New Designs

At Rume we are always trying to come up with the next new furniture thing but designing anything original is always fraught with danger and disappointment. You don’t want to spend hours working on something fabulous only to find that it is an unintentional copy of something that was first designed in Brazil in 1952. So how do I know that I haven’t seen something fleetingly and then summoned it up later? I don’t.

For this reason it is becoming increasingly difficult to think of anything new without a little creative denial. Any resemblance to sofas living or dead is purely coincidental. The internet is a constant reminder of how massive the world is, anything I think of has probably been thought of before, somewhere. The only option is combinations of old ideas put together in original ways. A bit like words, we've heard them all before but new poetry is still possible, thoughts made flesh. Originality is now diversity.

So with that in mind welcome to New Designs. Well, new ish. Here I will show you what we have in development, designs that are new to me at least. I will write a little description about each piece and maybe where the idea came from, that way if you recognise something from somewhere else you will at least be able to feel a little sympathy for poor ole deluded me.

If you really like something then let us know and we can make it for you, it will probably be the very first of its kind, apart from the thousands of near identical ones in Sao Paulo.

B O S U N

The Bosun is an angular chair with stainless legs, side frames and a dramatic raked back, it has distinctive shoulders and a strong presence. Also available as a wide arm sofa.

W I L L I S

The Willis is based on a American design that has been around since the late forties. It is very precise with slender arms, button back and long slim legs with an under frame.

B E L L E

The Belle is a beautiful, slender sofa and corner system of delicate proportion on long metal legs with fifties antecedents. Also available as a chaise, chair and ottoman.

D A F O E

The Dafoe is a chaise of exacting line and proportion. With crisp cushions and a slender under frame it is poised and refined, perfect for wiling away the elegant hours.

P E L L M E L L 

The Pellmell is a big, bold sofa with welted seams on the arms and cushions and a solid timber base. It has wide arms and thick cushions, perfect for curling and sprawling.

C A A B

The Caab is a compact sofa with dipped timber legs, slim arms and platform and asymmetrical button detail. An elegant, comfortable sofa, especially when space is restricted.

S E S S I O N

The Session is low slung sofa with a fully upholstered button back and stainless steel sled legs. A modern, contained sofa, suitable for corporate use as well as domestic.

L I L I B E T

The Lilibet is a fabulous fully upholstered chesterfield with a plain seat, button back and shapely legs. A daring reinterpretation of an English classic soon to enter production.

T H R A L L

The Thrall is proving something of a challenge, currently in development it is demanding an extraordinary level of precision and is a testament to the skill of our frame makers.

B R O M P T O N

The Brompton is a very restrained Tee front sofa with turned tapered legs and a seamed off set button back detail. Compact and elegant it makes the most of any space.

T R Y S T

The Tryst is a high armed conversation sofa with a single cushion and slender metal or timber legs. With its fluted back it looks especially lovely when free standing.

I D L E W I L E

The Idlewile is a chair I am looking forward to making. It has been through many iterations but is now about as pared back as it can be. Can come with a footstool if so desired.

S T R A I G H T L Y

The Straightly is anything but straight, with its arms curving in all directions, turned front legs and tapered back legs. The back is fully upholstered with two pulls per seat.

U N I T Y

The Unity is a corner system made up of sections of any length. It is very adaptable and can be tailored to fit a room exactly. A  range of sofas and a chair are also available.

S E S S I O N

The Session sofa has already had a mention but the Session chair is also worthy of a look. Low with a fully upholstered button back it is a great piece of furniture in its own right.