We’re delighted to bring you this interview with Eliza Fricker, one half of a talented husband and wife team who create classic, quirky British-made furniture and homewares. The pair launched their business, Baines & Fricker, at 100% Design in 2011 where their Harris Tweed rocker was a Blueprint finalist for Best New Product.
Steve and Eliza are passionate about creating unique pieces that last a lifetime, and this is the ethos behind their brand. From their studio and workshop in Brighton, UK, they create everything from utility furniture to craft, industrial architecture to street signs and their cool and quirky designs have been picked up by the likes of Liberty and Heals.
We couldn’t wait to catch up with them to find out more about the life they have designed, doing what they love… ~Rachel
1. What did you do before you started your own business?
I’ve worked as an illustrator and screen printer for years but after art school I managed an art cinema in Brighton. Steve was working in London and commuted from Brighton. He had been doing this since leaving school 19 years ago. He always dreamed of being an architect but he didn’t want to study for six years!
2. How did you meet and what inspired you to start a business together?
We met watching LCD Soundsystem 10 years ago and we have been together ever since. We share very similar interests and these have grown and been cemented being together.
We have a shared outlook and it was a natural progression to work together. We launched our business after Steve took a City and Guilds furniture making course in 2011 and decided to become a self employed furniture maker.
The sign above our workshop3. How is life different now you are self-employed?
We are able to do what we love because we have modest outgoings. We work in the way we want, with the kind of people we want! There is so much flexibility and freedom working for ourselves. There is less financial stability but it means I can still be there to pick our daughter up from school and cook her tea. It also means we no longer have to spend our days taking pointless training courses.
Steve with our daughter Betsy in Brooklyn, New York, where we spent the summer
4. Talk us through a typical day in your life…
Steve gets to the workshop around 8-8.30am. I walk our daughter to school with the dog and then I get the bus to the workshop for just after 9am. I check emails and make a plan for what needs to be done in the studio.
Our studio
Steve will be downstairs making stuff. For some jobs he goes off to meeting on his own and for other we go together. I pick our daughter up from school most days, we all have dinner together and we sometimes work in the evening, if we need to.
Our workshop
5. What are the benefits, and challenges, of living and working together?
Its a lot more fluid and we can juggle things around a lot more. Sometimes its hard when there is a trade show to do and we both have to be away from home.
6. What’s the most important thing to note about your work?
We don’t believe in trends or fashion. We like nice things that last and believe they should. I like it when we go to our parents’ homes and they have Hornsea pottery or Viners cutlery that they still use. We think you should save up for things and keep them. Lifestyle blogs upset us because they are aspirational and unachievable. I think that in life you should have bigger priorities than whether you have placed a book nicely next to a vase.
Unfortunately many retailers compound the idea of this disposable lifestyle because they want you to buy lots of stuff. They might ask small designers to work with them but they’ll want them to alter their designs to fit a trend. They sell product cheaper than we can ever make them and then a few weeks later they will be in the sale.
We believe that normal everyday objects shouldn’t go un-noticed. This is our take on the fruit crate. Each one is individually screen printed and numbered.
7. You live in Brighton now. What do you love about it city life and how is it different to where you grew up?
It’s a good combination of city, countryside and sea. It’s always busy and you can walk the dog late at night and still see people. I grew up in the suburbs with creative parents and we did feel like outcasts. The streets were always empty as people drove everywhere. Our neighbourhood now has a wholefoods/fruit and veg shop, Italian delicatessant, Portguese Café, mini supermarket, off licence, stationers, newsagents, hardware shop, cafés and pubs. Where I grew up had a newsagents, kebab shops and taxi rank.
8. Tell us about your home; how does it reflect you and the way you live, work and play?
We live in a small flat but in a central neighbourhood. We have lots of prototypes of our work and books. We are currently doing lots of work on it and so far have finished the bedrooms. Its got lots of softwood flooring and all bespoke shelving and furniture. We hope to complete it one day soon with everything made by us!
We buy lots of books, mainly from charity shops
9. Who/what inspires your work?
We talk a lot and that generates ideas. We also take lots of day trips and holidays and take pictures of what we see. This inspires new ideas too.
All the fun of the fair: a family day out in Brighton earlier this year
10. What exciting pieces are you working on at the moment?
We have a couple of kitchens to do which are very different from each other and very exciting. We are also making prototypes for a furniture range for an architect.
11. What have been the most enjoyable and interesting projects you’ve worked to date?
We have been working with some clients for a number of years and they are good to work for because you get to know each other and these relationships work well. We are much better at working out early on is we can work with the clients now.
We designed the interiors for Silo, the UK’s first zero waste restaurant in Brighton
A shop fitting inspired by a doll’s house
12. What brings you the most joy and satisfaction?
When we complete a job and the client is really happy. Steve is also learning to sign write and I am still working on illustration projects. I think doing lots of different things all the time.
My latest illustrations are a series of collages inspired by my upbringing in Suburbia
13. What’s your philosophy on life and is there a quote you try and live by?
Anything said by George Contanza! Or “I don’t like the mainstream and it doesn’t like me” ~ Bill Hicks.
14. What’s the ultimate dream?
To keep making a living from doing what we do. We always said that if we could make a living and survive then that was good enough for us!
At home with our dog
For more information visit the Baines & Fricker website.
