Asta Barrington

British design with a Scandinavian touch

Asta Barrington is the designer behind home wares label Alabasta, which launched in January 2011. She has been a textile designer since graduating from the Royal College of Art in London in the mid nineties, successfully making and selling her own label embroidered scarves and blankets worldwide since then. A few years ago she began designing patterns that were just so intricate and complicated that she felt they had far more potential as printed products and so the idea of the Alabasta range was born.

Asta spent much of her childhood summer holidays at her Danish grandparents' wooden summerhouse and the birch wood trays that she now designs link back to her memories of Scandinavian home wares that surrounded her there. The linear signature style of the Alabasta range takes its inspiration from nostalgic spirograph-like patterns, vintage lace and calligraphy whilst a passion for colour is responsible for its confident positive shades.

What Asta finds appealing about the trays is that they fulfil the dual requirements of function and form. Not only do they look good but they have excellent eco credentials and are practical as well. The trays are made in the small town of Nybro in Sweden. The surrounding renewable forests are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and provide their raw material. The tray will last at least 5 years of constant wear and tear and can even be put in the dishwasher - as long as you can fit it in!