House of Orange Design has been riding the wave of Dutch design successfully for a while now and bricks and mortar in particular is booming for the company and its stockists, say owners Ursula and Hans van Schoonhoven.
“We grew and strengthened our Melbourne designed and manufactured range of furniture with amazing exposure in print media and billboards and we’ve been able to strengthen our brand identity with our imported Dutch lifestyle and homewares brand HK Living,” they explain.
“We now have team of 26, supplying 200 carefully selected retailers around Australia. HK Living is sold in more than 52 countries but we’ve been able to maintain our position as the second largest market worldwide. Our business model of design, local manufacturing, selected wholesale and retail has been the basis of a very healthy growth without serious competition from online platforms.
“It seems we’ve struck the right balance between online promotion and marketing with the in store experience of ordering goods.”
House of Orange Design’s pieces are perfect for the educated, well-travelled, price conscious consumer who genuinely appreciates well designed and well-made contemporary furniture with a strongly identifiable Dutch (Northern European) design aesthetic.
“This all in an amazing marriage with the fresh, responsibly sourced, extensive range from HK Living (which stands for the two designers, Hetsen and Klaver, not Hong Kong Living).”
The company is known for locally made, low environmental footprint, durable, adaptable, solid pieces of handmade, modern solid timber furniture in combination with a complete range of homewares, soft furnishings and light fittings.
The family dog Frankie’s namesake, Frankie bunk bed is House of Orange’s bestseller and sells 500 units per year. It now comes in a flat packed version. “After two years of R&D we’ve been able to create a flat packed, easy to assemble version, without losing its strong and unique design features or compromising the Furntec Accreditation label. Ikea here we come!”
The GALA Awards winners are announced Saturday 24 February during a dinner at the ICC, Sydney.
By Marion Gerritsen
