Who is Father Rabbit?

17th October, 2012

Who is Father Rabbit?

He,
• irons his pillowcases and tucks his sheets in with hospital corners
• prefers the cold side of the pillow
• suggests if you are going to do it, do it properly or not at all
• prefers you finish what you started
• likes his crème brulee unadulterated and his pancakes thin
• is meticulous in the laundry, preferring line dried and smelling of lavender
• uses a top sheet
• is disciplined and discerning

Father Rabbit doesn’t subscribe to some deeply intellectual philosophy, just an appreciation of simplicity. That things should be done right, or not at all.

Father Rabbit is not about grand gestures, but elevating those mundane everyday tasks. Embracing the simple pleasure of a well made bed (with ironed pillowcases) and completing a bathroom clean with fresh cut flowers. His heart sings with the freedom of organisation. Books in line, cans facing out, drawers tidy, garden weeded, tools away. Ticking each job off. Finishing one, before starting the next. Those simple little things – individually they aren’t life changing, but the culmination of them together make your home at once a well presented, thoughtfully considered and pleasing place to be.

Father Rabbit seems to resonate in some way with most of us. Whether you always adhere to his strict doctrine, or if you’re just trying to (re)impose them in some facet of your life… your kitchen, your linen cupboard, your handbag.

Father Rabbits General Store presents his carefully curated picks of products that are at once practical and pleasing in both form and function. There’s an underlying sense of quality and timelessness, they’re tried and true.

Orders do NOT leave the general store until Father Rabbit has approved the Standard Of Wrapping. These parcels give us a telling glimpse into the psyche of our rabbit - they’re all lovingly wrapped… but to very strict standards. He’s tough, but with good intentions.

He’s as much the stern Grandfather whose approval of a Job Well Done is noted simply in the absence of criticism, as he is the maternal figure lovingly tucking a crisp white sheet in sharp hospital corners and reflecting on its journey to this point - washed, line dried, ironed, scented, folded and neatly put away ‘just so’, ready and waiting for Fresh Bed-Linen Day (the same day every week… of course.)

There is one way to do things. Father Rabbit’s way. His methods don’t require explanation. They are the way they are. Always have been, always will be. He embraces tradition, routine and order. He is the direct reflection of his patch, and that patch is perfection.

Who runs the show?

Father Rabbit is the alter ego of Claudia Zinzan and Nick Hutchinson. He was realised when Claudia and Nick’s son Tony was shiny and new and Claudia was taking some time out from her career as an Interior Designer. Then followed six months of careful planning under the watchful eye of the pedantic rabbit, and Father Rabbit’s online store was open for trading in December 2010.

Claudia continues to juggle her interior design business with a growing baby and a demanding rabbit at her side. Nick manages his role as Father Rabbit’s Right Hand Man around the ebbs and flows of a career in the film industry as a camera operator. When he’s not staring down the lens or lending his practical nous to the garden and the baby, he works alongside Claudia on product selection, merchandising and the very important task of keeping Father Rabbit’s website spic and span and a Nice Place To Shop.

As Father Rabbit has grown, so has his domain within the family home. Initially operating out of a rabbit sized corner, Claudia, Nick and Tony now evenly share their split villa in Grey Lynn with him providing a unique and inspiring retail environment and an insight into Father Rabbit’s Way Of Doing Things.

Father Rabbit’s side of the villa is (as expected) pristine white perfection, orderly and uncluttered. Nick, Claudia and Tony don’t always exist in such meticulous splendour in their half. At times they will measure up to Father Rabbit’s exacting standards, and it’s at these times when Claudia and Nick are at their happiest (to be honest, Tony’s a bit indifferent).

Those fleeting moments when the books are in order, the beds are made, the garden weeded and the clutter cleared away. The cupboards are as organised inside as they are pristine white and free of little Tony-sized finger marks on the outside. Then there are the times when chaos creeps in and there’s not enough time in the day to achieve the virtuous rabbit’s tick of approval… oh well, tomorrow is a new day.

Father Rabbit's house is located at 14 Cockburn St Grey Lynn, Auckland. Open Monday to Friday 10 - 5 and Saturday 10 - 3. Come and visit!

www.fatherrabbit.com

ENDS

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