Designer Spotlight: Darwin by Claire

Meet Claire! Our talented in-house Textile Designer, responsible for the beautiful native floral designs seen on our new MyHouse Darwin Quilt Cover Set, forming part of our Cosy Cabin range.

The MyHouse® Cosy Cabin collection invites you to embrace winter's warmth through nostalgic prints and natural textures. Claire’s hand-painted illustrations of beautiful native botanicals and animals capture the essence of Australian winter escapes though painterly strokes in a lush, natural colour palette. Each piece – from bedroom essentials like quilt cover sets, bed sheets, and throws to home decor including cushions, faux plants, and wall art – weave together to create a harmonious sanctuary in your home inspired by crisp mornings spent exploring Australia’s stunning natural landscapes.

We had the pleasure of sitting down with Claire to discuss her design process and inspiration for the Darwin design featured across a range of quilt covers, sheets, throw blankets and more.

What are you inspired by and how did this inform the Darwin design?

The Darwin design celebrates Australia's unique flora with illustrations of banksias, eucalyptus, waratahs, proteas, and flowering gums dancing across quilt covers, cushions, throws, and wall art canvases. Claire illustrated a range of bold and subtle interpretations of these beloved native blooms before settling on the Darwin design we see today, focusing on delicate native Australian florals and their intricate details.

“I always get inspiration from nature. I love how many shapes and colours you can implement into a design no matter how simple or complex it is. I also gather a lot of my inspiration from fashion designers and what I am surrounded by everyday – the smallest most simple thing could spark an idea. It’s also fun bouncing ideas off others in the team, they always have fresh perspectives on things that I might not think of yourself.”

What was your design process for Darwin?

The Darwin Quilt Cover Set’s beauty shines not just through it’s aesthetic, but through its versatility. Being reversible with two designs, Darwin is the perfect doona cover for those who love to switch things up from time to time.

The reversible design offers two stunning looks in one quilt cover, allowing you to switch between bold and subtle interpretations of these beloved native blooms. Choose the bold, large scale side for a botanical focal point, or display the smaller, repeated side for a softer look.

“The brief given by the product team was a native design, given that we know our customer loves a native floral. I then started collecting photography of various native plants as inspiration as well as getting a native floral arrangement to have real life examples too. From there I began drawing the different motifs in pencil and then using watercolour paints to colour them. Next, I photographed the paintings to upload to the computer where I edited them in Photoshop. Once the motifs were cleaned up and the colours were right, I started playing with the layouts until we were happy with the complete look.”

“We sampled two options - one large scale placement print and the other a smaller scale repeating pattern. They both looked great, so we decided to use the large scale on the front and the small scale on the reverse which is wonderful because now the customer has two options in one to suit their style!”

Where have the designs been used in the collection?

Pair the Darwin Quilt Cover Set with the matching European Pillowcase, Banksia Throw, or Cushion for a stylish bedroom ensemble. Or bring a touch of nature to your walls with the Native Bird Wall Art, Gumnut Wall Art, or Protea Wall Art. No matter what you choose, the Darwin design is sure to bring botanical charm and brighten up your space this winter.

“We used the designs on the Darwin Quilt Cover Set, as well as the European Pillowcases and a throw. We also used some of the motifs to create some beautiful wall art, so that customers could create a cohesive look throughout their bedroom, pairing their linen with their artwork, which is a really nice touch.”

What Comes in a Quilt Cover Set?

The Darwin Quilt Cover Set includes one quilt cover and two standard pillowcases for sizes ranging from Queen to Super King. Single sized quilt cover sets include one pillowcase. Mix and match the Darwin Quilt Cover Set with bed sheets, pillowcases, cushions, and throws in complementary greens, ochre tones, and soft shades of blue and pink for a cohesive ensemble.

We hope you’ve enjoyed hearing from Claire about her process behind creating the Darwin design. You can explore more of Claire’s designs on a range of doona covers, bed sheets, throws, cushions, and more in the MyHouse® Cosy Cabin range today!