I wanted to walk you through the whole process of how I came up with the new curved range from start to finish so you can see the evolution of how we come up with new products. It's a lengthy process!

Let me take you back..

It's June 2022 and the Urbansize team are at Milan Design Week. The inspiration is off the charts, the furniture fair was full of stunning design led, innovative furniture. But what I really noticed? The curves, they were everywhere. Architectural curves in doorways, ceilings and walls. Furniture that had been artfully curved into oversized sideboards and cupboards. Right away I knew that we had to bring that look to Urbansize.

Inspiration from Milan Design Week

Curves in architecture are often inspired by nature and I started to look at organic natural forms for inspiration for the shape of the furniture. Rounded edges and soft shapes really help to create a more inviting look to interiors. As much as I love a clean, sharp, minimalist line in furniture design, I realised we could add a lot by incorporating both rounded and straight designs into one room. 

As I started to come up with the designs I realised how well the curves were going to work in a small home. It creates a sense of breathing space around the furniture and give a light airy look to a room which is always difficult to achieve in a small space.  

I took the idea to our factory in Hungary and they told me it was impossible. They said there was 'no way' that the curve I had drawn could be achieved in oak. Maybe in plywood they said, but never oak. We had some discussions and I left it with them to ponder. Low and behold, a couple of months later, and they had cracked it. 

I went out to Hungary to view first samples and discussed some tweaks to the design. Generally, it takes 2 - 3 samples to get the design exactly right. Eventually we got the perfect look and finish and our curved range was finally done. 

We found the perfect location house to shoot the new pieces in, it was very 'Urbansize' and suited the look of the new pieces perfectly. We shot all our stills and social media shots in one day ready for the launch. 

Next up was launch planning from emails to social media and PR which took another few weeks. So you can start to see how product creation takes up to a year to complete, there are so many pieces to the puzzle and a lot of places for stumbling blocks along the way. 

I'm so excited to be launching this range, it really has been a passion project and I've not seen anything else like it on the market so I hope you love it as much as I do :)

Sallie x