Ben Mooney’s refreshing aesthetic imaginative and prescient has been cultivated not by means of formal design coaching, however by means of a sensitivity to things and areas that he’s possessed since childhood – a sensitivity he attributes largely to his mom’s affect. This private entry level has allowed the collector, curator and retailer to develop a voice that’s distinctive inside most educational and business dialogues. The founding father of Ma Home and Ma Home Provide Retailer in Collingwood, Melbourne, Mooney has patiently gained a faithful following since opening the hybrid area in 2021. First, he established the upstairs as an occasion and photoshoot venue (and likewise his house), then he opened the downstairs retailer, which provides a very eclectic and ever-changing, hand-picked array of recent design and artwork (on consignment), displayed beside classic and vintage items from world wide. As an area, I can affirm Mooney’s assertion that he lovingly rearranges his nook retailer on daily basis, and – due to its full-height glazing – his expertise may be seen from throughout the highway.
Mooney is extraordinarily humble, and his enterprise has been removed from simple (lease and monetary struggles, COVID and, initially, a market that didn’t “get” his work). Whereas he knew from a younger age that he had a present for amassing and adorning, it’s solely now, in his thirties, that Mooney has adopted his ardour, that individuals are “getting” it, and that he’s “lastly in a great place.” He not too long ago designed and picked up the decor for Incu’s Make Room Bode retail set up (at QV in Melbourne), collaborating with stylist and photographer Phillip Huynh and furnishings maker Sean Brickhill, who constructed the fitout. He additionally introduced the In Reward of Shadows group exhibition at Ma Home Provide Retailer throughout Craft Up to date 2023; and can maintain the Cloth exhibition throughout Melbourne Design Week 2024 with multidisciplinary designer Zachary Frankel. These artistic tasks – which maybe affirm Mooney’s place within the design group – have occurred naturally by means of his mates and collaborators, and thru word-of-mouth.
On his enterprise’s enlargement from an occasion/photoshoot area to a bricks-and-mortar retailer, Mooney says folks renting upstairs would usually ask if his uncommon collections had been on the market. The space-for-hire mannequin additionally led to oblique (and, Mooney admits, unintentional) advertising for Ma Home, as Mooney’s inside styling discovered its means into skilled pictures for manufacturers; as these photos had been shared, so too was his aesthetic. He was additionally invited to type occasions, shoots and different folks’s areas, and cites these as ongoing pursuits. Trade encouragement has helped Mooney really feel assured to comply with his “calling.” He says of this gradual, natural and “no-marketing” method: “If you happen to’re coming from outdoors the design group, it’s a must to present folks what you are able to do … It’s in all probability the toughest option to do it, however in the event you can create a spot folks need to go to and speak about, finally the thought catches on.” Mooney’s approachable (although by no means calculating) method has been vital, too. He says: “Ma Home Provide’s door is at all times open, so it’s simple to have a chat with the designers, makers and collectors who go to. I’m fairly chill, and there’s by no means an obligation to take the dialog anyplace. However everybody whom I’ve stocked, or who has sourced items from me, I’ve met inside the shop.”
Mooney’s persistence together with his bodily areas is admirable, given it’s typical to begin on-line or by way of social media. He knew he wanted the shop to specific his imaginative and prescient, and that he wanted to belief his instincts and expertise. After a protracted and arduous means of renovating upstairs, which re-opened as an area for rent just a few months in the past, Mooney says the constructing lastly feels full. “After I was a child, there was numerous good second-hand outlets promoting a mixture of every part. Ma Home Provide is a little bit of a nod to these locations. It may be tough to combine inventory from completely different intervals and kinds: inserting unrelated objects close to one another and balancing tone and texture. I can’t clarify how I do it – I’ve simply completed it endlessly and it feels pure.” Mooney does clarify how he sources items, sharing his mom’s commentary that, unusually for a kid, he would quickly scan objects after they went vintage purchasing. He goes on: “It’s like there’s a search engine in my head going shortly and methodically as I browse the shop – part by part. I’ve educated myself to say ‘no’ to things quickly.” Mooney provides that he doesn’t store on-line; he wants to the touch the objects.
A mixture of outdated and new, Ma Home Provide Retailer has at all times included modern creatives, together with Nicole Lawrence, Sean Brickhill and Nicholas Aylward, amongst others. Mooney says he sells “worthy merchandise made by worthy folks ” – and by this he means folks with good values and good communication. He says he “loves giving these designers a platform, serving to them to earn cash from their observe, and finally, to succeed.”
In the case of adorning, Mooney says, “I’ve a private connection to every part I accumulate, and the shop is sort of a portray: it’s my medium to specific my inside world to others.” He gravitates in the direction of issues with historical past, and timeless supplies over objects that really feel trend-driven: “I like ornamental items that don’t have a present ‘it-object’ standing – some folks stroll previous that look, whereas others get it.” He attributes this eye to a childhood spent devouring fairytales and loving the aesthetics of Harry Potter and Enid Blyton, and to his mom’s eclectic ornamental affect. Mooney by no means lived in an exquisite house, however has learnt create stunning areas by means of a considerably photographic reminiscence: “As a baby, I studied photos lots. I’ve seen and remembered so many photos of objects, rooms and buildings, and so they’re locked away someplace in my thoughts.” He suspects that, partly, his intense urge to gather – and share – stunning objects is a option to make his childhood desires come true.