Q&A: top3 creator Terri Winter

The furniture in our homes should tell a story, it should not look like a showroom, Terri Winter says. The creator of top3, a speciality concept store, believes we should value our items and is strongly against “throwawayism”.

Her philosophy is evident through the premise of top3. The store “edits” each type of item and carries only up to three products a category, based on the parameters of quality, innovation and style.

This Saturday, Winter will be hosting a masterclass at the Canberra Centre on styling tips for your home without discarding what you already have. She spoke to Allhomes before this.

What is ‘throwawayism’?

The term is about our disposable culture and an attitude of buying things and throwing them away. Finnish brand Iittala used this term many, many years ago and I think it has more relevance now than ever before. If you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem.

Why is it so important to work with what you’ve got at home in terms of sprucing up a space, rather than buying new wares year on year?

The furniture and products in your home should reflect your journey in life. No home feels like a home if it looks like a showroom. If you select pieces that you truly love and are of good quality your home will grow and grow in personality. In reality, most of us simply don’t need more “stuff” we need to consider how we can enhance our spaces by buying well with every purchase we make.

Good quality and well selected pieces can easily be updated with small seasonal styling changes to keep your decor fresh without being trendy. It is so important to think about the look and feel of your home for you and your family. The home should reflect you – not the current trend in a magazine.

What is your favourite home style trend at the moment?

I am loving a home vibe that is very livable with a few luxe details – very “resort at home”. I love furniture that can multitask or be used in different ways. I love to move things around, and versatile pieces that can work hard in many different ways are a key trend worth investigating!

Tips to jazz up your home during summer, what’s hot?

I love the holiday vibe you can create with mood lighting. Australia is perfect for outdoor evening entertaining and I love lanterns, candles and a well-set table to really make a meal feel like an event. Rechargeable LED lights and lanterns are fantastic and take the fuss out of having open flames and can be easily moved from room to room.

Favourite places to shop for the home?

Obviously top3 by design J – but I also love popping into the Spence + Lyda showroom in Sydney.

What is the most important room in a home in your eyes and do you have any tips around this specific room?

For me the living space and dining room – often open plan and combined these days – is so important for day-to-day living. A dining room that can just as easily host the homework sessions of an evening as it does a dinner party are of huge importance to me.

Bathrooms are getting a lot more love these days and for good reason, too. A bathroom can be invigorating in the morning and relaxing in the evening so attention to the details so you feel inspired to start your day and rested of an evening are vital.

The bedroom is your own personal space. Given most of your time there is of an evening, I love my bedroom to be a retreat. More than a space to sleep, it is a retreat from the world. Consider more subdued tones and lighting.

Take us through the top3 Augmented Reality App?

I am so excited about our new AR App! You simply use your own phone or iPad, select the furniture you are interested in and you can view your own room through the camera of your phone and see the product in place – you can move it around and it is like it is really there!

With high detail and accurate scale, the top3 AR app helps you visualise the pieces before you make a purchase.

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How did top3 start?

My husband is German and we spent a lot of time in Europe. More than 16 years ago, we were frustrated with the lack of availability of some incredible original designs from overseas.

It was a visit to a theatre restaurant and show that cemented the concept of editing. You booked well in advance to go to the show – not even knowing what you were going to see – but you knew that they were the best in their field. It really triggered the idea of editing a range based on quality and design, so people could discover more varied design options outside their comfort zone of brands they knew – knowing it was edited and researched for them.

We opened the doors in 2001 and I still love discovering and sharing original design with our customers as much as I did the day we opened.