Orms Staff Interview: Leanne Barling

We have a fairly big team at Orms Print Room & Framing so we thought we’d make things a bit easier by helping you to get to know our staff members a little better. If you’re looking for anything related to Decor Print Solutions, Leanne is your go-to guru.

Hey Leanne! Please tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m 31 years old and just started working here at Orms Print Room & Framing in May last year. 2017 Was such an exciting year of change for me. Not only did I change my job and my field (for the first time in my life I am not working within fine art printing and scanning), but I also moved into a house after living in a flat for the past 20 years! All of these factors have aligned to a unified point… working in decor printing – whereby my workplace inspires my home-life and simultaneously my house ideas fuel my work.

Tell us a bit more about what you do here at Orms and why you enjoy it.
I am managing the Decor Printing Department, which is such an exciting department to be involved in. Not only do we offer printing onto poster paper, canvas and wallpaper; but our new SwissQ Nyala2 flatbed printer can print onto any flat service up to 2x3m! We stock and supply Perspex, Metal, Dibond, Wood and Forex… but that does not mean to say that you are limited to printing onto these substrates. You can bring in any flat material and we will be able to print directly onto it. We have done some incredible prints onto cork (for anything from pinboards to signage), cabinets for Weylandts, tiles, glass doors…. if you bring it, we can print it! It’s been really exciting for me to make the change from fine art printing to decor printing because decor printing is so tactile… you can’t resist touching the surface and feeling the texture, and you’re almost encouraged to – as opposed to fine art prints which you have to handle so delicately.

Who or what got you interested in photography?
My father has always been my mentor and role model and he had a keen passion for photography which he instilled in me from a tender age. I remember him light proofing the windows of the bathroom so he could develop his own film and he would often take us on adventures to the game reserve where we would take photos together. I was always artistic growing up and when I finished school I was fortunate enough for my dad to say to me: “You can study whatever inspires you”. So I went off and studied fine art at Michaelis, majoring in photography.

If you had to change your name what would you change it to?
I couldn’t imagine my name being anything other than Leanne.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
“Focus on the solution, not the problem”

If you were reincarnated as an animal/drink/ice cream flavour (or whatever) what would it be?
A bear – so I could hibernate, which means missing the cold winter weather and also sleeping for months!

What are you currently reading?
I’m mainly reading magazines at the moment – art, home and lifestyle magazines.

Your least favourite mode of transport?
Riding a bike – I definitely need more practice!

If you could meet anyone living or dead, who would it be?
Gordon Ramsay. I especially admire him in his Kitchen Nightmares and Hotel Hell series, where he goes into restaurants and hotels and instantly susses out the problems and gets failing businesses to do a complete turn-around. I find him to be such an entertaining and inspiring entrepreneur. Plus I really love eating good food and cooking!

What was the first thing you bought with your own money?
Probably a porcelain doll haha I had a whole collection!

Never has there been a more exciting time for expressing your personal décor style. Now you can customise anything your heart desires; from your very own wallpaper to inspired pieces for your home or office. And, if you need a bit of help, our talented designers are available to give you expert, on-trend advice, and even execute your vision for you.