but also very much together. I also do the admin side of things. Steve has never been on Twitter or Facebook!
Some of the furniture Steve makes
Some of the wallpaper Eliza makes
Q: Where are you based and why?
A: We have a fully fitted workshop just outside of Brighton that Steve works in and I work from our home in Brighton. I like to work on my own at home surrounded by all our books and objects.
Brighton based workshop
Q: How many people work at your company?
A: Just the 2 of us and we work with other creative friends when we can. One couple we know are bookbinders and also do letterpress. Another friend made our website and we have lots of ideas in the pipeline that will incorporate our friends and their talents.
Q: Describe your design style.
A: We use our skills to make longstanding pieces for the home and are influenced by English heritage.
Q: Where do you draw your creative inspiration from?
A: We love things that are often ignored or not thought about. Disused structures, unusual materials. We try to think differently and love overcoming problems to create unusual approaches.
Baines & Fricker Crates £50 and Crate Sideboard £1250
Q: Tell me about your current collections / products.
A: We are working on a new range that uses a couple of different materials and colour. We are also designing and making lots of furniture for a new hotel in Brighton.
Q: Which designer do you admire and why?
A: Couples such as the Eames (obviously) and we love Donald Judd.
Q: What’s the best thing about owning your own business?
A: We work together and spend our all-time talking about what we love.
Q: What one piece of advice would you pass on to someone wanting to set up their own business?
A: If there is something you really love then pursue it but be prepared to be very poor at times and chase up unpaid invoices!
Q: What’s coming up for the rest of 2013?
A: We are designing interiors for a hotel, taking part in Design Junction and we are also meant to be renovating our home.
You can buy products from Baines and Fricker, Liberty London and additional stockists which you can find on the website. Credits: text by Homegirl London, images courtesy of Baines & Fricker, special thanks to Eliza Fricker and Steve Baines.
