Inhabit shop co-owner Torsten (Tocco) Mayer-Rothbarth. Photography by Faunce Photography.
Is it a gallery show, or is it a shop? Inhabit is both. The clean palette shell of the Warren storefront turns the spotlight on the unusual artwork and handcrafted goods on display. Visual stunners include vivid pink and purple weaved baskets, colorful naturally dyed tablecloths, one-of-a-kind pieces of handmade Scandinavian-style wooden furniture and iridescent hand blown glassware.
Each craftsman-made piece is displayed as if on exhibit and available for purchase. The brightly colored hot pink, purple and orange handwoven baskets are from Melko Designs, which works with cotton ropes, fabric scraps, ribbon, thread and fibers to create the vessels. There are hand blown glass vases, tumblers and cups from Soda Glass House out of Pawtucket, and toward the back of the shop, visitors can marvel at Inhabit’s whole reason for being: Handmade Scandinavian-style wooden furniture made by woodworker and shop co-owner Torsten (Tocco) Mayer-Rothbarth.
Some artisan-made items at Inhabit, including cutting boards, a wooden lamp and artwork.
Tocco started an apprenticeship as a furniture maker but decided to attend design school in Bremen, Germany, instead, where he studied the Bauhaus style. “I never finished my journeyman as a furniture maker, but kept enough knowledge and talent to pursue it nowadays,” he says. His day-to-day career is as a graphic designer, first for automotive companies and more recently Ancestry.com, but he enjoys making nesting tables, stools, consoles and tables on the side as a hobby.
Handwoven baskets by Melko Designs.
“Our business is a lot of custom work. How many do we sell? Three or four pieces a year; that doesn’t make a living,” Tocco says. “But it’s fun enough to keep going.”
He and his wife, Megan Mayer-Rothbarth, who is a teacher, drove through Warren during the holidays with their three children on their way home from Blithewold, and they saw an empty storefront for rent. Megan nudged Tocco, and they took a picture of the “for rent” sign and later called the phone number. Tocco was already outgrowing his home workshop and they thought: “Wouldn’t it be nice to have something like that where we are in charge?” Tocco says.
Craftsman-made wooden furniture, plus some fun cardboard seating.
Tocco had already networked with artisans across the region at Fine Furnishings and American Craft Council shows, so his idea was to bring together pieces from other artisans in a showroom, providing lookbooks that spotlight custom work. Now he has a collection of delicate side tables, ceramics, paintings, weavings and more displayed with a brief bio on each artist, which includes their vision and background.
Inhabit is now a home for artists who sell handmade goods and do custom work. Home decor items are made by regional artisans and are still affordable. “We also decided we needed fast-turning things to enable us to have the slow-moving pieces here,” Tocco says. “Rather than doing a shop, we thought it would be more interesting to do it in the form of a gallery.” 450 Main St., Warren, instagram.com/shop_inhabit
On Friday, April 26, artisan Shaun Bullens will share some of his new pieces and for a Q-&-A session on design, furniture, New England style and more. Free champagne and espresso will be served.
Candlesticks at Inhabit.