The Design Files Open House 2013 · Melbourne + Sydney!

The Design Files Open House MELBOURNE location!  Paint colour - Mondrian Blue by Dulux, Small portrait and large landscape painting by Sally Ross, courtesy Murray White Room.  Painting just creeping in on right hand side by Skye Jefferys.  Vessels from left to right - Dinosaur Designs, timber box by Country Road, handblown glass display domes by Amanda Dziedzic, concrete trinket boxes and hexagonal desktop mirror by Studio Kyss.  Alby ottoman and Olba side table by Jardan.  Rug by Loom.  Photo - Eve Wilson, styling - Lucy Feagins, Nat Turnbull, production - Lisa Marie Corso.

The Design Files Open House MELBOURNE location!  Painting on far wall by Kirra Jamison, courtesy Sophie Gannon Gallery.  Paint colour on left wall - Mondrian Blue by Dulux, Landscape painting by Sally Ross, courtesy Murray White Room,  Painting on right hand side by Skye Jefferys.  Concrete trinket boxes and hexagonal desktop mirror by Studio Kyss.  Handblown glass display domes on dining table by Amanda Dziedzic, Alby ottomans, Olba side tables, Kelly chairs, Nook sofa, Kiyo Dining Table and Bay dining chairs by Jardan.  Rugs by Loom.  Photo - Eve Wilson, styling - Lucy Feagins, Nat Turnbull, production - Lisa Marie Corso.

The Design Files Open House MELBOURNE location!  Painting on far wall by Kirra Jamison, courtesy Sophie Gannon Gallery.  Handblown glass display domes on dining table by Amanda Dziedzic.  Kiyo Dining Table and Bay dining chairs by Jardan.  Photo - Eve Wilson, styling - Lucy Feagins, Nat Turnbull, production - Lisa Marie Corso.

The Design Files Open House 2013!   Wall colour - Waterworld by Dulux.  Mink Grey American Oak Floorboards by Royal Oak Floors.  Artwork from left - work on paper in custom acrylic frame by Miranda Skoczek, steel sculpture by Dion Horstmans, original vintage poster (beneath) from Galerie Montmartre, Lightly 'Big Top' wall hook, Loop painting by Kirra Jamison, courtesy Sophie Gannon Gallery, small painting top right also by Kirra Jamison, portrait far right by Sandra Eterovic.  Bench by Jardan.  Neoprene tote bag with tassel by Witu.  Photo - Sean Fennessy, styling - Lucy Feagins, Nat Turnbull, production - Lisa Marie Corso.

OK.  Deep breaths, people.  The worst kept secret in Melbourne is finally OUT today - we are SO EXCITED to let you know that our ever popular annual event The Design Files Open House will indeed be BACK in 2013, and... for the first time, we're taking it to SYDNEY! Yep you heard me.  This year Open House will pop in Melbourne and in Sydney, two weeks apart!  From November 21st - 24th we'll occupy the most amazing home in Hawthorn, Melbourne, then we're packing the whole thing up and moving in to another incredible home in Surry Hills, Sydney from Dec 5th - 8th!  Ooh la la.  Things are gonna get a little crazy! We made a little film to help promote this year's event - please do watch it below, and share!  Huge thanks to my dear pal, talented filmmaker Jessica Leski, for making this colourful little teaser, and to Melbourne musician Matt Walters for generously allowing the use of his beautiful track 'Vacant Heart' to accompany the film.  Must admit, it's got a lot of ME in it, but it's only 1.2 minutes long so I hope it's bearable :)

The Design Files Open House 2013 Promo film!  Directed and edited by Jessica Leski, with music by Matt Walters.  Watch on Vimeo here.

For the uninitiated, I feel I should probably explain.  The Design Files Open House represents the ultimate ‘Australian home’, with an added bonus – everything is for sale!  From bedlinen to books, artwork, furniture and soft furnishings, everything in the house can be purchased on the spot!  This year we have over 70 local designers, artists and makers involved in the event, including 35 new designers / artists who have never participated before. Many will be creating brand new pieces exclusively for the event! Today you can browse the brand spanking new The Design Files Open House website to see which wonderful brands, designers and artists are involved in this year’s event!  In the coming weeks, we will also upload a selection of product on the website, so you can see some of the original artwork and product we’ll have in store.  I am truly indebted to the incredible team who designed and built this amazing new website for Open House - Jesse Mallon, Adam Gibson and Andy Sargent at SouthSouthWest, and Pete Brundle and Patrick Campbell at PDA.  These guys are not only the most talented team, but are also surely the nicest blokes in town.  THANKYOU SO MUCH guys - you are the absolute BEST EVER, I mean it! This year we're thrilled to have five wonderful Major Event Sponsors supporting The Design Files Open House 2013.  Once again we have partnered with our pals at Jardan and MINI to bring the event to life, both of whom have been with us since 2011 - we are so grateful for their ongoing support!  Additionally, for the first time we're incredibly lucky to have the support of South Australian winery Petaluma, Australia's leading paint brand Dulux, and iconic Australian lifestyle brand Country Road.  We'll be working with Country Road to kit out our gorgeous Open House crew with new uniforms!  We're working with MINI to customise a very special new Mini Paceman for the garage (more news on that soon!).  We've devised Four 'Colours of Open House' by Dulux, to ensure this year's homes are filled with fantastic Dulux colour!  And Petaluma will be on hand between 3.00pm and 5.00pm at both events to offer all Open House visitors a complimentary wine tasting in the afternoons.  MASSIVE!   HUGE THANKS to our Major Event Sponsors for their generous support of this project.  We absolutely couldn't do it without them! SO, dear readers.  The next 2 months are set to get a little mad around here!  We’ll be ordering and receiving and barcoding stock.  We’ll be working with a handful of our favourite local designers on some exclusive products especially for Open House, and chatting to our artists to commission the perfect artworks for both our Melbourne and Sydney locations.  We’ll be chatting to Market Lane about the coffee set up in our Melbourne garden, and the amazing Cookes Food to dream up the yummiest catering for our opening night and media events.  And we’ll be working with The Project Agency and EVH to spread word of this year’s event far and wide! But YOU guys have only ONE TASK ahead.  Simply put a note in your diary, and make sure you come visit us, in either (or both!?) locations! Thankyou ALL for your endless support of this project and everything we dream up!  We can’t wait to get this show on the road, and meet you all in Melbourne and Sydney!

The Design Files Open House

Melbourne Event Thursday Nov 21st – Sunday Nov 24th 2013 Open 10.00am – 5.00pm daily Hawthorn, Melbourne Sydney Event Thursday Dec 5th – Sunday Dec 8th 2013 Open 10.00am – 5.00pm daily Surry Hills, Sydney (House locations to be announced soon!) Don't forget we also have a dedicated Twitter account for all things Open House - do follow us at @TDFopenhouse !

The Design Files Open House SYDNEY location!   Artwork on far wall - Julian Meagher.  All furniture by Jardan. Tableware, timber boxes by Country Road.  Concrete vessels and hexagonal desk top mirror (on table) by Studiokyss.  Photo - Sean Fennessy, styling - Lucy Feagins, Jennifer Byrne, production - Lisa Marie Corso.

The Design Files Open House SYDNEY location!   Artwork on far wall by Melinda Marshman.  All furniture by Jardan. Rugs by Loom.  Timber box on side table by Country Road.  Concrete vessels by Studiokyss.  Photo - Sean Fennessy, styling - Lucy Feagins, Jennifer Byrne, production - Lisa Marie Corso.

The Design Files Open House 2013!  Paint colour - Mondrian Blue by Dulux, Mink Grey American Oak Floorboards by Royal Oak Floors.  Clementine sideboard, Iko chair and Alby ottoman by Jardan. Painting by Esther Stewart. Big Top timber wall hook (on sideboard) by Lightly, handblown glass display domes by Amanda Dziedzic, brass hexagonal candle holders by Country Road.  Photo - Sean Fennessy, styling - Lucy Feagins, Nat Turnbull, production - Lisa Marie Corso.