Notes from the workshop

Things we
keep saying.

Written mostly so we can send a link instead of repeating ourselves in a consultation.

Materials · 8 min

Why we still specify marble

It stains. It etches. Every fabricator in Melbourne will try to talk you out of it. Here is the case for it anyway, and who should not listen.

Design · 6 min

The island is too big

Almost every kitchen we are asked to fix has an island sized for the room rather than for the people walking around it. 1100 mm of clearance is not negotiable.

Cost · 5 min

What $85,000 actually buys

A real line-by-line breakdown of a mid-range Melbourne kitchen, with the numbers we would rather clients saw before the first meeting than after.

Process · 7 min

Living through a strip-out

Five weeks without a kitchen, and the six things that make it bearable. Mostly it is where you put the kettle.

Design · 4 min

Against upper cabinets

Not always — but far more often than they get specified. The storage has to go somewhere, and it is rarely at eye level above your head.

Materials · 6 min

Unlacquered brass, year three

Photographs of the same tap at handover, twelve months, and three years. If you dislike the last picture, choose something else.

From the journal

Written mostly so we can send a link instead of repeating ourselves.

Why we write these

Almost every consultation covers the same six questions. Putting the answers here means the ninety minutes can be spent on your room instead.

Elba marbleRift oakUnlacquered brassBlackened steelHoned quartziteEuropean walnutMatte lacquerHand-oiledElba marbleRift oakUnlacquered brassBlackened steelHoned quartziteEuropean walnutMatte lacquerHand-oiled