Handmade or hand-selected, we're proud to support exquisite craftsmanship and specialist skills. Join us as we sit down with artisans, curators and designers in our Meet The Designer series.
Incorporating wallpaper into a scheme is a fast and effective way to completely transform the interior decor, and the team at Custhom are experts in creating unique, eye-catching designs. Having featured several of their beautiful wallpaper designs in past issues of Warehouse Home magazine, we wanted to introduce our readers to the brand and learn about how Custhom is building upon its passion for wallpaper.
How did Custhom begin?
Custhom was founded in 2010 in a tiny studio in north London. We (Nathan and Jemma) both have a textile design background and met whilst studying for an MA at the Royal College of Art. We didn't have a business plan, but a shared love of paper. Initially we started working on small personal projects which we documented on a blog "curse these tiny hands of mine" which later turned into CUSTHOM. We wanted our customer to know we could make unique, one-off items for them and customise ideas based on the processes we specialised in, and we hoped this name would capture that.
Tell us about your range of products.
We specialise in wallpaper design and production and this is always our starting point. However, the making methods we experiment with then feed the design and production of a more varied product range, from ceramics to furniture.
What has informed your use of materials?
Generally, different processes of making inform our material choices. That said, our products need to function, but we like to try and challenge the boundaries of a material, for example perforating and stitching through paper which can still be hung.
“We seek inspiration from many things, our environment, open spaces, music, film as well as people...”
Where do you find inspiration?
We seek inspiration from many things, our environment, open spaces, music, film as well as people, so it's tricky to pinpoint, but being observant and gathering lots of nuggets of information tends to be how we come up with ideas.
Your wallpaper designs have featured in Warehouse Home Issue Three, Issue Four and Issue Seven. Can you tell us about the design and manufacturing process?
We focus on a few different methods of wallpaper production to achieve a variety of finishes, from silk screen printing and block printing by hand to machine embroidery and metal gilding. It's been great to see a number of these methods featured in Warehouse Home.
Can you tell us about some of the projects your design studio has worked on in the past?
We've worked on quite a range of different projects in the past from retail commissions for the Design Museum London, to work for great interior designers and architects, to collaborations with 2LG studio, Ligne Roset and Whole Foods Market.
Can you tell us about your design studio space? What style of decor inspires you?
We would describe our studio as organised chaos. Although we are inspired by big open spaces, we are bursting at the seams. But we're surrounded by lots of interesting images, materials and colours, as well as half finished ideas, which is where we like to be.
What exciting updates and developments can you tell us about?
We had an exciting independent show that opened in May alongside Clerkenwell Design Week, and we have a collaboration for eve sleep and a new range of ceramics coming out later this year which we are very excited about, but we can't say any more just yet.
We would like to thank CUSTHOM for taking the time to talk to Warehouse Home. For more information, visit their website.
Arc and Goldsmiths Embroidered wallpaper feature geometric stitched patterns created with digital embroidery. £204 per 4m x .55m roll, CUSTHOM
