
11.16.23
Sighted
Sarah Ellison Just Made Some of Her Most Iconic Designs Outdoor-Ready (It’s Summer in Australia, At Least)
Australian designer Sarah Ellison has a way of blending contrasting qualities into a beautifully integrated whole: refined yet comfy, chunky yet shapely, lowkey yet high polish, distinctive yet versatile. It’s a totally engaging vibe (maybe most fully embodied in the channeled velvet Float sofa, inspired by ’70s conversation pits), one that seems made for lounging on a patio by a pool. It only makes sense that the studio would bring it outside, sustaining the warm, earthy neutrals they’re known for while translating some of their signature indoor pieces into weather-ready versions.
“We wanted to treat outdoor spaces with the same level of design consideration you would an indoor space,” says Leigh McKeown, co-founder of Sarah Ellison. “As a result, our studio re-imagined some of the most iconic and loved designs with Muse, Alva, and Arch in new fabrications and materials suitable for either outdoor or indoor entertaining and dining.” So the easygoing Alva armchair now comes upholstered in a durable fabric over a quick-drying foam filling and galvanized aluminum frames. As does the modular Muse sofa, which can be configured as a two- or three-seater or simply an armless unit with an ottoman.
The outdoor collection also features reworked pieces from the Earth series: a bullnosed dining table and curved dining bench along with a coffee table and cocktail table, all made of concrete in a shade called Husk. Pull up a set of the sculptural molded plastic Arch chairs, in Pebble, to the dining table or use them individually. And the molded fiberstone Khouie planters match the Husk color of the Earth tables, so they’ll fit right in, too, but with their rounded cube shape (angular yet organic feeling) and choice of three sizes, they could really go anywhere, taking the outdoors in and the indoors out.