You may have seen Catnap in the Dulwich Diverter, or visited our shop online, or you may not have heard of us at all- we are a start-up brand born out of East Dulwich!
Catnap brings you luxury affordable illustrated plates, bowls, homeware & more. We strive to elevate homes to be places of joy with our distinctive cat designs!
I am the founder and head designer and this all started approximately 7 years ago when I graduated with a degree in Illustration and a dream to one day own my own shop selling illustrated goods.
The origin of Catnap was totally organic, beginning in 2013 when I started hand-painting cats on plates and bowls alongside my job working in a luxury retail store. Requests for bespoke cat designs kept coming in, I kept it up when I could, alongside my day job commitments and then in 2018 my side hustle became a business when I branched out and began turning my designs into a range of products. After months of drawing, drafting, painting and experimenting Catnap was born, and launched in early 2019 from my house in ED.
All of the designs are hand painted by me first in my studio in East Dulwich, each one is a total labour of love and take hours of designing, painting and tweaking before I consider them finished enough to be sent to print. I work with acrylics, using various different mediums in order to achieve the desired consistency with the paints. Often my designs are a combination of different cat model; a few of my friends have been very good at sending me photos of their pets as soon as they strike a strange pose! Once the designs are perfect I send them to The Potteries in Stoke-on-Trent to be screen-printed and fired on responsibly sourced Fine Bone China.
I’ve been really lucky to find an excellent supplier in Duchess China, more information about Duchess and the Fine Bone China production can be found on my site. I launched Catnap during Dulwich Open Houses in May 2019 with the aim to create high quality, affordable-luxury ceramics that appeal to art lovers and cat lovers alike. It is with great pleasure that I continue to pursue this project for a living.
All products available on catnapdesign.com
For more information on bespoke commissions please contact us at suzie@catnapdesign.com. Or follow me on Instagram @catnapdesign.ldn.