PUBLISHED June 1st, 2012 11:00 am | UPDATED July 23rd, 2024 12:52 am
So… who is Fred? What’s his game? And how come he has such impeccable taste? All valid questions! Fred Lives Here is a recently opened furniture and lifestyle store on Emerald Hill, in a swoon-inducing shophouse full of desirable, cool and unique pieces.
I would like to live there, just in amongst the stock, but that Fred guy got there first. Damn that pesky little rascal.
Walking in to Fred Lives Here, the first thing that you experience is a riot of colour, then a sense of fun. It’s chic and aspirational, but not in a ‘we take ourselves so seriously, it’s designer don’t you know’ way. Their perspective seems to be that you can have a whimsical, playful yet totally stylish decor and it looks fabulous!
If you have the sensation of familiarity then chances are you know your design classics and there are some excellent quality reproductions here, but look again and you will see that some the modern classics that you know have been vamped up and individualised. Working in collaboration with local designers, artists and even graffiti artists (very cool), the folks at Fred have created some real show-stoppers. Here are just a few of my favourites:
A Fred one of a kind, the egg chair is punked up, totally fierce and looks like it might beat you up. Covered in real leather with metal studs and spikes imported from the US…..talk about a conversation starter! Also, if you ever wanted to say “well hellooo Mr Bond’…..I’m just saying.
Working in collaboration with Singaporean artist Fadzil resulted in this little beauty. It’s the eyeball chair, but not as you know it. Instant street cred delivered straight to your living room.
We have a lot of love for Korla Home over here at City Nomads, so delighted is a bit of an understatement when we saw this gorgeous collaboration. I get it, I’m a geek, but their fabrics make me so happy.
Exclusive to Fred Lives Here, this is the artistry of design house, JSPR. Designer Jasper Van Grootels takes vintage, baroque furniture and completely covers it in a layer of soft rubber. The entire range sees chairs, sofas, tables and accessories snug as a bug in a rubber casing. The effect is amazing, it’s totally durable and can be requested in an indoor or outdoor finish. Why have a rattan garden chair when you can have a rubber throne?!
There is so much more to see, but I don’t want to spoil your fun. Fred Lives Here has a ‘kid in a candy store’ effect. You can customise pretty much everything but you may find that you don’t want or need to, because it already looks pretty great. The founder and owner (I’m still not sure about this Fred chap- he was keeping a low profile when I popped in!) is Angie, an absolute star whose energy and enthusiasm is totally contagious. Fred Lives Here is a testament to her quest for distinctive and funky furniture, attention to quality craftsmanship and appreciation of awesomeness!
Prices range from $100 up to $6,500 for an original designer piece. For an established artist’s fine-art piece, prices are circa $8,800.