brunswick east- colour pop!

This was a fun project for a creative family - taking an already renovated home and adding the finishing touches whilst resolving a few things that weren't working. We created a new section of kitchen floor-to-ceiling cabinets - replacing previous cabinets that were too deep to be functional and very heavy in the space, and integrating it into the existing fit out (we found a new home for the original ones too).  A beautiful nectre wood-burner was installed for the living room so that the central heating did not need to be used so much.
The house has been completely transformed through a complete lighting re-design. By adding carefully placed wall lights around the extensive art collection and fitting task spot lighting in the kitchen we made the whole house come alive at night and zoned each area's lighting needs. Vintage pendants and a new handmade pendant by Pop and Scott  were placed in each of the three living/dining spaces. Existing pendants were also rearranged.

New double glass doors were installed at the end of a dark hallway to open up the space, and the hallway painted a deep mandarin colour for warmth and a little punch of happiness every time you pass down it. We added beautiful new tiles, and rearranged the furniture, restored and recovered couches with durable eco wool fabric and had a recycled timber coffee table made to create a focal point in the room, and had custom rugs made for the hallways and living. This was a very happy project, with plenty of input from parents and kids - lots of playing with tiles, fabric and paint samples over cups of tea, and taking all the potential of an already lovely home and pulling it all together.
Here is what our happy clients said: "Megan's approach was incredibly sensible, thoughtful, creative and tuned in to the everyday bustle of a family home."

All photographs by Emma Byrnes.

renovate, retrofit, re-imagine: a permaculture approach to a suburban home renovation

Recently I have revisited the process I went through when we renovated our own home, in an article written for Australian permaculture magazine Pip - the Design issue. 
Eight years ago we bought a dilapidated 1940’s Californian bungalow in Melbourne’s inner northern suburbs. It was in a semi-derelict state and had a heritage overlay, flood level restrictions and a long narrow bloc. However the site was extremely special as it backed onto the Merri creek wildlife corridor. The real value for us was not in the bricks and mortar but in the proximity of the majestic, mature gum trees, running water and the deep buffer of native vegetation on either side of the creek, creating a peaceful sanctuary in an urban environment. We began the process of retrofitting and renovating the home by thinking of it as part of a permaculture system that would integrate the built, interior and biological environments and in turn create an urban existence for our family that allowed us to connect to nature and our local community on a daily basis. There are some key ways of thinking about design from a permaculture perspective based on the ethics and principles as defined by Bill Mollison and David Holmgren - and below I have outlined how I applied some of these principles in our process. 

OBSERVATION: As we designed the renovation it was important to observe the building over a full seasonal year by spending time on the site and noticing the patterns of the elements - sun, water, wind - in order to harness them for use in our home. 

CAPTURING ENERGY: All buildings have some potential for passive function that can be realised. In order to make the 1940’s weatherboard home thermally efficient we took the whole building apart piece-by-piece and back to its structural frames. We then wrapped it in insulation and put it all back together again, sealing every little gap as we went. The process has a sense of the loving act of mending the holes in your favourite coat. The extension was built on a suspended concrete slab that allowed us to introduce a thermal mass capacity into the home. We located new windows to open up the home to the winter sun, shade ourselves from the summer heat and to capture cooling breezes. We re-oriented the room layout so that all living areas faced north, flooding the spaces with natural light and allowing the winter sun to reach its long fingers inside. 

PATTERNS OF USE: By reconfiguring the layout of the existing home and extending it, we resolved the spatial design around patterns of use. This design solution creates healthy and resourceful living so that the home functions with the ‘path of least resistance’. Our common utility areas butt up against the social areas so that no one feels like they are in purgatory while doing washing in the laundry. When it’s raining, we can walk barefoot in the house under a clear roof off the deck to hang washing outside. Living in the new home our daily tasks and rituals are now performed in an ergonomic, logical and enjoyable fashion. The best ‘storage vessel’ for the heat and energy of the sun is the human body. Ideally we can wake up to the sun, eat breakfast with it streaming through the window and then relax at the end of the day while watching it set.

RESOURCEFULNESS: During the construction process, we sought to produce the minimum amount of waste possible by first looking at what we had around us, and making the most of existing and discarded materials. Demolished materials such as cabinetry and architectural features were collected and stored for reuse, resold, or collected for further recycling. We repaired or partially replaced what we could - salvaging undamaged weatherboards; collecting the old hardwood skirtings and architraves; and sourcing additional salvaged timbers, doors, and fixtures. We consistently placed value on the marginal - the little details and elements of a design that brought character and resourcefulness to our family home. Every cupboard handle, every window winder, every material junction is where you have the opportunity for the greatest change.

salvaged brass door handles and timber doors were used

TIME: The design process requires great consideration, testing and evolution over time. For every week we spent in design consideration the project continued to improve. This also allowed for a nuanced design solution in direct response to our community relationships and collaborations. Clear and honest communication between the whole team was so important to ensure we shared our vision and considered everyone’s concerns. This slow and evolving approach to design reprioritises the experience and connection between people over the goal of a rushed completion date. Our home has been allowed to beautifully ‘cure’ over time, retaining the potential for future adaptations . By using materials that are only fully realized when their natural patinas show up over time, it is then that our home starts to come alive. In our house, I try to choose special pieces that are worth keeping, appreciating the skill and materiality of highly-crafted objects that ultimately create heirlooms.

Secondhand light fitting and furnishings have been used throughout

BREVITY: I had to curb my enthusiasm for collecting stuff and taking up more space. Our cupboards were intentionally designed not to be too deep in order to avoid things disappearing into the dark zone of being too far away. We created one large central space that opened up to the same amount of outdoor decking. It has become a home where we can welcome our extended community, it can be used as a shared resource and has allowed us to host community groups and events. We also welcome help-exchangers and the neighbourhood children at spontaneous hours of the day. Our bedrooms and utility rooms are modestly sized and shaped for their intended use. Bathrooms and the laundry are long and thin to maximise wall space, access to light and minimise unnecessary circulation space. High loft beds in the kids bedrooms create more floor space for them to play. The hallway was made just wide enough to run a desk along its length and create an office area without dedicating a room to that purpose. The roof space has been lined and fitted out with pull down ladders to store seasonal gear. We also have cupboards that run to the ceilings above normal head height so desks and beds can fit underneath. These design outcomes maximize the use of our precious vertical space.

LIVING ON THE EDGE: Typically, the edges in nature contain the most dense diversity and activity and this includes human inhabited spaces. We paid special attention to articulating the spaces on the edge, from the outside to in, from public to private, from down to up. These transition spaces are where people interact the most with one another, and blurring these boundaries can create opportunities for dynamic relationships and communication. We removed any high fences from the front yard so we could talk to our neighbours and passers-by on the street whilst working in the garden. We created a small door in the back garden fence so that the younger children next door could come and go without needing to be walked along the street. Our delight never ceases when our littlest and most curious neighbours pop up in our garden and kitchen. We created a pergola structure to reach the boundary. It provides both summer shade to the north-facing windows but also houses a vertical recycled hardwood screen, creating some privacy and a vertical surface to grow grapes, berries and honeysuckles. Between the backyard and the creek we took down the tall paling fence and replaced it with a low open wire fence. This allows us to observe the creek beds' native vegetation and wildlife. Another two houses in the area have since followed suit, and now our chickens forage periodically on the creek-side saving us cutting back grasses and weeds and providing them (and us) an abundant source of food.

STACKING FUNCTION: We sought to integrate diverse design problems into one solution, maximising the use of the available space. We created play-nooks under the loft and in the fireplace alcoves (these will later become study nooks and book shelves when the kids get older). We use the laundry as an indoor drying room as well as a bulk-goods store. We have located our solar hot water tank inside an otherwise useless space at the top of the stairs so we can dry wet boots, make yogurt and maybe even hatch eggs in the warm cupboard. 

INTEGRATION: I sought out ‘responsive’ materials, finishes and furnishings, by selecting items with a tangible context that relate to the region or have a historical or emotional relationship to us. This enabled me to explore an authentic regional and personal design vernacular. Our home is lovingly filled with hand-me-downs from our family and objects that we have collected, made, salvaged, and found over the years. This means our home does not have a particular look, but is more an accidental collection of personally significant things, gently curated into a pleasing combination of usefulness and decoration.  

A YEILD:  Our home has produced outcomes far beyond aesthetic and economic results. We have fresh healthy food, happy children, meaningful friendships and connection with our community. There isn’t a person that worked on this house that didn’t speak warmly of their experience, despite having to carry everything in down steep muddy paths. We would sometimes stop work to gently relocate wildlife that kept moving into the building site, such as the little ring-tail possum found asleep in the middle of a cloud of bulky insulation one morning. The peripheral yields have been the learning received from and between everyone involved in the project, the guests we have hosted in our home and through the open days and tours I have run. Our home design has fundamentally changed the way we all live and contribute to the community. We thankfully get to live, work and go to school all within walking distance. We are very privileged to live here and to have access to abundant nature within the cultural amenities of the urban life. We experience diverse wildlife daily; we are visited by kookaburras, blue tongue lizards, tawny-frogmouths and the odd tiger snake.
This home has reiterated the importance of urban wild life corridors and shared productive space. We have an opportunity to re-design our suburbs in a context of neighbourhood scale resilience and autonomy, creating homes and landscapes that contribute to this end.

All photographs by Emma Byrnes

clifton hill cabinet party

Just before Christmas last year, we finished this modest living/dining-room cabinetry fit-out in a Clifton Hill townhouse. The brief was for a cabinet design to fulfil everyone's needs in this creative family - part DJ console; part TV alcove; part book and art object display; part play-nook for the children. We designed this wrap-around unit, complete with a floating turntable platform on sound absorption pads to stop the speaker jumping and it was beautifully made with care in Victorian ash hardwood and veneer by Auld designs. The brick home, designed in the 1980s, had some period style additions that were not true to it's late modernist design so they were stripped back and the simple quality of exposed brick and long garden views maximised. 

One of the highlights of this project was the new baby girl born into the family on the day their cabinetry was installed! A very productive time for all involved, and we felt very pleased that the family could come home to their new space and settle in for the summer. These types of jobs are why we love residential work at Brave New Eco. The owners are looking forward to hosting some fun parties in this space - just as soon as they get some sleep!

All photographs by Emma Byrnes

yin and yang wet rooms

The owners of this lovely, modest Yarraville home were tripping over the washing baskets (and each other) in a dim, dysfunctional laundry and old bathroom. Their bulk household supplies were stacked on shelving in front of windows in the laundry, making it feel dark and crowded. They came to Brave New Eco wanting to harness the best layout from the two spaces, whilst allowing for a second shower and toilet.
To provide this solution, two L-shaped spaces were created, locking together in a yin and yang fashion. In the the bathroom a luxuriously large shower nook and wide custom made timber vanity unit ensure that, what is essentially a small room, is easy for more than one person to use at a time. Meanwhile the laundry and extra ensuite were created in the other space, side-tucked neatly into the corner of the complimentary "L", with a shared laboratory-style basin. 

Beautiful custom-designed mirrors, a vanity cabinet and towel racks were made by Auld Design combined with some warm details such as locally-made turned timber lights and cabinet handles. The wet areas are now functional, light and lovely. 

And how do the owners feel about their new bathroom/laundry solution?

"I love the way you designed the new layout so that there is maximum useful space and lots of light. The combination of timber and grey and white tiles is very peaceful and beautiful and the custom design of the vanity and mirror is spot on. It has lots of nooks and storage. We also love the quirky light fittings. The space is much more functional now, and the surfaces and textures are perfectly suited to their uses like the laundry bench and the smooth floor tiles. I just like to go in and gaze at how beautiful it all is!"- Lucy, Yarraville. 

Despite having added an ensuite into the space it seems larger overall, with plenty of full height storage in the laundry for linen and bulk supplies. 

All photographs by Emma Byrnes

sweet dreams are made of this

If you consider the total amount of hours we spend in various parts of the home, bedrooms are by far our most frequently inhabited spaces. Good bedroom design contributes to our psychological and physical health and wellbeing, and with careful planning need not be difficult or expensive to achieve.
The first question to ask is what is a bedroom for? Bedrooms can be spaces for rest, work, storage and play. For all of their potential uses bedrooms needn’t be very large.

East facing windows are ideal in a bedroom.  Morning sun, and having a view out a window from the bed are good for the spirit. Locating the bed so you are not looking out the doorway or out windows into the street will increase the sense of privacy.

The location of bedrooms is crucial, upstairs can be beneficial in cool climates as the interior heat will collect on the upper floor. In warmer climates placing bedrooms to the south and near thermal mass will help keep them cool. Good bedding can solve most heating problems. Radiant heat can be absorbed and stored by the human body so taking a hot water bottle or another human being to bed is a good old fashioned and highly-effective way to stay warm.

Sealing up wall vents, fireplaces and other gaps will reduce both winter draughts and summer heat. Windows that can be locked securely and that open at night, will help to passively ventilate the bedroom and improve indoor air quality. Insect screens are useful to keep mosquitoes at bay. A ceiling-fan will circulate air reducing the need for air-conditioning.

North or west facing windows will benefit from exterior shading in summer to keep a bedroom cool. Adjustable exterior blinds or deciduous plantings allow a high degree of adaptability to provide shade as needed. Thermally-effective window treatments are especially important in bedrooms. Heavy lined curtains that have pelmets and run to the floor will effectively trap a pocket of warm air inside. If curtain are impractical or the heaters are under the window then recess mounted honeycomb blinds or face fixed heavy backed roman blinds are the best option. Roman blinds use less material than curtains so can be a good opportunity to using organic and or locally printed fabrics.

Preserve limited floor space by running storage cupboards above head height. The alcove underneath can be used to tuck a bed or desk into. Capitalize on high ceilings by creating a sleeping loft, utilising the space under to fit a wardrobe, desk or another bed. Wardrobes are a cost-intensive part of a renovation, so rather than using mass produced storage solutions, look for creative ways to reuse second-hand cabinets, or hide shelves and racks behind a lightweight ceiling mounted curtain.

Keeping furnishings simple will reduce dust build up, that can contribute to allergies, respiratory problems and asthma. Rugs rather than carpet are useful for warmth and softness underfoot, as they can be aired and cleaned regularly. Painted surfaces and composite timber products off-gas volatile organic compounds into the indoor environment so choose VOC free paints and oils for your bedroom walls and furniture, and EO rated timbers for your cabinetry.

Leave new upholstery or furniture outside to off-gas for a few days, to get rid of the ‘factory fresh’ smell.  Slatted bed bases provide good ventilation around the mattress reducing the occurrence of mould and dust mites. Mattresses are commonly constructed and treated with chemicals in the fabrics and foams containing volatile organic compounds such as antibacterial agents, flame-retardants, PVC’s, bleaches, pesticides and dyes. These chemicals can contribute to allergies, respiratory problems, chemical sensitivities and asthma. Mattresses made of plant-based materials such as organic wool, cotton, hemp, natural latex and bamboo are a safer option. Bamboo and latex are naturally hypoallergenic and dust-mite resistant. If you are replacing a mattress divert it from landfill by sending it for recycling.

Ideally use natural fibre bed linens and covers made from organic and ethically produced sources of bamboo, linen, silk or cotton. Wash and line dry new bedding before using it to get rid of any chemical residue from production, or buy second hand sheets and blankets. Try dying old bedding and blankets to give them a new lease of life.

Keep digital clock radios and phone chargers away from where you are sleeping and avoid positioning a bed on the opposite side of a wall to a smart meter, refrigerator or other appliance, as these will emit electro magnetic fields most strongly within 1-2 meters.

Poorly designed and furnished bedrooms can make us sick while we sleep. By applying a few simple design and retrofitting ideas and carefully selecting the materials that we bring inside a bedroom area, we can create a space that is not just somewhere to sleep, but a place to retreat for relaxation and rejuvenation.

This article content was originally published in Sanctuary magazine.

oh' rosanna!

Here is a little project we worked on this year in the lovely Melbourne suburb of Rosanna that is full of large post-war brick houses on elevated blocks with established trees. It is the home of a keen gardener and every room looks out onto beautifully maintained native and productive gardens. The house has modestly proportioned rooms in a great existing layout that flows from one room to another. Sadly, the 1970's bright yellow laminate kitchen was beyond repair and and the owner was keen to replace it with both the uber-functionality and clean lines of a Cantilever designed kitchen, but combined with some handcrafted and vintage touches in keeping with the rest of the home.

A local 'wood genius' and friend of the owner, known as Chubb, sourced recycled spotted gum and lovingly turned it into a large island bench at one end of Cantilever's kitchen. At the other end a wall dividing the kitchen and dining was opened up and spotted gum shelves, also made by Chubb, were suspended from copper pipe rods found in the attic space. Hand-turned handles were fashioned from the left over timber offcuts.

Compact and highly efficient appliances were selected including an induction cooktop. Stainless steel tap-ware was chosen for the kitchen and laundry to avoid using chrome.  Japanese tiles that echoed the original stonework around the fireplace in the living room were selected. Vintage mid century lighting was sourced from Australia and Europe to add a touch of the owner's personality and the homes inherent style.  The result is highly cohesive, earthy and inviting low-maintenance spaces in a very enjoyable collaborative project.

All photographs by Emma Byrnes

for the love of plants

In Australia, 80% of us live in urban areas, spending up to 90% of our time indoors. As a design tool, plants are an adaptable, multi-purpose and easily retrofittable element for the home or office. Plant-scaping can be used not only for sculptural and aesthetic effect but to screen, buffer noise, filter light, purify the air and provide ambience. Recent studies also show that plants in indoor environments can have multiple benefits for our health and wellbeing.

Our survival is inextricably linked with that of the world’s trees. ‘The lungs of our planet’ capture energy from the sun’s rays and absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to produce their own chemical energy, conveniently releasing the waste product of oxygen.
Its no surprise then that photosynthesizing indoor plants are good for air quality - providing a continual supply of oxygen during daylight hours. 

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of indoor plants is their capacity for air purification through phytoremediation.
Plants can absorb and metabolize airborne contaminants such as mould, bacteria and the chemical pollutants (VOCs) that are released from our furnishings, paints, adhesives, building materials, paper, textiles and plastics, and can be found in high concentrations in indoor environments. These contaminants mean indoor environments are more polluted than the outdoors.

A University of Technology Sydney (UTS) study on plants and indoor air quality has shown that plants' ability to remove VOC’s works by a symbiotic relationship between soil and the plant; indoor contaminants are pulled into the root zone where soil micro-organisms convert them into food. The researchers also found that pot size; species; and light and dark did not affect the rate of removal. Carbon dioxide levels were found to be removed by between 10 to 25% and carbon monoxide by up to 90%.

Indoor plants can also have a range of cognitive, physiological and psychological preventative and restorative effects. The UTS study looked at the reduction in negative feelings (testing for anxiety, anger, depression, fatigue and confusion) through introduction of plant life found a total negativity reduction of -58% and reduction in overall stress of -50%. 

Lead researcher of the project and plant scientist at UTS, Dr Margaret Burchett has no doubt that greening the ‘great indoors’ with living plants could play an important part in enabling the sustainable urban communities of the future.  She says that increasing our green space indoors could: improve energy efficiency through insulation and temperature control; reduce air pollution; raise spirits and work performance; and improve concentration and attention span.
“They are also a great way to bring more nature to plant-scarce cities without taking up too much space.”

HOW MANY PLANTS?

The UTS study showed that three to six plants in the office kept VOC levels below 100 parts per billion (ppb) — regarded as negligible health risk (Aust. recommended total VOC max. is 500 ppb)

Around 15 to 18 plants per 170 square metre of indoor space could be beneficial for indoor air quality, but even the presence of a single pot plant on a desk could improve someone’s work day.

CARING FOR YOUR INDOOR GARDEN

Successfully growing indoor plants is about getting a few fundamentals right. With the below points nailed, you should find your indoor plants thrive with minimal attention.

Microclimates - The first rule of success with indoor plants is location, location, location. Different areas of a building may have specific microclimates that make them more suitable for certain species.

Light - Plants can be grouped into types that prefer low, partial and bright light. Low light or shade plants can survive with less than four hours of sunlight per day. Partial sun plants need at least four hours of sunlight per day, but not necessarily direct. Full sun plants need at least six hours of sunlight per day. Plants may need to be moved seasonally to avoid or reach the sun and rotated occasionally so that all sides grow evenly.

Temperature - Plants prefer stable temperatures, so avoid placing them close to heaters and air-conditioners that cause temperature fluctuations. Locating them near thermal mass can help even out the immediate temperature range the plant experiences.

Humidity - Indoor plants have a regulating effect on humidity in all climates, releasing 97 per cent of the water they absorb through transpiration. Plants will work to both raise and lower the humidity levels, maintaining an ideal level of between 30 to 60 per cent. Clustering plants in groups increases the surrounding humidity and creates an ideal climate for healthy plants.

Potting and Nutrition - For optimum nutrition plants need high quality potting mix and re-potting as they grow to avoid becoming root bound. Increasing the pot size by only 2 to 3 cm at a time will help avoid rot. Repot, divide and propagate at the beginning of the growing season, placing broken crockery, pebbles or scoria at the base of pots for aeration and drainage. Add a slow release fertiliser or heavily diluted liquid fertiliser such as worm tea periodically.

Watering - Over-watering kills plants as often as under-watering so water with small amounts and often, and don’t leave plants sitting in water. Plants will need less water in winter unless the heating is running at high temperatures. Forming a habit of emptying leftover cups and water bottles into plants will help make the job incidental. Some plants like to dry out between waters.

Trouble shooting - Cleaning the leaves of your plants with a damp cloth removes dust that reduces the plant’s ability to photosynthesize. Indoor plants are susceptible to mould that can exacerbate allergic and respiratory conditions. Physically remove the mould and apply a good dusting of cinnamon over the soil as a natural fungicide. Move the plant to a well-ventilated area of the house and let the soil dry out partially between watering to prevent the mould returning.

WHERE TO PLANT?

Access to light and irrigation systems for indoor gardens can be considered at each stage of the design process.

At a design and build level - Atriums, light wells, conservatories, vertical green walls, in-built garden beds, suspended gardens

In large existing spaces - Anywhere there is dead space, eg: circulation zones, passageways, under staircases, entrances, corners, as room dividers in open plan spaces, vertical spaces growing upwards against windows, under skylights

In small existing spaces - On window sills, along tops of cupboards, hanging in rows and corners, on stands, wall-mounted shelves, chairs, tables and stools.

Using repurposed elements - Enamelware, ceramic teapots bowls/ cups, tins, crates, industrial metal bins and containers, pellets, aquariums and vases for terrariums.

WHICH PLANT WHERE?

According to the UTS study, any green shoot will remove carbon dioxideand release equal amounts of oxygen with adequate light. However, different species may require different conditions to photosynthesize effectively. The more foliage, the better.

Low light - Mother-in–law’s tongues, Janet Craigs, spathiphyllum ‘sensation’, hahnii, peace lily, Aspidistra elatior (cast iron plant).

Partial sun - Bamboo palm, kentia, pothos, happy plant, parlour palm, dracaena compacta, orchids.

Full sun - Yucca, bird of paradise, ficus elastica, golden cane, dragon tree, bromeliads, lady palm philodendrons, succulents.

To lower humidity - Boston fern and English ivy, maiden hair fern, snake plant.

To raise humidity - Lady palm, boston fern, gerbera, peace lily, Kimberley queen, florists mum, warneckei.

For air purification- Aloe vera, golden pothos ,spider plant, peace lily, english ivy, gerbera, snake plant (mother-in–law’s tongue), heart leaf philodendron, weeping fig, warneckei, bamboo palm.

In bedrooms - Orchids, epiphytic bromeliads and succulents release oxygen at night.

Australian native plants for indoors - Umbrella tree, black bean, davidson plum, lilly-pillies, grevillea robusta, rasp fern, fishbone fern.

All photographs by Emma Byrnes

This article first appeared in Issue 30 of Sanctuary Magazine.

the tiny kitchen with a big heart

This is one of those projects I affectionately call a 'LOVE' job.
The inspiring clients - live at The Plummery in Northcote, an impressively productive 280sqm urban block. They are the type of home-owners I respect as they have finished all of the "less-glamourous-but-sensible-jobs" first - adding solar panels; setting up a nectre wood heater; installing home-made double glazing (bubble wrap); and building a wonderful sun-trap conservatory out of reclaimed materials that shelters seedlings, warms the house and even grows tropical fruit! They have also spent many years developing every square inch of The Plummery permaculture garden hence creating an abundance of produce in a self-sustaining nutrient cycle. This cycle includes composting waste; nourishing soils and organic matter; and growing fruits and vegetables from which seeds are then saved for planting the following year. At certain times of each season there will be a glut of produce - with kilos of feijoas, blackberries, grapes, persimmons and plums passing through their tiny lean-to kitchen to be preserved, fermented, dried, bottled and baked.
After years of using this old dysfunctional kitchen Kat and Nik were ready to create a purpose-built kitchen to do all the busy work. In an agreement with Brave New Eco that was part barter-exchange (I've had all my seedlings hand-raised at The Plummery for the past year) we set about designing the ultimate hard-working tiny kitchen in the same six square metre space as the original kitchen but replaced it with high-quality efficient appliances, no hard-to-clean surfaces or fiddly deep cupboards, and with everything they need within arms reach.

"The kitchen is the heart of our permaculture system. We grow most of our fresh produce and make meals from scratch and so the kitchen needed to be able to handle heavy use and lots of dishes! It has a tiny footprint of only a few square metres so we needed bench space and storage solutions. Using local, recycled and sustainable materials was paramount for ethical reasons, but we also wanted a bit of a modern twist. Looking back there are certainly conflicts in our brief - recycled and rustic yet modern, tiny floor plan but with lots of space, heavy duty but with a light footprint - but Megan has somehow delivered on each one of them", says Kat.

For all of the utilitarian function desired by the owners we wanted to steer clear of a cold and minimalist outcome in a home that truly embodies "cosy". To avoid this from happening Brave New Eco merged industrial functionality with an organic, homemade charm. One side of the kitchen became the utility bench with all of the appliances required to make a small kitchen hum. An induction cooktop; a built-in oven; an efficient 450mm wide dishwasher and a tiny 1.25m sink were included under a stainless bench-top making a seamless junction between wet and hot areas that is less likely to get damaged and easy to clean. Terrazzo floor tiles give the splashback a lovely natural stone palette and minimal grout reduces the amount of cleaning needed. In collaboration with the owners we designed a reclaimed Blackbutt drying/shelving plate rack that was made by a local craftsperson, Sam Joddie. It was thoughtfully designed for plates and cups to drip over the sink area.  Kat had the idea to line the shelf trays with the cut-outs of recycled plastic bread crates- this solution worked an absolute treat.

A floating shelf over the island bench houses anything fermenting, soaking, rising, drying or otherwise needing passive observation without cluttering the workbench. This shelf had to be such a height that one shorter and one very tall house-holder (read: Kat and Nik) could both reach it and see under it, so much detailed measuring ensued.  
Knowing the owners had many friends on country properties I set them with the task of finding a dry fallen branch of the right proportions to use as a semi-structural vertical element for the floating shelf unit. They soon returned with a beautiful Redbox branch not too curvy, not too straight. They whittled the bark off themselves to show the beautiful surface below and Sam incorporated the branch into the shelving thus completing our marriage of utilitarian and organic elements. 

"We especially love our dish draining rack which combines drying and storage to cut the chore of putting away dishes. The overhead shelf to store our ferments, cultures and produce which is out of the way but visible so we can keep an eye on what needs to be used up is also fantastic and so beautiful that it has become a real feature in our living room" observes Kat.

The walls were painted in Murobond paints and energy-efficient LED strip lighting is recessed under the open shelving. Kat hand-felted the 'wolf back' pendant light using natural wool.
"We always spent a lot of time in the kitchen but now we relish that time. Jobs like cooking, cleaning, washing up and preserving produce have become so much easier and more enjoyable. So the irony is that we now need to spend less time in the kitchen but we're wanting to spend more time in there", says Kat.

All photographs by Emma Byrnes