Faye Toogood – a chair for life

As one of the most coveted designers of the moment, Faye Toogood has made a name for herself by not following the norm. The Peace Outdoor Lounge Chair and Footstool are both made from heat-treated pine and designed with solitary activities like reading and rest in mind, rather than social gatherings.

Vaarnii invited you to think about a design for the outdoors. What were your immediate thoughts?

– I had just moved to a new home with a very large garden, so large I hadn’t really gotten my head around what to do with it. Because of that, landscape – and how to reconnect with it – had been on my mind when Vaarnii got in touch. So, outdoor furniture seemed like a very good suggestion.

How was it working with pine?

I love the fact that the pine will continue to age, evolve. We’ve left room for it to change as it ages, to silver, to crack. I think this chair will be more beautiful in ten years time than it is today. This acknowledging of aging is really special, it is something that we usually turn away from. Underlining the change in the natural material is a good thing. The Peace Chair will take the battering of the weather, it doesn’t need to be covered, it’s not precious. This chair is like a piece of leather furniture. It will get better and more beautiful as it ages. It has that same quality.

Outdoor furniture that integrates with its surroundings is perhaps the most effective?

There is something really special about how things change in the garden, the passage of time, the cycle of life. It forces you to be contemplative. This is the kind of chair you could sit in and think about that and feel part of the natural world around you.