Telling a story through furniture design
Stepping inside The Design Depot is like reading a great novel. The Mount Maunganui showroom goes beyond the physical space to tell a story. It’s a story that customers are truly participating in it. Each chair, lampshade and rug is perfectly put together to create an atmosphere for customers, making it easy to visualise that gorgeous wooden tabletop or leather lounge suites in a living room at home.
Inside the store you’ll find a beautiful standalone sofa is complemented by a rug and the texture of the rug contrasts with the fabric of the sofa. The sofa, the rug, the accessories, textures and colours – they all work together to complete the look.
“We furnish for lifestyle,” says The Design Depot store manager and interior designer Deborah Moore. “Particularly in the Bay of Plenty, people are here for that relaxing lifestyle and furniture has to relate to that.”
This edgy inspirational store stocking furniture, homewares, lighting and bed linen is every home – owners dream.
Raylene Marsh opened The Design Depot Hamilton store in 2011 and saw an opportunity in Mount Maunganui for a second store, opening in June last year. Her vision for the store was something a little different than the standard. She envisaged a store offering unique pieces and the full design experience.
Specialising in design consultations, product sourc – ing and bringing uniqueness to every home, The Design Depot’s products are expertly and creatively merchandised to inspire and showcase quality and exclusive local and global brands. “That’s what set us apart,” says Larisa Cochrane of The Design Depot. “We hunt out unique products from international suppliers, often heading to trade fairs in Europe and Asia for the latest look. “But we’re also very big supporters of New Zealand manufacturers, and we’re proud of that.”
What’s trending currently is an organic textural look, says Deborah. “It’s bringing in all your different elements like wood, stones, metals and very earthy colours. Soft corals are also on trend with inky blues.” But if that’s not your style, The Design Depot team is skilled in helping customers find the right furniture and fabrics for their home. They’re more than just a retail store, with staff boasting expert knowledge in interior design. “Deborah has 15 years’ experience and she’s very good at what she does,” says Larisa. “The advantage of having a retail store is we can showcase a lot of products to our interior design customers, but also use our experience to find unique pieces for them that we might not have on the floor. “With our experience and interior design service, we can help guide customers to the right products that aesthetically look great but are also functional, practical, and fit your budget. “That’s really important to us. We take pride in getting it right for people, often making a trip to a customer’s home to really make sure.”
Deborah says their vast fabric library opens up options to customers for custom products. Items can be made in expensive or modestly-priced fabrics, giving customers a beautiful NZ-made chair at a price that won’t break the budget. Backed with exceptional customer service it is easy to see why The Design Depot is a constant winner of local and national awards for outstanding retail excellence.
The Design Depot is a previous NZ Top Shop Awards winner and are the recent winners of the NZ Interiors Design Awards part of the Waikato Home and Garden Show last weekend. Experience the story or find a regular inspirational fix at The Design Depot today.