HIIS Design Furniture: Interior Solutions with an Eternal Stamp

Looking for something to light up your interior design dreams? Something timeless, yet modern? Something bold, yet subtle? Estonia-based HIIS Design furniture stunned us with their effortlessly elegant design furniture made sustainably, with a dash of care and love. To shed light on HIIS Design’s innovative creations, young furniture maker Tõnis-Sander Maarits opened us a door to his creative workshop...

Words: Johanna Raudsepp

HIIS Design furniture, 2016. 

HIIS Design furniture, 2016. 

What’s your personal take on furniture? What makes a piece of furniture excellent?

The attractive outline, not only at the shop or in pictures, but in the interior where it’s used. Comfort and simplicity, while having down-to-the-tiny-detail design and quality combined, make a piece of furniture a great one. Something made from heart is not just another piece of furniture, but creates an exquisite experience in a room. Take a table, for example – it’s not just some thing to sit and dine at, but it creates a heartwarming shared experience with your friends and family. Good design can help enhance that feeling. 

How does HIIS Design apply ethical practises in your workshop? What’s particularly important for you?

The most important thing in furniture manufacturing is that quality and timeless design [are there]. When a design piece lasts you ages, fitting in with the old and the new, it becomes an environmentally sustainable piece. HIIS Design is for someone who values quality and wants an enduring piece of furniture to bring into their interior that lasts for years. We aim to create furniture that can be the anchor-point in a room, around which you can design everything else. 

As wood production can be harmful for our environment, we make sure to use FSC certified wood as our resource. For Hiis Design, it’s of high importance we use consciously produced wood to ensure forests lasts for future generations. That also reflects in our name (’hiis’ in Estonian translates to ’ancient grove’).

"We aim to create furniture that can be the anchor-point in a room, around which you can design everything else."

HIIS Design furniture, 2016. 

HIIS Design furniture, 2016. 

Is there a personal story… how did HIIS Design come to be?

As a young boy, I used to make ships and other toys in my father’s wood workshop, hammer and chisel in hand. When I was 13, we moved to a new house and I didn’t have any furniture in my new room. That’s when I decided to design and make my own furniture. I made a pretty good bed, which gave me more drive to build other things, like a closet. Every summer I used to earn pocket money from furniture making and restoration. At first, in 2013, fresh out of university, I started my own custom-made furniture workshop, but I always felt like it was not enough for me to build things designed by other people. I began to experiment more with my own designs and one thing led to another, as they say. In spring 2016, HIIS Design was brought to life. 

“Take a table, for example – it’s not just some thing to sit and dine at, but it creates a heartwarming shared experience with your friends and family. Good design can help enhance that feeling.”

HIIS Design furniture, 2016. 

HIIS Design furniture, 2016. 

With regards to environmental protection, how do you imagine the future of furniture design?

Endurance is what makes furniture environmentally friendly. An oak table will last generations, unlike a cheap mass produced equivalent from melamine. A toxin-rich piece of furniture will last 10 years at most. But an oak table will last you until a new, baby-oak is growing, reducing environmental damage. More materials will be used, of course, and a lot of new solutions to battle space deficiency. However, we must not undermine natural materials and living in harmony with nature. I find that people are starting to value earthiness and natural things even more [in furniture design]. Families with kids, especially, want to be able to make more sustainable choices when choosing products for their homes. 

If your brand has a soundtrack, then what would it be like and why? 

The first song that popped up in my head was ‘Thunderstruck’ by AC/DC. Probably because I often listen to that song, when I start my day at the workshop. It creates a nice energy and gets you going for the day. But that’s only a small part of our brand. HIIS Design’s soundtrack would be ‘Spiegel im spiegel’ by Arvo Pärt (Grammy-winning Estonian composer), because when I listen to that piece I find myself in a powerful state of creativity. As the title suggests, a mirror against a mirror reflects into infinity, the same way inspiration has no boundaries. 

"A mirror against a mirror reflects into infinity, the same way inspiration has no boundaries."

Where do you draw inspiration from for new pieces?

Inspiration can strike at any moment, which is why I always carry a notebook along. Even a quick sketch right there in the moment can be a life-saver of a striking flash-idea. I feel like inspiration is deep inside of us, piling up in our sub-conscience since childhood, and is often brought onto the surface again by some small trigger in our adulthood. It’s important to capture those moments and know how to fuel them. I like to get my creativity flowing by going through old books, magazines and websites. Other times, I draw inspiration when watching a movie or a TV show – like Mad Men, where the 60s American-style surroundings can fire up some great memories.

http://www.hiisdesign.com/

Dreams Vs Reality: Kelpman Textile Sustainable Wool Coats

Hailing from Estonia, textile designer Mare Kelpman creates thick blanket-like wool coats that warm up even in the coldest nights of Nordic winter. Kelpman Textile’s latest collection Sophy combines sustainable design, architectural elegance and Nordic simplicity. Her unique patterns laced with asymmetry and artistic colour combinations are beautifully eye-catching. What inspires such magnificent design?, we ask. 

Words: Johanna Raudsepp

Sophy collection wool coats by Kelpman Textile, 2016. 

Sophy collection wool coats by Kelpman Textile, 2016. 

We love seeing designers with an eco-friendly approach cropping up in the Scandinavian region, but we must admit this way of looking at design has not conquered the world yet. Why have you chosen to pursue sustainable approach in textile design?

For a while I taught at the Estonian Academy of Arts and I always urged my students to think what to do and how to execute it. [I’ve always advised students that] if you don’t have a sustainable idea, then seriously consider, if it’s worth creating at all. Following this path is pricey, which is why it’s marginal – the profit won’t be great nor happen fast. The way I see it, for me there is simply no other way – the joy from creating is far more important than the profit you make. I don’t see any reason to overwhelm the world with even more synthetic things.

Sophy collection wool coats by Kelpman Textile, 2016. 

Sophy collection wool coats by Kelpman Textile, 2016. 

What are the setbacks you have experienced following the sustainable route? 

I can’t say that I have. More or less so, I have encountered the expected issues of having a small business and finding the right partners, who are flexible to fulfil orders of all sizes. In Estonia, my products were initially received with jaws dropped– what do you mean you’re making wool clothing? Where’s the glamour and affluence usually en vogue in the local fashion scene? I exhibited my products at many foreign fairs and finally got the reassurance I’m doing the right thing. Now I’ve realised that small businesses emphasising natural textiles are emerging, too. 

What inspires you in creating different textiles?

 Primarily the people who I create for in my head. I feel like I know my potential client quite well. However, focusing only on the commercial side doesn’t work either. I am inspired by rhythms and colours from nature and architecture. What really drives me is conquering technological challenges. You can dream of different fabrics and structures all you want, but it really comes down to the technical ability of the partners. Creating textiles requires a compromise between dreams and reality.

“The joy from creating is far more important than the profit you make.”

What material do enjoy working with the most?

 Right now, my favourite is wool, as you can see from my product range. But every material can be challenging to work with, if you choose the right approach. For example, in the summer season I reach for linen and a little bit of silk as well. Wool is a material for which you don’t have to kill or exhaust dry land, as sheep require shearing. Since I only work with European materials, I know where and how the yarn is created, in what conditions and I can be sure that it’s also certified. I produce all my products and fabrics in Europe and I know those small factories well.

Creating textiles requires a compromise between dreams and reality.”

Sophy collection wool coats by Kelpman Textile, 2016. 

Sophy collection wool coats by Kelpman Textile, 2016. 

If you had to compare your design to a natural phenomenon, what would it be and why?

Perhaps the refreshing morning dew before a hot day. Freshens the air.

What can we look forward to in 2017?

Hopefully great execution of some fresh ideas. A year ago, I didn’t even plan on having my own store. Now that has been set up and gotten a lot of positive feedback. I like to let life surprise me and am open to new challenges on the way. 

Find Mare Kelpman's designs in Tallinn, Estonia, at the Kelpman Textile store, or online at www.marekelpman.eu.