In residence with
Jasmin Sparrow
We visit the jewellery designer behind Jasmin Sparrow, Jasmin Scott, at her Ponsonby showroom to discuss creativity, materiality, and her design journey.
How has your design language evolved across your career, from early creative work to jewellery and now interiors?
I’ve always been creative, right throughout my childhood. I experimented across multiple mediums before landing on and deciding to pursue jewellery. Jewellery felt like a discipline where I could take everything I was inspired by, things that sparked curiosity for me, absorb it all, and put those learnings into practice through design.
My design language has become more distilled and intentional over time. When I first started making jewellery, I was far more experimental, testing ideas, forms and materials. That period was important, but I didn’t yet have the clarity I have now. I look back with both scrutiny as well as softness; it was all part of the process.
Where do jewellery and interior design intersect for you, through form, texture, or materiality?
Jewellery is an adornment, and I believe what truly makes a home is the way we adorn it, the final layer, the finishing touch. My father is South African, and he and my mother met while travelling. They collected pieces on their travels that adorned the walls of our family home.
It’s only in reflecting now that I realise the impact this had on me as a child, and how deeply ingrained those details are in my memory - masks embedded with shells, heavy beaded African collars, strings of seeds or shells from the islands. These pieces were rich in storytelling, just as jewellery is when it’s collected in a meaningful way.
"These pieces are rich in storytelling, just as jewellery is when it’s collected in a meaningful way."
How does your collecting of vintage and organic objects influence the way you design and shape spaces?
I like to keep my home quite minimal. With two kids and pets, it can naturally feel quite chaotic, so I try to introduce calm in any way I can. As a result, I’m very selective about what comes into the home - I don’t like cluttered benches or objects that don’t serve a purpose. I like to fill a home with pieces that have meaning; looking around our home, so many pieces have a story attached to them.
This is partly why I decided to start sourcing and offering pieces. I kept finding beautiful objects that wouldn’t necessarily serve a purpose in my own home, but I wanted someone else to be able to enjoy them. I also enjoy extending the story of where these pieces come from and how they were acquired.
Are there particular objects or pieces that have acted as creative touchpoints or pivots for the rest of a space?
Our recent showroom at Deadly Ponies was a short-term space, so we were limited in what we could do and didn’t want to spend a fortune on something temporary. Luckily, the space had strong foundations, with Katie Lockhart having done the interiors.
There was a beautiful antique Japanese cabinet that Katie had sourced, which Deadly Ponies kindly let us borrow. This became the first key piece of furniture. I was in Japan during the initial conversations about the space, so I sourced a few pieces that I knew would work well alongside it. In many ways, that cabinet informed the objects I went on to source and became a creative touchpoint for the rest of the space.
How did you approach selecting tones and finishes for your showroom?
My friend Sam Boanas helped me bring the space together. He had worked with me for my previous showroom and has a beautiful eye for space and detail. Being in Japan while we were pulling the space together, and knowing we had the Japanese antique cabinet, naturally led me towards dark woods and neutral tones as the base. This became a helpful starting point when sourcing and collecting.
We then decided to hang a blue Jaime Jenkins ceramic artwork on the wall. I had this at home, and it felt like the right piece to complete the space. It added a subtle pop of colour and informed the tone of the rug we ultimately chose.
How has motherhood influenced your approach to design and creative decision-making?
I completed jewellery school while I was pregnant with my son, so I’ve navigated my jewellery career alongside raising a family from the very beginning. I had a jewellery studio at home and would work whenever my son was sleeping during the day; the business naturally evolved from there.
Running a business and being a mother go hand in hand for me; I’m grateful it has been like that from the beginning, the two have always been intertwined. My children have forced a slowness to the way I approach business. We’ll spend weekends in nature, on the beach, collecting and marvelling at the shapes of seashells.
How do you balance an elevated, editorial feel with comfort and warmth in a space?
A home needs to feel comfortable and livable. I don’t think comfort and sophistication are mutually exclusive; it’s possible to find furniture that balances both. From there, art and objects are what bring character and depth into a space.