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Interior Design Features
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Furniture shops, rather like residential developments, are sprouting up all over Phuket. They cater to all tastes and pockets, with the newer ones tending to target the growing expat scene. One relative newcomer to this arena is Barang Barang Antik, named after the Indonesian term for "possessions" or "luggage". Supplying both antique and reproduction pieces, the dizzying array of items are all imported from Indonesia. |
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The showroom and retail outlet occupies a relatively humble double shophouse, exactly two and a half kilometers from the Tesco Lotus Supercentre junction, going towards the airport along the Phuket Town bypass road. You'll find it on the right-hand side, opposite what will be the new Chan's Antiques showroom. If the exterior is humble, the interior is anything but. On the ground floor, furniture and household items are laid out as living and dining areas, whilst the upper floor has bedroom settings. Shop owner is the ebullient Amanda Fairfield. Of English origin, Amanda has spent the majority of her 42 years living, working and shopping in Asia. She has a workshop in Java, where she also spends some time tending a host of animals, including a fully grown sun bear that she regularly swims with! Having been in the furniture business for 17 years, she began her Thai operation in Bangkok, from where she still runs a wholesale business. She decided to make the move to Phuket in order to breathe cleaner air. "For me, living in Phuket has obvious advantages over Bangkok and I believe the market here is now big enough to support our operation, " she commented.
Every item in Amanda's shop is Indonesian. Being something of a shopaholic, she is constantly finding antiques on her travels and items to inspire new ideas for factory-produced pieces. "Our newer items are all made from recycled timber which is kiln-dried in order to harden it, " declared Amanda. "None of the wood is varnished or lacquered. Instead, we use teak oil to achieve a smooth finish and to render the wood more resilient to damage and climatic extremes, " she added. Whilst oiling is the primary wood treatment, staining is not taboo, and the stain is within the oil. The shop sports a daunting range of items; from the obvious chairs, tables, cupboards and pictures, to the less obvious antique writing desks, almost life-size wooden puppets, a range of Ikats and other fabrics. Candle holders and chandeliers also feature in unexpected places. On the floor, next to the entrance, is a heavy, solid wood, conical affair, about 15 inches in diameter and a foot deep. It contains many kilos of wax and three wicks which had been burning furiously for six weeks (office hours only!) when I visited. "That one will probably last forever, " proclaimed Amanda. An interesting range of terracotta crockery with animal-shaped handles adorns some of the displays, and one of the many surprises was a woven tray with attached, concertinering bug net. To complement the tray, there was also a set of smaller, oval ones. There's nothing unusual about bug-proof food covers, but I'd never seen folding ones before. "They're a brand new range, " said Amanda, "and we can do the netting in several colours. In fact, I'm hoping these will be very popular in the resorts. Imagine having your poached egg and toast brought to you on one of these, " she gushed, pointing to the tray and flipping the netting to and fro, as if to make sure it still worked. Alongside the net-flipping food covers I found something resembling small bread boards. Cleverly I recognised the wood as having come from the coconut tree. "Sushi dishes, " I was enlightened. Of course. What else?
On the adjacent table I noticed an assortment of animals, one of which was a large ironstone piggy bank, more than a foot long. The Indonesians seem almost obsessed with animals, nor are they shy about dramatising sexual anatomy - at least, in artistic form. Two large gonads reached almost to the ground on this porcine creature. No problem there, but neither of us could fathom out the small hole at the rear, suggestively near where a hole would naturally occur. It certainly wasn't big enough to extract even the tiniest of coins. On the upper floor I found a magnificent antique Ambon bed, a four-poster. Although a bed, it would look just as much in place in a living room, as a settee or lounger; ideal for those of us who occasionally find ourselves asleep in front of the television. Coffee tables are one of Amanda's personal favourites. Alongside the bed was an old weaving loom, obviously put to use by the weaver sitting on the floor. The height allows it to now double perfectly as a coffee table, the uprights of the loom apparatus serving at least as a talking point, if not for anything more practical. Yet another surprise find here was a reproduction sofa-bed; wooden, hard and very angular, suggesting to me that the much softer contemporary counterparts of the West may well have had their origins in the East.
"Recently, I've been finding a lot of huge ornate wooden doors and columns from demolition sites, " Amanda enthused. "We're also getting a lot of enquiries about Balinese houses. Some of our customers are very interested in building Balinese-style homes, and we now have an agency for complete salas. The materials and design concepts are rather different to the Thai ones, " she added. "We are also branching into a range of garden furniture, for which our wood is ideally suited. Should it tend to dry out in the sun, all that's needed is a fresh dose of teak oil. It's really very simple, " she observed. "We supply the teak oil here, and in fact, we've had some surprisingly large orders for it. " Earlier this year she exhibited at the TIFF (Thailand International Furniture Fair) trade fair in Bangkok. They have a large wholesale market, supplying to hotels, resorts and spas throughout Asia, including Thailand. Phuket, though, is their only retail outlet. "We are different, " Amanda declared. "Even if our designs could be copied, I doubt the finish could be. Our target market is not necessarily the rich and famous. Many people think that because our products are imported they must be expensive, but as you can see that's not the case. I think people will be quite surprised if they just come and have a look. " She was right about the prices. I spotted a very attractive cloth and bamboo, teepee-shaped floor light. The cost? Just 300 baht. It's now mine. Barang Barang Antik |
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Tropical Living: Oct 2002, Volume 2 Issue 5 |
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