Kalon Studios and Reath Design Pay Homage to Decades Past in This Seating Collection

Rugosa, a smash-hit 2020 seating collection made of planks of Western sugar pine from Johann Pauwen and Michaele Simmering of Kalon Studios, gets a new point of view courtesy of interior designer Frances Merrill of Reath Design. Her custom upholstery for the clean-lined sofa, daybed, and chair draw from the Warner Textile Archive (the largest collection of publicly owned textiles in the U.K.) and the catalogs of icons Rose Cumming and Alexander Girard.

“A combination of patterns from the late 1800’s to the 1960’s evokes the sense of a generational accu­mulation of textiles, colors, and perspectives—much like a house accumulates naturally over time,” Merrill says. “You might not immediately think that a chintz from the ’30’s would work in this simple collection, but they are both pure examples of their own form.” Against the austerity of the spare pine planes, the mash-up of florals, stripes, and checks imparts a sense of eccentricity and nostalgia.