What would I do without Pinterest and Instagram – my daily sources of beautiful things? My recent discover is Maison Deux. I came across its Instagram page purely by chance. I was immediately attracted by the color palette used for posting. Then I was totally bewitched by what I saw: the classic rocking horse re-designed in cloud, watermelon and bowler hat shapes.

How cute! How brilliant!

I contacted the brand and I had a chat with Pia Weinberg, one of the two founders. Enjoy the reading!

Tell us something about the two creative minds behind Maison Deux.

Woes (34) and I (31) both have a different expertise in the field of branding & design, which complements each other at different levels. We founded Maison Deux after the birth of our twin son and daughter. The celebration of new life and the loss of our daughter when she was six months old, gave our life a whole new perspective. We toke a break to set our minds. Woes quitted his job as a marketeer, and I stopped my fashion label and online webstore. The hectic period we had been through made us stronger. We decided to bundle up our forces and translated our love for interior design into a new home & living brand for (our) kids. A home filled with products that are iconic, simple and with a playful twist.

Where does the idea to renovate the rocking horse come from?

A rocking horse. A design icon, rocked by generations. But who said a rocking horse has to be an actual horse? We chose to give a new perspective on such a rocking icon where we trigger a kid’s imagination and let them rock their favorite shapes.

Why did you choose a bowler, a cloud and a watermelon as your key-icons and which are stories behind them?

These three icons are the start of our Iconic Rockers family, the new generation of rocking horses. Each have their own stories and dreams. The bowler hat for example once dreamt he was part of a very nice painting, called Son of Man. But he still doesn’t get why that man has an apple on his face. 😉

Where do you find inspiration for your creations?

I find inspiration in all kinds of things. If I’m in the supermarket I can get the wildest ideas when I stand in front of a candy department. I like to look at things that in the first place have a different meaning or role. And then translate that into print or furniture. Just like our Iconic Watermelon. An Watermelon on itself is such a beautiful fruit. The colour combination selected by nature is just perfect. I strive to find opposing materials that amplifies my designs. Such as the combination of solid French oak and 100% wool by Kvadrat, which I use for our Iconic Rockers.

Your brand is pretty new. What are the main issues you faced so far to run a business?

At this moment we focus on building our brand via our own platform, collaborations and retail partners. We are continuously looking for opportunities to collaborate and fuel children’s homes with minimalistic and playful designs.

Tell us 5 items that every kid’s room should have.

The basics such as a handcrafted crib and commode in combination with an iconic rocker, an animal face on the wall and classic wooden toys.

Which are your favorite websites for kids and your favorite blogs and/or Instagrammers?

There are so many cool initiatives and platforms around kids to follow, but to name a few; Milk Magazine, Family Bucket List, Smallable and Design Milk.

Choose a song, a city and a color that most rapresent Maison Deux.

Song by Coldplay “Adventure of a lifetime”, city LA, color  Blush.

www.maisondeux.com