This Husband + Wife Duo Make Beautiful Timber Homewares (In Their Backyard!)
Studio Visit
Trouthouse’s work space, the Apricot Studio, is located in the backyard of their Preston home.
‘The name comes from the 150-year-old apricot tree it overlooks, which is the last remaining tree of a historic Chinese apricot orchard in Preston,’ Tild says.
Trouthouse is a design studio run by architect graduate Almo Troup and his wife Tild Simpson.
The Zig Zag range is Trouthouse’s debut collection of homewares and objects.
The Oscillate Incense Burner in progress.
‘We are currently using recycled Blackwood timber sourced from CERES Fair Wood.’
The handles come in different sizes, from ‘chunky’ to ‘slim’.
Rudy Mirror by Trouthouse.
Nutmeg Floating Shelf and Zig-Zag Hook by Trouthouse.
The idea behind this collection of zigzag-shaped timber objects began on Almo Troup and Tild Simpson’s honeymoon earlier this year.
Almo (a graduate architect) and Tild (who works in law reform and justice advocacy) are partners in both life and business, working together on Trouthouse, a design studio Almo started about five years ago.
‘Architecture school can be very speculative, and Trouthouse was a way to offset this by bringing personal projects to life,’ Almo says.
He first worked on a portable sleeping hut called The Coop, then an octagonal cabin called The Temple. More recently though, he cleverly renovated the ‘very decrepit old shed’ in the couple’s Preston backyard to turn it into the Trouthouse headquarters, dubbed the Apricot Studio.
‘We stripped it back to just the subfloor and took inventory of all the materials left over. Along with some other salvaged materials, we rebuilt the shed using almost all of the original materials, and only about 20 per cent new materials,’ Almo says.
After collaborating on a number of creative projects since they first got together seven years ago, the newlyweds have just launched Trouthouse’s first collection of playful timber objects!
The Zig Zag range includes a mirror, wall hooks, timber handles, floating shelves, and an incense burner, all united by a zigzag silhouette.
‘It was actually on our recent honeymoon in Tassie that we started cooking up the idea of a product range more formally. The design process has been collaborative since then,’ Tild says.
The new collection takes inspiration from Aztec symbolism and Mexican interiors, building on Trouthouse’s usual modernist and functional style of architecture. They also wanted the pieces to feel playful, offering a ‘necessary counterpoint to the increasingly common’ look of all-white and minimalist designs.
Almo carefully crafts every piece by hand from CERES Fair Wood sourced timber, which means it’s either recycled or has a known source, ‘generally from a Victorian sustainable agro-forestry supplier.’
Meanwhile, Tild helps with the finishing touches, quality control, as well running the business’ admin and social media.
‘Recycled and salvaged material use have been the main pillar of Trouthouse since its inception,’ Almo says. ‘When so many precious materials already exist, it makes no sense to us not to divert them from waste and avoid virgin material use where possible.
‘The more romantic reason though, is that materials with a past use carry a story with them, which makes using them and passing them on much more rich and exciting.’
Trouthouse is also starting a partnership with Revival Projects — a sustainable construction and design initiative — to divert ageing Melbourne street trees from the mulcher into their handcrafted objects.
A range of warm and ambient lamps are next up on their wishlist of projects to create – watch this space!