Mally Skok for Dowel:
Behind the Scenes
My Dowel Journey by Mally Skok
South African’s tend to have this nasty habit of thinking that they can have a go at just about anything! There is something in our culture that is all about can do/make do, plunge right in – truth be told, it is actually a little bit frightening! What I’m trying to explain, is how I suddenly got to be designing a furniture line for my lovely friends Joanne Lee and Ray Hallare, the young entrepreneur brother/sister team, that started an interior designer line of furniture out of their family factory in the Philippines.
After we became friends, bumping into each other at events, we started talking about working together on a couple of furniture pieces. Sure, I can do that! – says me scribbling a couple of designs in my Moleskine on one of my endless flights to my homeland. When they asked if they could get everything drawn to scale, and with 3D views, I had a massive panic, and then got schooled really fast!
The one thing that I was really sure of, was the way I wanted my furniture to look. From the time I started getting pocket money, my sister and I would spend hours sifting through dusty second-hand shops. My love of unusual furniture has never waned. From the lowliest country chair, to the loftiest chest inlaid with rare woods, if it has that special odd little twist, it claims my heart.
My well-traveled collection is based on furniture that I own or wish I had owned!
All the pieces are available in 2 oak finishes, 4 warm wood stains, 6 curated paint colors, or a custom paint color of your choice.
Read more below for more insight into the inspiration for some of the pieces.
Lots Road Ottoman and The Lizard Lounge Chair
This chair mimics a marvelous old Georgian chair that sits by the fireplace in our living room. I always notice that it is a favourite spot for friends to perch when we have a dinner party. It is super roomy without being clunky – (one of my furniture pet peeves) – you can sit there surveying the room, or pull it in towards the sofa for an intimate chat. It’s the perfect chair for a what my Brit pals call a ‘lounge lizard’.
Ottoman Available in Custom Sizes
Aegean Klimos Chair and Murdock Table
With the sad demise of the traditional antique store, I decided to make this table to celebrate those wonderful moments when you're wandering around a large space filled with oodles of ‘meh’ brown furniture, when suddenly a beauty, that doesn’t look like anything else you have ever seen before, catches your eye. The place I loved to frequent was a rambling set of buildings in an impossible little street to find in Somerville. Many Murdock Street pieces are littered around my house, but this table is probably the piece that I love the most. I had to make a version of it!
Table Available in Custom Sizes
Scallop Side Table and Irish Child's Chair
22 Years ago when David and I first moved to Boston he was working night and day getting his start-up going, and there was not a lot interior design money floating around! A friend sent me to a big warehouse out in the sticks that sold paint your own wooden furniture. I fell in love with this little scalloped table, painted it green, and it turned out to be the best $75 I ever spent. It is such an unusual height. The lamp sheds perfect illumination down on your book. It has a little lower shelf for books and bowls or whatever. I had to make one for the collection. Never seen anything like it again!
Milkmaid Stools
In my wanderings around English antique shops, I often see adorable little beat up stools that look like milkmaid stools! I love when they have this useful little cutout place on the top so you can easily scoop them up. Also, they usually have only 3 legs, making them rather unstable. Last year I found a darling little pair of these stools with my daughter that lives in London. We placed them on either side of her rather grand fire place in Parsons Green. Suddenly I started seeing little stools everywhere- pushed under coffee tables or tucked under an old trestle tables in a country kitchen. I just had to make a Mally version!