Some designs come from trends. This one came from a story.
I've followed Sarah for years, back when she was a professional organiser in South Australia, so when she got in touch to order a custom sign for her latest project here in New Zealand, I was genuinely excited to make it.
Sarah is living in Fairlie now, restoring a 100-year-old courthouse, and she wanted something simple to honour its history. Not a big sign, nothing decorative, just a quiet, meaningful detail: an "est 1909" sign in gold steel.
She told me she used to stay on a farm just outside Fairlie as a teenager, and always dreamed of coming back one day. Now she has. Watching someone return to a place that meant something to them, and restore a building that holds its own history, felt pretty special to be part of.
This wasn't originally a product. It was a one-off custom piece designed for Sarah's home. But it stuck with me. There was something about the simplicity of it, just "est" and a year, clean and easy to place on a door, entry or wall.
It felt like something more people would connect with, and not just for historic homes. It suits new builds, renovations, first homes, weddings and anniversaries, because everything has a beginning.
My personalised established signs are now made to order with your chosen year. It might be the year your home was built, the year you moved in, the year you got married, or simply a year that means something to you. It's a subtle detail, but one that adds meaning to a space.
Like all my pieces, these signs are designed in my Auckland studio and made in New Zealand from quality steel, suitable for indoors and out. They're intentionally simple, made to suit modern homes without overwhelming them.
What started as a custom sign for a restored courthouse in Fairlie has become something others use to mark their own stories, and that's always the best kind of design. Thank you, Sarah. It really was a privilege to make this for you.
Explore my personalised signs.
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