Bella Loca – the collaborative table design process

We recommend you visit the web page referenced below for full details on the Bella Loca experience.

What “coding” has to do with tables…

Code. Commonly known as “a system of signals used to represent letters or numbers in transmitting messages.” Here at Rosewalker Arts, “coding” is a key component of the Bella Loca table design experience. Through our extensive work restoring our clients’ best-loved family heirlooms, we have had ample chance to think about the meaning of furniture and decorative art objects. Yes, there is an aesthetic element in the choosing and appreciating of fine objects. We like the way something looks.

But nothing rivals the piece that has a story attached to it. “I got it in Marbella.” “John and I found it under three inches of dust in a little antique shop in Paris.” “My Aunt Tilly bequeathed it to me.” Normally this kind of meaning is absent in a new piece of furniture you “found on sale.”

Rosewalker Arts wanted to devise a way in which you could not only choose from among proprietary design elements to curate a one-of-a-kind table, but also a way in which you could infuse meaning into your new piece. That’s where “coding” comes in. It might be an optional painted personal message (to be shared or hidden under the table as you see fit), a choice of stencil fabric for the painted stencil finish, or a paint color matched perfectly to a favorite piece of clothing. When you curate a Bella Loca table, you not only have a unique piece of furniture; you have a story to tell.

 

Buy experiences, not things…

According to Travis Bradberry, in Inc.: “Experiences become a part of our identity. We are not our possessions, but we are the accumulation of everything we’ve seen, the things we’ve done, and the places we’ve been. Buying an Apple Watch isn’t going to change who you are; taking a break from work to hike the Appalachian Trail from start to finish most certainly will…”

While Rosewalker Arts isn’t offering you a guided tour of the Appalachian Trail, we are passionate about the experiential nature of collaborative table design. This is why we offer Bella Loca. Tables that are curated by you from a selection of original design elements, designed to fit perfectly into your environment, and even coded with your own “DNA.” Such a creative collaboration is possible, and it need only take a few short weeks to welcome home a table that has been and will continue to be an experience your entire family can share.

 

What teddy bears & tables have in common…

“Tedward” leaning against a Bella Loca latte table

“Every adult said it would never work. Why would anyone ever want to make their own stuffed animal?” This, according to Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop, was the overall reaction to her idea of offering children and their parents a new process for buying that most popular of stuffed animals, the teddy bear. A process that involved not only choice, but –more importantly–meaning, bonding, and even soul-infusion.

When we began dreaming of an entire new way to buy a custom table, we ran into similar skepticism. After all, isn’t it easier — whether you’re a home owner or an interior designer — to go to a retail or wholesale outlet, choose something that’s “close enough” to what you’re looking for, and buy it? Or perhaps you could construct a table from some limited “custom” options online (never mind that this rarely results in a piece that is any more interesting than its “ready-to-wear” counterpart)?

Yes, these common approaches to buying a table may be easier. But are they engaging? Creative? Dare we say…magical?! One of the cornerstones of the Rosewalker Arts philosophy is collaboration. Collaboration within our studio, collaboration with our clients. Stay tuned over the coming days as we share more about Rosewalker‘s ultra-collaborative Bella Loca table design experience. We think you’ll find there is a way to get a table (or a bear) you’ll love from the bottom of your heart.