Case study · Brighton

A busy family home that feels calmer than its household

Property: Two-storey 1990s family house
Scope: Living, kitchen and dining, ensuite and family bathroom
Duration: 8 months, design to installation
Services: Full-home interiors, Kitchens & bathrooms

Living room with timber-framed glazing, a black fireplace, a large abstract canvas and a low timber table

The brief

A family of five, two dogs and a house with good bones and hard surfaces: tiled floors, bare plaster and big windows made the open-plan living area loud and a little cold. The kitchen was too small for three people to cook in at once, and nothing had a place to go.

The brief was warmth, durability and storage, in that order. Nothing precious and nothing that would date in five years, but nothing that felt like a show home either.

Design decisions

i.
Soften the sound before the look
A large wool rug, lined linen curtains on every window and upholstered seating took the echo out of the room. The fireplace wall was re-rendered and given a blackened steel surround so it reads as the room’s anchor.
ii.
Storage that’s drawn, not bought
Joinery was designed around what the family actually owns: a drop zone for school bags at the side door, a pantry with deep drawers instead of shelves, and a cupboard just for the dogs' things.
iii.
Dark timber, real stone
The kitchen moved to stained timber joinery with a natural marble splashback, rather than white cabinetry, so it hides fingerprints and feels at home next to the living room.
iv.
An ensuite with one big gesture
A floating walnut vanity with a carved stone basin, large-format stone-look porcelain on the walls, and nothing else competing for attention.

03 · Before and after

Concept to completion

**Brighton family home, living room.** Drag the handle, or use the arrow keys, to compare the concept sketch with the finished room.

The concept sketch set the furniture plan, the fireplace surround and the scale of the canvas.

Ensuite with a floating walnut vanity, a stone basin and large-format stone-look tiles in afternoon sun — **Brighton family home, ensuite vanity wall.** Drag the handle, or use the arrow keys, to compare the concept sketch with the finished room.

**Brighton family home, ensuite vanity wall.** Drag the handle, or use the arrow keys, to compare the concept sketch with the finished room.

Drawn first as a single wall: vanity, basin, mirror and tile joints all set out together.

04 · Materials

The palette

Blackwood
Kitchen joinery, stained
Marble
Splashback and vanity tops
Wool
Rugs and upholstery
Belgian linen
Lined curtains throughout
Brushed brass
Tapware and cabinet pulls

05 · Gallery

Around the rooms

Kitchen in stained timber with lit glass shelving.
Dining corner off the kitchen: round table, low pendant.
Family bathroom in marble and brushed brass.

Brighton family home is a fictional project (Residential, Kitchens & bathrooms). Photography is from Unsplash and illustrates the kind of work described.

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