Aesthetic Content

New Dallas home goods company makes modern style affordable — and fragrant

After years of running the buying offices of big companies like Storehouse Furniture, Pier 1 Imports, Urban Outfitters and Teavana, Patrick Farrell saw a void in the home and gift market, which had left him and his business colleagues stumped.

“Being a product designer myself, I’ve never understood why great design has to cost more than mediocre design,” Farrell says. “With this in mind, my partner and I set out to design, source and produce cool, modern products at great prices.”

Together they established Aesthetic Content, producing candles and other home decor with a clean, modern feel. The candles are made in the USA, packaged in simple yet beautiful vessels for $39. They are free of pesticides, sulfates, parabens and major allergens, which results in a clean-burning candle that is virtually soot- and smoke-free and fills an entire room with complex scent.

The home decor includes bowls, pedestals and centerpieces produced from sustainable and renewable cork. The eco-friendly cork is paired with ceramic, making it safe for dishwashers and microwaves. Prices on these pieces range from $60-$295.

“As a shopper myself, I sometimes don’t appreciate all the work, effort and passion that goes into what I see on store shelves,” Farrell says. “At Aesthetic Content, we touch every piece of every product, as it goes through multiple levels of design, fit and finish, and quality control before it hits the retail stores.”

Farrell has big plans from here. In 2015, he intends to debut textiles and lighting at accessory markets in Dallas, Atlanta, New York and Las Vegas in January and June. He wants Aesthetic Content to become a complete lifestyle brand, expanding its design culture into all areas of the home. The company is on the verge of launching an ecommerce site too.

You can buy Aesthetic Content goods locally at Life of Riley, Nicholson-Hardie, Napa Home and more. With the holidays coming up, we suggest stocking up on the Winter Bosco candle, which smells like fresh snow.

“We hope our passion for modern design, commitment to quality, and authenticity comes through in every item’s unique character and it becomes an enduring thing that people love to use,” Farrell says.

Winter Bosco candle ($39).

Photo courtesy of Aesthetic Content

Winter Bosco candle ($39).

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Shopping News

Interior designer debuts home furnishings shop in Dallas' Bishop Arts

Tlazo

A new home furnishings store with a Latin flair has opened on the edge of Dallas' Bishop Arts. Called Tlazo, it's in the vintage building at 411 N. Tyler St., in the former Ann's Nutrition, next door to Hola Café.

Tlazo is from Alejandro Gonzalez, an interior designer who has worked for more than a decade with companies like Deborah Walker and Associates, Embree & Lake Antiques, and Holly Hunt Showroom, where he was representative to Mexico.

His shop is a blend of home furnishings, antiques, art, stationery and candles, with emphasis on his Latino roots. There is furniture, pillows, fabrics, books, kitchenware, baskets, gifts, pottery, art, and more.

Gonzalez is a native of Coahuila, Mexico who moved here when he was four years old. As part of his travels to Mexico as an interior designer, he got to meet many local artisans and reconnected with a more contemporary side of his culture.

"I fell in love with my culture again and I wanted to know more about it, things I didn’t know because I grew up in the U.S." he says.

Owning his own shop had been a dream — one that was realized when a landlord he'd been working with told him about the former Ann's space.

"It was meant to be — divinely guided," he says.

He and his husband Aaron Boals created a space that looks both meticulously designed and warmly inviting. Tlazo means “precious and dear” and is also the root word for gratitude.

“I wanted to bring my culture into my business, and thought was a pretty word,” Gonzalez says.

While the shop carries a significant number of Mexican items, it also includes items from Portugal, England, India, and Colombia, and he plans to continuously expand to other regions.

Examples of the current collection include:

Mended linens, napkins, and table runners. This Dallas organization works with indentured servants in India, helping them get out of the situation through their fair-trade work.
Don Lino — a Dallas-based company that specializes in stylish Mexican tableware, rooted in sophisticated Mexican hospitality.
Caminito — a Los Angeles supplier of beach and picnic blankets, created by Mexican artisans who get to preserve their craft with a fair income.

The shop buys more than 50 percent of their collection directly from artisans.

“I want people to come here and feel joy amidst everything that’s going on in the world. A place to come in and smile," Gonzalez says.

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