2026 is already looking like a huge year for us! I am so stoked to be launching both the new face of our furniture and joinery workshop as well as ‘Workshop Editions’, our own furniture range designed and made in house. Looks like we’re going to be even busier than usual… watch this space…
Every maker should find the time to build a workbench that inspires them. This traditional Nicholson style English workbench took me two full weeks to build and fit the vises. Dylan often likes to remind me how much time I took off from working on the orders list on what seems like a self indulgent thing. But honestly, seeing this every day reminds me how much I love our craft. So worth it.
No business survives a second without its people, and I am incredibly lucky to get to work with a small team that cares about detail as much as I do. One of the things that sustains me year to year is seeing how each of us brings our different qualities to the workshop.
A dear friend recently said that they love that I love problems. I do love problems actually. All this layering of metal and wood will provide hidden strength to some impossibly hinged doors. Watch this space…
Hanging out at @flackstudio_ and hearing @craftvictoria ‘s Nicole Durling talk about bringing together Art, punk energy, business and the creative tensions that enliven this dialogue was so refreshing…. Exciting times ahead in Melbourne with this kind of leadership. As a business owner I’ve always valued Craft Vic but never really noticed their impact personally, but as a maker and representative of legacy Australian designed and made furniture brand @kettfurniture I am super excited to see how this Australian story writes this next chapter.
Reflecting on your work is maybe the most important part of the design process. Primarily a maker, I get to design, prototype, resolve and refine all in one flow, which is a heady mix. The hidden danger in this process is the lack of reflective dialogue, not finding the space that comes with communicating what you’re doing and why to a client or a designer. While instagram has a tendency to reduce the creative journey into homogenous bite size chunks on repeat, it also provides a welcome challenge to reflect on and explain things that might otherwise go unexamined.
It’s the way the curves intersect that works for me. Arc, radius, orbit. The larger body defining the lesser. I love to cut one component into another while leaving space for each to breathe; a frame that lets each define itself. I think it reflects an aspect of my own nature that shows up in the design and making of a thing. Amazing shot by @j.buehna
When you’re shooting new product in the workshop, but the dog thinks it’s all been set up just for her… better just roll with it. Thanks for the amazing shots @nicasa
Wildly satisfying to flip this hidden bed down… the timber profile has such a silky, glowing quality even in the dimmest light. Can’t pretend it was easy to resolve how to make this one work, but now I want one! @kennedynolan@wildernessbuildingco thanks…
This balustrade for @milieuproperty was a standout achievement in recent times. The crowning part of a job comprising paneling the concrete walls with custom oak veneers, making custom veneered doors and a list of free standing joinery pieces. I am genuinely pleased with the clarity of the crisp profile that is a classic @_designoffice challenge.
@_designoffice consistently show us how to bring different materials together in a way that highlights the individual while tying them together in a single harmonious form. Looks effortless, but is not at all easy. Case in point is how we we were required to machine the timber to such a fine tolerance that the V groove would fall exactly on the line that bisects the hanging glass fin that cuts through to the cork floor… glass, steel, cork, white oak.
