Karen McCartney introduces this year's Take A Seat "reverse auction". Our special "reverse auction" sale event is open now and concludes at 11pm on 30 October 2014. A reverse auction simply means the sale price of each item is reduced by a pre-determined value over the length of the reverse auction or until sold – so you'll need to consider your timing of when to buy or you might miss out! Find out more on our Terms page.

Welcome to Temple & Webster's Take a Seat for Legacy reverse auction. It is very inspiring to be amongst all this creative output.

There are three things in particular I love about this exercise. The first is that it has this great democratic starting point – everyone gets given the same classic bentwood chair, whether you are a sports star, a style guru, a tv presenter, a designer or a celebrity chef.

The second is the unique creative expression everyone finds for their own chair. Every day I would come into the office there to find a new, exciting interpretation. Some people choose to design the chair with the involvement of their family, some tapped into the talent of the Temple & Webster stylist, and some teamed up with others' creative talents for a collaborative effort.

This year there is no doubt the creative bar has been raised. Chairs have been deconstructed, planted, clad in leather, dressed with porcelain, bedazzled and elevated to great heights. I would like to thank each and everyone who has designed a chair as the thoughtfulness, time, effort and materials used all speak of care taken.

And finally the third thing I love is that all this effort generates awareness, support, and a financial contribution to a very deserving charity -Legacy.

Each chair – we have a total of 37 – is up for sale right now. These are never to be repeated collector's items so don't miss out if you have your eye on anything.

I know I do.



'Remember' by Amanda Talbot
Amanda Talbot is a design consultant, stylist and author. Her new book Happy is about the ways in which architecture and interior design can help us live a happy life.

"The chair is called "Remember." It was important for me that my starting point for inspiration was Legacy who are dedicated in caring for the families of deceased and incapacitated veterans. I have had family members who served in the 2nd World War and the impact on my family has been generational. I wanted to look at the fragility of life, our bodies and the physical, emotional state of mind soldiers and family face with war. I wanted to identify how war changes people and how Legacy are looking after tenuous people who need delicate, loving, thoughtful, empathetic care. I chose to keep the chair in its natural form and colour and add fragile ceramic in different shapes to tell this story. I chose to use toy soldiers in my design to represent the senselessness of war and include white perforated Rolls-Royce leather to demonstrate the value of life."



 'SEAt' by James Gordon
For the second year in a row, artist and creative James Gordon has lent his support to a charity close to his heart.

"It's a play on words "SEAt" and that's about it! The fact that I love the ocean and things of the sea is probably something that influenced the end result, however it's fairly much the word. My chair is made from French paper, perspex rod, watercolour, nylon thread and 'unreal' pearl."



'WARM' by David Harrison and Gary Galego
David Harrison is a design writer and stylist, and the founder of Design Daily. Gary Galego is a Sydney-based furniture designer and the creator of the Leve chair.

"As friends who both have a passion for simple ideas delivered with a high degree of attention to detail, our chair is all about the beauty of the original chair shape but with the addition of a new but complementary material: leather. We chose Marrakesh leather in 'saddle' colour from NSW Leather for its perfect suitability to the pale colour of European beech and for its soft waxy sheen and pliable nature. We applied the leather using a special technique developed by Gary over a number of years for his own furniture pieces. Designed to enhance the beautiful bentwood shape of the chair, the leather is pressed and hand-stitched, while the timber frame is waxed to produce a gentle sheen.

We believe that Legacy provides the type of support armed service personnel deserve, whether it is recent service men and women or to the survivors of past wars and their families. We also believe that design has the capacity to make people appreciate their surroundings more and be more aware of the beauty of the life they lead - thanks in some part to the selfless sacrifices of our armed forces.

With special thanks to Amaro Mendes for his hand-stitching expertise."



'chAIR FORCE' by Vince Frost
Vince Frost is the CEO and creative leader of Frost*, an interdisciplinary creative and design studio. His new book 'Design your Life' is about using design principles to make personal change for the better.

"The title of my piece is a salute to the country's Air Force. My idea was to completely transform the basic chair model to create a new humorous perspective. I removed the seat base to reveal the outer ring which oddly resembled the same dimensions of a basketball hoop. The chair was then elevated using 4 lengths of copper 2metre plumbing pipes to take the hoop up to the regulation height. A net and ball from Rebel Sport completed the task. I love the reaction it creates when people look at it."



Lisa Green - Editor, Australian House & Garden
"I liked the idea of introducing a decorative pattern to the curvy form of the bentwood chair, then hit on the idea of 'tattooing' or inking the raw wood. I looked up lacework vectors and spiderweb-like tattoos online to get a brief together and after we'd ruled out laser printing, H&G editorial assistant Lauren Barakat found henna artist Lubna Shehzad Pirani, who accepted the challenge. The result is beautiful - a decorative, and extremely female henna artwork applied to the timber chair. I love it!"

Lubna explains the process: "Traditionally called 'Mehendi', henna is an integral part of beautification and is generally used to decorate hands, arms, legs and feet for any occasion, and especially for big celebrations like weddings. Today it is considered a romantic and exotic art form for women as well as men all over the world. The paste, which is made up of natural leaves, cinnamon sticks, lemon, etc, is an all-natural product. For H&G we featured a floral design symbolising joy and happiness with the leaves describing longevity, devotion, perseverance, entwined lives and vitality. The squares on the rods symbolise magic, used to heal and protect the sick."



'Home Style Starter Kit' by Megan Morton
Megan Morton is a stylist, author and 'house whisperer' as well as the founder of Sydney creative hub The School.

"Most of the time a stylist's responsibility is to be 'adding' to. So this time I wanted to express the idea of what I think styling really is - a combination of reduction as well as addition. The bentwood chair is a personal favourite of mine - so much so it's the logo to my business - so cutting it down was counter intuitive! But from this magnificently classic chair we have made a homeowner's starter kit. We have worked collaboratively with Kaz Morton our favourite ceramicist and Phil Skelton, our set builder and put my secret love of jewellery making and beading to work to make a 14 part-series. The home starter kit includes: a mirror; a coat hook; a hanger with ceramic ends; two ceramic hooks; a set of penguin classics; salt cellar; three mobiles (I like to hang mine over ends of curtain rods); a series of bud vases; candle sticks; a keyring and three necklaces. Once you start with beautiful basics that are well made, your appreciation levels for a lot of things will increase - even the salt at your table!"



'Sorbet Dream Time' by Adam Powell and Jessica Bellef, Temple & Webster

 See all 37 chairs and snap up your favourite in our Take A Seat for Legacy Reverse Auction.