Editor's pick
Read a material palette the way the studio does.
Why the first conversation about a home is about surfaces, light and how they age together — not colour swatches.
Read the note
Journal
Design notes for clients who want to understand the work.
Notes on materials, light, storage and the decisions that shape a calm home — written for people about to make them.
New notes are published when there is something worth saying — not on a fixed schedule.
Latest notes
Notes worth keeping.
Plain-spoken entries on materials, planning and the decisions that shape a calm home.
Design notes / 3 min read
How to read a material palette before work begins
A calm palette is not only about colour. Grain, maintenance, light and edge details decide how a room feels after handover.
Read the noteTopics
Where the journal keeps returning.
Four threads run through every note — each one a lens the studio uses when a project begins.
Materials & craft
How grain, maintenance and edge details decide how a room feels years after handover.
Browse these notes
Light & planning
Notes on daylight, layering light and the quiet effect of orientation on a floor plan.
Browse these notes
Storage & daily life
How storage pressure and movement shape layouts that still feel calm in the morning.
Budget & execution
Straight talk on where money goes, what is fixed in writing and how intent survives site.
About the journal
Practical answers before you read on.
How often notes appear, whether topics can be requested and how useful they are outside the studio.
How often are new notes published?
When there is something worth saying — a material we keep returning to, a planning lesson or a client question that deserves a longer answer. There is no fixed schedule.
Can I suggest a topic?
Yes. If a note has helped you, or a question is missing, send it through the contact page. Frequent client questions become future journal entries.
Are the notes useful if I am not working with the studio?
They are written to be. Notes explain how materials, layouts and budgets are actually decided, so anyone planning a home can read them before a single meeting.
Begin
Bring the brief to the table.
Share the rooms, constraints and decisions that matter. The first consultation turns them into a design direction.