SMITHMADE Maker: Bryce Hardy, Harbro Furniture

The quality of partnership stems from mutual growth, which is exactly what SMITHMADE has experienced with Bryce & his team at Harbro over the past 18 months.

SMITHMADE remains Harbro’s exclusive Sydney showroom and it's time to celebrate Harbros' evolution of Doug. 
Keeping with the modular format, ‘laid back’ design and quality materials all wrapped with luxurious feather.  We proudly introduce the Curved Doug and sit down with Bryce to ask why?

Bryce, Why Evolve Doug?
We wanted to create a curved sofa that wasn’t your standard rounded design that we’ve previously seen in the market. 
We love our Doug sofa and felt this was the right design to give a curve to, so using our floor stock we played around with potential module placement and found that creating the curve via the angles in which the modules connected worked really well. We absolutely love the result and think the roundness of the seat front is a beautiful contrast to the softer angles of the back. 

What designs are you gravitating towards?
To be honest there aren’t really any specific designs that we are following. We are driven by the belief that we can create high end furniture that rivals the high end European market. I guess we’re in a really fortunate position to not have many restrictions around what we can create, how it needs to be created or where it needs to fit. Ultimately this gives us the freedom to design with instinct and create the styles of furniture that we get excited by and want to see in the Australian market.

As an upholster which fabrics would you like to see more of?
Ultimately we’re trying to find fabrics that complement what we are creating. At the minute we’re drawn to fabrics with texture and depth, wools, thick cord's and velvets etc. We’re really loving bold colours and get excited when a client pushes the boundaries and chooses something with real wow factor. It’s like our sofas take on a new personality with every application. 



We admire your commitment to quality, how do you not compromise on your production within challenging times of supplies and economic shifts?
Quality is the key to what we do, and we thoroughly understand that our brand and its future does not exist without it.

Everything stems from a commitment to try and be the best we can, We understand nothing is perfect but we believe if we’re using this attitude as a basis for every decision we make moving forward, we’re on the right track to becoming better. 
We have faced various challenges throughout the pandemic, as with everyone else in the industry, but crisis breeds innovation and we’ve had to improve our supply chain to ensure that we have safety nets in place to mitigate any risks moving forward. It also helps that we have a strong team that are all really committed to making amazing quality products. 

We wish to acknowledge you and your team.  You've stood strong throughout the pandemics' restrictions, yet continue to deliver with an energy level we are envious of.  
If you could share wise words to our industry what would your message be?  
Thank you, however I don’t feel I’m in a position to be giving advice to anyone else in the industry. But, I can tell you what we live by in the Harbro house. That’s doing the right thing is always the right thing. What’s really refreshing about our business model is that we’re open, we’re honest, we’re transparent and we’re true to who we are. Our energy comes from the brand we are building, and we have an amazing team that all support and work towards the same goals.

We feel we have a unique opportunity to offer something different and new to the market. Our message is don’t accept mediocre and always try and push yourself to be better.  

Thanks again!
Bryce.