When his young son started saying he was “off to the office”, this work-from-home father decided it was time to create a functional kid’s area.

You don’t usually expect to hear: “I’m off to my office” coming out of the mouth of a two-and-half-year-old but, alas, I’ve raised an artist. You see, I believe that every child deserves to grow up with an appreciation for design, decor and architecture, both form and function.

I come from a line of craftsmen. My grandfather tinkered away in his workshop 24/7, teaching me to wire a plug at the tender age of 10. I remember him fondly, and his legacy lives on through his tools, which I still have and use daily. My stepfather, a master craftsman, taught  me the value of things – not just their cost. 

I learned the intricacies of a dovetail joint, the practicalities of a biscuit joint and even how to upholster a chair (though nowhere nearly as professionally as an upholsterer). Having these skills allowed me to design what would become Nathan’s “office”.

As a work-from-home father with my own studio, my son felt the need for his own, carrying around an old computer mouse, “plugging” it into all sort of things and creating makeshift laptops on the go. 

It’s not uncommon, after enjoying our breakfast, for him to pack his backpack and “head out for the day”.

The core structure of the “office” is based around a standard 1.8m x 2.4m timber-framed Wendy house. The raised deck provides additional recreational seating when entertaining, and the almost floor-to-ceiling aluminium corner window allows us to keep an eye on things. 

Inspired by my love of Nordic cabins and their use of dark stains, I settled on using Plascon’s Wall & All (in Black) for the exterior. To withstand the radical temperature changes between the Cape’s seasons, I insulated it in 50mm Isotherm, a material made from recycled PET bottles, cladding the interior with 8mm pine ply.

I hired contractors to realise it all, only to be let down, firing them midway and then completing it myself over a particularly long and rainy winter. The end result bears the tool marks of an avid DIYer, but I learned the joy was not in perfection, but in the process.

When the time came to add accents and features, I called upon designer Joe Paine. He mapped out a configuration for the adjacent brick wall using his modular Kreep Planter system and went to work designing custom planters. It escalated and we added a set of Joe’s concrete TriHard stools and have subsequently added several additional pieces to our home, including his charming bird Fold Feeder.

The modular ply storage boxes house various toys and books and, along with the wall organiser, were part of a series of DIY projects I conceptualised and designed for Plascon, the step-by-step instructions of which can be found on my website curatethisspace.com.

The “boardroom” table is a recent acquisition and comprises a Duco-sprayed MDF tabletop, fabricated by my stepfather, and sits atop a pair of custom basic trestles designed by Cape Town makers, Thingking. 

I contacted Marc Nicolson and Lyle Sprong and asked if they’d be willing to shrink their standard design to toddler size. They graciously did so and these have been a great talking point when friends bring their kids over for play dates.

On sunny days, Nathan sits outside on the deck, rocking back and forth in his Eames-esque rocker, taking in the garden view – no doubt using the downtime to plan his next masterpiece.

Visit curatethisspace.com for more Matt Alison inspiration.

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Matt Allison is an urban farmer, SAMA-nominated singer-songwriter, one-time engineer, design connoisseur and the brains behind the play-play office that he built his two-year old son Nathan, featured in the new VISI 66 The Office. VISI.co.za went behind the scenes to see how Matt himself lives and found an idiosyncratic pastiche of mid-century Danish and American collectables, handmade one-offs, and vintage keepsakes from friends and families.

That Matt is by nature a perfectionist, collector and curator who will go to the ends of the Earth to make his home just right is evident in the description of his lounge: “The brass sconces were sourced from Trifon of Palm Springs Vintage in California. You can see them on the set of the first few seasons of Mad Men. I tracked Trifon down through the set designer and had him make these ones in brass to fit the rest of our decor. The Masketeers ducks were a classic 1960s centrepiece in American homes and they still pop up from time to time, but it’s rare to still find a complete set. I bought this set from an Etsy seller in Oregon, who graciously shipped them halfway across the world to me. The atomic clock I purchased from a store online in New York. The chair was a shabby Gumtree find, which I had stained and reupholstered in a burnt orange dralon fabric. The atomic lamp was also a Gumtree find, though I had the drum shade rebuilt by The Lampshade Studio and covered in Skinny LaMinx’s Orla fabric.”

And don’t even get him started on his love for Danish design, as he describes his dining room: “The collectable wall unit is by Danish designer Poul Cadovius and was purchased from a retired couple who were scaling down, who in turn bought it from the Danish consulate in Durban 15 years ago. The dining room table, chairs and sideboard were locally made by Duros in the 1950/60s, sold as the ‘Dane’ set through Garlicks department stores. I bought the entire set from a family in Parow for R1 500, they just wanted it out and I was more than happy to welcome it into our home! The Louis Poulsen PH 4/3 pendant is an original I bought from an antique dealer in Denmark. It’s hard to believe that it looks so contemporary, but was designed in 1925.”

VISI covered the launch of Matt’s design blog, Curate This Space, here.

Get VISI 66 The Office to see Nathan’s kid-office. Featuring over 20 workspaces that are pushing the proverbial envelope, this issue is a must-have collectable. Get it in stores until 10 July 2013 or subscribe to the digital edition. 

Follow Matt’s design passions on his blog www.curatethisspace.com.

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“Self editing can be a ruthless task, but I think that is where we are finding new meanings in our homes and places of solitude,” says Matt Allison, who recently invited designers into his home to help him curate his space.

Matt, who describes himself as a “husband, stay at home father, urban farmer, eco advocate, closet designer, photographer, mid-century modern lover, designated household cook and blogger” says the idea to hold this ‘exhibition’ struck when he was cleaning his home.

“I was in need of some personal life editing and decided rather than go it alone, to offer up my home, or at least part of it, to others to express their own creativity around the table with wholesome home cooked food and great wine.”

Matt settled on his Cado ‘Royal System’ wall unit as the canvas for four curated displays, each on a separate shelf. “I really wanted to push the envelope further by choosing creatives who work in different creative fields and mediums, partly to see what would happen in the context of a greater creative consortium,” he says. Neil Stemmet, Lucas R. Adams, Lauren Fowler, and Thaya Beford and Nicole Ravenscroft of the Wild Creative were each invited to take on the challenge.

When asked why he didn’t just hire an interior designer to get the job done Matt responds: “I believe the future is in collaboration, hiring a single designer allows their input and their input alone, where as in a community you find ideas and answers that no one individual could bring to the table themselves.”

The only brief the four designers were given was the size of each shelf (80cm x 20cm x 25cm) and a budget of R600. Matt posted a few shots of his home on a blog he created for this event and the rest was left up to the designers and their imaginations.

Matt says the uniformity across all four curations was a bit uncanny. “None of the curators had any dealings with one another prior to the event and yet cohesively the palettes and textures all shared a resounding call of a return to nature.”

Once the curation came to an end, the designers sat down to a meal prepared by celebrity chef Neill Anthony made from produce from Matt’s own garden.

‘Curate this space’ will become an ongoing endevour but Matt says his main hope is that the idea provides inspiration for others to do he same. “In the same way you share a meal in the company  of others, why not share parts of your home?”

More information curatethisspace.tumblr.com and www.curatethisspace.com

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