An Afternoon With Rich, Brilliant, Willing

I had every intention of going to IDS11 and reporting back on all the fun products and companies I saw, but I was pretty transfixed on just one company – Rich, Brilliant, Willing.

It all started early last week when my friend Ness emailed me asking if I wanted to go to IDS11 with her…and she happened to add that Theo Richardson (yes, Sarah Richardson’s brother and partner in crime for Sibling Revelry!) was a friend of hers.  Hello! Of course I would go with her!  When I was at the media preview last Wednesday, I mustered up all my strength and approached Theo telling him that I was a friend of Ness’ and that we would be going to the show on Saturday together.  The encounter that day made me even more excited for the weekend.

So, Saturday arrives and Ness and I make the R&R (Richardson and Richardson) Sibling Revelry exhibit our first stop.  Theo seemed very happy to see people he knew, as he was manning the exhibit on his own and it was packed! He immediately let us cut in line and took us into the “house”.

 

Theo and I in the bold dining room

Who knew that we would be spending an hour in the house getting inside scoop on his and Sarah’s vision, their family and how Rich, Brilliant, Willing came to be.  It was incredibly inspiring hearing Theo’s story of his schooling at the Rhode Island School of Design, his affinity for furniture design and how that turned into an incredibly successful firm in New York City.  And not only is he incredibly talented and passionate, he is a super nice guy! A totally great experience overall!

I’m sure a lot of you have seen pictures of the space, so I thought I would focus on RBW’s designs within the house and give you some inside scoop from Theo.

 
The vision for this room was a result of RBW’s Side Lights seen here hanging above the dining table and the Appalachian Dining Chair seen below.  I feel in love with the Side Lights immediately.  Did you know that each light has a different message about light embossed on the top? One of them says “In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary”.  Is that not the coolest thing?  These lights also work on side tables, seen here with the loveable gnome on Artenica’s website, one of RBW’s distibutors:

This is the Appalachian chair – the only product that RBW assemble in their studio.  I love it!

The Branch Floor Lamp

 
And The Excel Wall Sconce – if you look closely on the bulletin board, you will notice RBW’s original sketches and inspirations for many of their products, including the Appalachian Chair.

 
The Clinker Coffee Table – original idea was nailing planks upon planks of wood together for a table base

 
And the idea for the table, also worked as a light – Theo and Ness underneath the Clinker Pendant

 
And finally the Russian Doll End Table

After the in-depth, VIP tour of the house, Theo took us to his Rich, Brilliant, Willing booth to meet his partners, Charlie and Alex.  P.S. I think RBW gets the Best Name Ever Award – Rich, Brilliant, Willing is a play on the partners’ names – Theo Richardson, Charlie Brill and Alex Williams.  So clever!

 

RBW’s booth featuring their Appalachian Chairs, Branch Floor Lamp, Excel Floor Lamp, Delta Pendant Lamps and Corelamp

And then guess what else happened? Ness and I went out to lunch with Theo and Alex!  It was honestly such a great day and incredibly inspiring! I love hearing stories of success from young and passionate entrepreneurs…and then being able to hang out with them as friends was just icing on the cake!

Before I end this post, let me just end by saying, don’t be surprised if you begin to see Rich, Brilliant, Willing in bright lights more often.  I don’t want to name the global company, but they were recently whisked away to their head office and wined and dined, in hope that RBW would design for them! So exciting!

If you are interested in any of these products and live in the Toronto area, you can buy some of them at Hollace Cluny and Ministry of the Interior.  You can also visit RBW’s website.