Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1488935
D esigner and maker of bespoke carpets JD Staron has opened its first Texas showroom in Dallas Design Center. Originally a painter, master weaver Jakub Staron studied weaving at boarding school in his native Poland. He later founded Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków and, after a year, moved to the U.S. and obtained a BFA in painting from Parsons and an MFA from Hunter College, and he was accepted into boarding art school for weaving. He now owns a premier resource for custom carpets catering to designers and architects. It's his eye as an artist combined with the technique of a craftsman that makes his work so compelling. "I realized that I'm just using yarns instead of paints," Staron says. "I'm discovering new things every day." He travels to remote areas of India and Nepal to work with weavers and craftspeople to create each rug, often a months-long process. When the designer visited Dallas for a recent event, he fell in love with Texas. "I saw the whole glamour of it. It's just this incredible energy. People wearing evening gowns to a noon cocktail party was just: 'Wow, this is my place!'" After participating in the Kips Bay Showhouse, the JD Staron team knew it was the right decision to open a showroom in Texas. A partnership in the showroom space with Studio Van Den Akker — makers of exquisite made- to-order furniture, lighting, and architectural products — made for a perfect match. JD Staron, Dallas Design Center, 1025 N. Stemmons F r e e w a y, B u i l d i n g C , Suite 280, jdstaron.com. Anne Lee Phillips Dream Weavers A rendering of the JD Staron showroom, drawn by Jakub Staron I n 2008, brothers Richard and Bryce Capp devised a way to make extra money by creating reproduction art prints for the interior design market out of their parents' shed in Queensland, Australia. Bryce, who designed the brochure, tossed in a photo of a wall mural he liked, even though they'd never done one before. "We had more interest from people in the murals than our prints, so it derailed our whole business plan," says Richard, whose accent lies somewhere between a rough-and-tumble Steve Irwin and a suave Hugh Jackman. "We were young and naive, so we went down that path." Requests for wallpaper soon followed. A quest for a vibrant design market took the brothers to Austin in 2016 and, five years later, Dallas. Last month, the Capps opened their first retail showroom, Milton & King (named after their parents' middle names), in the Dallas Design District. Digitally printed on woven cotton, the wallcoverings feature hundreds of designs created by 60 artists from around the globe and include scenic murals such as tropical landscapes inspired by 18th- century etchings, botanicals including their best-selling Herbarium Antique wallpaper, and floral patterns like Huia & Chrysanthemum, which is based on the Huia, one of New Zealand's most iconic extinct birds. Everything is made to- order at the showroom's 3,500-square- foot print room, which will double in size in January. The Capps are also introducing customizable vinyl and non- woven wallpapers suitable for hospitality use. Business is booming, but the brothers are still hands-on. "The advantage to printing on-site is that we can control the quality — Bryce is in the print room every day," Richard says. "And if you come into the showroom, you'll probably be greeted by me." Wallpaper in double rolls, from $98, at Milton & King, 900 Dragon St., miltonandking.com. Rebecca Sherman Got You Covered Left: South Asian Subcontinent Mural wallpaper in beige by Milton & King.