A final trunk show and then it’s goodbye. Designer Oneka Benn Schwartz is leaving the Island with her family next month.

Before that she is unveiling her latest collection of homeware designs at The Island Shop.

Table runners and napkin rings, coasters and lampshades are just a few of the items that will be on offer at the show at the Queen Street store from December 2-4.

The 38-year-old spoke to Lifestyle about why this has been her most creative year yet.

Q: How do you feel about this new collection of homewares?

I’m really proud of it. I also feel like this past year in Bermuda has been my most creative. I feel like I’ve grown as a designer and I’m really confident in my own work — more than ever before.

I feel good about things I’m producing and feel they could stand up in a department store against any other designers.

It’s not cockiness. I was just very unsure of myself before and I don’t feel that way anymore.

Some of that confidence has come from feedback. People have come up to me and said, ‘I bought your napkins and use them and everyone loves them’. It’s a really big confidence booster. I’ve spent lots of time in the store as well and you quickly see which items don’t hold up. You learn how to make things better and do a better job.

Q: What’s the collection like?

I specifically did a tabletop collection this year. I was slowly trying things out in the store and wanted to create table linens as well as coasters and napkin rings.

I tried a lot of natural elements like Brazilian agate, so that part is different from my last collection. But all in all it’s an expansion of what I offered last year.

There are more lampshades, but this time there are actual lamps as well. I bought them wholesale and then doctored them a bit. Some I left as they were, while others I added more stones to.

Q: What inspired you this time around?

Nature. I like walking right now and I’m very much into natural elements like napkin rings made out of seashells.

Shells and minerals are the running themes, especially [ones found] here in Bermuda. You don’t see a tonne of seashells here, but Bermuda itself is inspiring.

One thing I was trying to work on were some wooden napkin rings because they match the colour of the palm tree bark, which is beautiful, but I didn’t get that far.

I did manage to make napkin rings out of malachite — a green stone indigenous to the Congo in Africa.

I always buy things to play around with them and see what comes from it. What I find a lot of the time is the things I don’t expect to do well are usually what people gravitate towards.

I made these and posted them on Instagram and Facebook and a friend of mine said, “I love these. I need ten of them”. I had just enough bits and pieces to make ten. I had a lot of people ask about the malachite coasters after that so I said this should be something I make and carry on the website.

The malachite took its time in getting here. By now it’s been all over the world. It was supposed to be shipped directly to Bermuda but made its way to Maine. It just came in just this week.

Q: Is there a reason you have decided to use such rare materials?

It really comes down to colours with me. And it just so happened they all came from different parts of the world. I’m not into metaphysics per se, but when I started to order them they attracted people who were into reiki and those things.

All of those materials are calming and represent peace and serenity. It just happened to be that way. I chose them because of their rich colours like greens, deep purple and light pink.

Q: What was it like creating this collection knowing it was your last one while living here?

It’s sad because I know I’m going [after eight years], but I also wanted to give it my all because I’m going.

I’m hoping this isn’t the last people will see of me here in Bermuda. Barbara Finsness [the owner of The Island Shop] said she’s happy to have my things as long as I’m happy to keep producing them.

I don’t want this to be my last anything in Bermuda but if it is, I want to leave things on a high note.

Producing these products has been very therapeutic because when I’m doing it I don’t think about the fact that I’m packing up and moving. Plus I really care about the impression I leave behind here.

Q: The holiday season is upon us. Do you have any tips for what people can do to spruce up their tables?

A lot of times it’s the same people doing the holiday parties and having family over for Christmas. They tend to decorate the table with the same things and people have seen your decorations time and time again.

You want to wow them and have things look a little different. I’d suggest bringing in elements from other parts of your house, like a vase or group of vases from elsewhere.

You can also incorporate figurines or ornaments as a centrepiece for your table. You can collect some greenery from outside and place that around the table or the glassware or do something simple like use pom-poms in a vase. These are things you can do to make your table look like it does in magazines like Architectural Digest.