Interview * The Chairman & The Bag Lady * Glen +Lisa *

There was so much loveliness to capture for this story – I couldn’t possibly keep it a secret and decided to let Lucy Feagins of The Design Files in our Kyneton’s secret. Thank you to Lucy and her team at The Design Files for featuring these talented local country folk on your wonderfully inspiring design and style blog (you can find the link to The Design Files story at the bottom of this post). x

Husband and wife team Glen and Lisa Rundell opened Rundell & Rundell just prior to Christmas 2012 in a little weatherboard shop in the middle of popular foodie town Kyneton’s burgeoning Piper Street. The shop oozes what the Dutch call ‘Lekker’ and what we might call authentic, creative, inspiring ‘awesomeness’ – all set in a naturally cosy and inviting atmosphere.

Northern sunlight filters through the shop window and spills across rich floor floorboards, timber lined wall and more-ish quality furniture that bears an abundance of vintage and handmade timber and leather collectible and useable bits and bobs, most of which they’ve made themselves! YES, made THEMSELVES! I’m in awe of these two.

There’s a corner of the shop they’ve dedicated to old-fashioned Milk Paint – a recipe based on the non-toxic formula commonly used by the Shakers. The choice of 20 natural muted tones and colours make a refreshing change to the billions of confounding colours on contemporary non-too-health-conscious colour charts. Like all things in their shop, the paint is indicative of Glen and Lisa’s ethos and the attention they give to detail and time they devote to sourcing unique quality items.

Impressive sets of antlers lie here there and everywhere (Glen’s family have a deer farm – how FABULOUS and how ENVIOUS I am!) along with snow shoes and rustic tools. Not to mention lots of objects for fanciers of the “WOODCUTTERS COOL” aesthetic (that includes ME).

Glen harvests much of the timber himself. He sources Willow from the local riverside and majestic oak, pine and blackwood from sustainable harvesting in lots of special locations including the Royal Botanic Gardens and Fitzroy Gardens. People have taken to calling Glen if a tree falls on their property – knowing it will get a wonderful second life at the skilled work of his hands.

Just when I thought I couldn’t be any more impressed or in awe of this couple’s creativity – Lisa shows me her leather work. Using the same beautiful soft leathers as used in Bentley’s and sourcing unique vintage Liberty of London fabrics, Lisa creates understated tote bags and tool rolls – all hand-sewn and hand-stitched and each one individualised. Lisa hand-engraves the leather straps with R&R or client’s monograms, special poems or indeed anything they fancy – limited only by imagination.

In reviving lost trades, Rundell & Rundell is a breath of fresh air for the country in general, and Kyneton in particular, and an exemplar of excellence in a world where cheap mass-production has reigned far too long. VIVE LE METIERS PERDUS! {long live hand-made!} Enjoy! x
Glen + Lisa Rundell
Rundell & Rundell
Piper Street, Kyneton

View the story on The Design Files here: www.thedesignfiles.net Thanks again to Lucy Feagins and her wonderfully talented team. xx

Images. Kim Selby 2013.