Design Anatomy
Welcome to Design Anatomy, where we examine the world of interiors and design. With a shared passion for joyful, colour-filled, and lived-in spaces, Bree Banfield and Lauren Li are excited to share their insights and inspiration with you.
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Design Anatomy
Warmth and Style: Kitchens in 2025
Imagine a kitchen that feels like a cozy haven, an eclectic blend of personal style and practical design. In this episode of Design Anatomy, we unlock the secrets to transforming your kitchen space from a minimalist, concealed setup to a warm, lived-in masterpiece that truly reflects who you are. Learn why the shift towards natural materials and personal touches is redefining what it means to have a modern kitchen in 2025. We promise you'll walk away with a fresh perspective on creating spaces that are not just functional, but brimming with character and individuality.
Our journey doesn't stop at aesthetics; we explore the practicality of design as well. Discover the charm of unloved yet stylish glass-front cupboards and the art of curating visible displays. Feel the nostalgia with modular designs and freestanding cabinets, offering a sustainable approach that combines the best of past and present trends. From the rise of mismatched ceramics to the practicality of movable furniture, we explore how these elements create flexible and engaging kitchen environments that defy the conventional norms of sterile, streamlined designs.
But that's not all. We take a closer look at the materials making waves in the design world, from vibrant stones to tactile leathered finishes. Our conversation uncovers the resurgence of fabric skirts in kitchen design, inspired by classic styles and movies like "Calamity Jane." We discuss innovative and budget-friendly ways to incorporate fabric and other nostalgic elements into your home.
Join us as we celebrate the art of interior design, acknowledging the rich cultural history of the spaces we create and inhabit. This episode is packed with inspiration, ready to elevate your kitchen into a space that is uniquely yours.
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Welcome to Design Anatomy, the interior design podcast hosted by friends and fellow designers me, Lauren Li and me, Bree Banfield, with some amazing guest appearances along the way. We're here to break down everything from current trends to timeless style, with a shared passion for joyful, colour-filled and lived-in spaces. We're really excited to share our insights and inspiration with you. And just before we get started, I just wanted to remind you guys that if you're an interior designer, you can join us in the Design Society and we are learning about just how to be the best designers that we can be. And if you jump into the show notes, you'll find links to sign up for my newsletter and keep an eye out for our release of our pre-selected selections of furniture and finishes that you can purchase so that you can interior design your own home with my help. Clever, so fun. My help, clever, so fun.
Speaker 1:A good chat today, I think, bree, because I think kitchens is just one of those things that there's just so much to talk about, right? Yeah, I love kitchens. I love doing design for kitchens, kitchens and bathrooms. I find really fun. I quite like the, the planning aspect of it and, you know, the more permanence to the design of those sort of spaces. Yeah, I mean, we're going to talk about a whole lot of different things today, but this episode about the fundamentals of kitchen design in 2025, you know, this is not our first rodeo. We've designed a few kitchens before and it's just fascinating to see how our kitchen spaces have evolved and sort of where we're at at this point in time. So the first kind of thing we want to talk about is just kind of this vibe shift which is really towards warmth, comfort and lived in spaces, which is kind of different to what we have experienced. Well, I just know, when I first started designing kitchens, maybe in the 2000s, it was all about concealing things and everything being quite sterile looking. Yeah for sure. I think that I guess that general movement towards being a little bit more eclectic, I think, is probably a good word and authentic, so things are a bit more real. So we don't mind showing some appliances on the benches or, you know, canisters of food, the fruit bowls and the I guess they're more decorative elements but they're practical things because it's real and authentic, and so there's definitely been that shift towards that. I think that kind of is affecting also color, because we want it to feel warm.
Speaker 1:We've realized how much time we also spend in our kitchens, and particularly in Australia, where they're usually open plan. I think it's rare now to find the kitchen as a separate room, unlike in Europe where there are still a lot of separate room kitchens. In Australia the kitchen is on show. So I think that's probably why there was a big move towards everything being hidden when minimalism was a little bit stronger. We didn't want mess, and probably the rise of the butler's pantry in Australia as well is due to the fact that our kitchens are very much seen from nearly every part of our living spaces, right Even probably from outdoor living spaces. So that kind of pull back and pair back and hide things and make it clean all the time was probably why that sort of happened, when we were all kind of like, okay, minimalism and everything has its place. And now that it's shifted a bit further away from that and we're more into character and how we live and things having personality, doesn't make sense anymore for everything to be kind of really streamlined and tailored and hidden Some things. I think it's still good to be hidden, true, I know, it's actually interesting.
Speaker 1:I was chatting to a client just the other day actually, and we're trying to just figure out the design for her kitchen and because it is, when you walk in it is kind of the first thing you see, but currently there's sort of a wall. It's a U-shaped kitchen that was probably built in the nineties and she was just contemplating about getting rid of this wall that divides it to the lounge area. And when you walk in, she's like I just don't want to be able to walk in and see the kitchen. I'm like, well, I get that, but she's like I don't want to just walk in and see this waterfall edge of the island. I'm like it's not that we're not going to do a waterfall edge in and see this waterfall edge of the island. I'm like it's not that we're not going to do a waterfall edge, we want it to feel more lived in. It's going to be a kitchen, obviously, but it feels more part of a living space these days and it's about creating comfort and warmth and I don't know.
Speaker 1:I feel like, you know, we've sort of talked about all these sort of shiny AI images are just really off-putting and I feel like we just want to get together, we just want to feel natural materials, we just want to see spaces that are a bit more individual and it's not just like another Pinterest image, maybe, yeah, yeah, definitely, yeah, that, um, that move towards and we were talking about this with with trends towards uh, the antitrend, which is where you create it for you, and that's essentially what we're seeing in kitchens and it actually is super important, because it is such a large part of your home that it represents, that you don't kind of fall into the trap of it needs to be white, it needs to be this, it needs to have a waterfall edge, because this is what everyone's doing, and you need to kind of really think about it from your own personal perspective of what you like and how it works. For me, it's got to start there. You can have great ideas about what you want it to look like, but sometimes that changes depending on how it works. So, when you're working out, how do I use my kitchen, well, actually, now that's not practical to have that particular finish or whatever it is. So it is one of those spaces, you know, along with bathrooms, that really do go hand in hand with you know, function and form and how something looks. They have to work together. They can't be separate.
Speaker 1:Well, this is right, and I mean, with this client we were trying to think about some ways how we could make it feel a bit more closed off from the lounge room, but in the end we just had to land on function. It's just going to have to function and we're just going to have to open it up. But, as you said, it goes hand in hand with how it looks. So she sort of had this waterfall edge in her mind that as soon as you walked in you would see this island bench. And she had this really beautiful red travertine coffee table that she left. I said, why don't we introduce some of that red travertine and have it like this? So when you walk in, yes, you see the island bench, but it's a beautiful piece of almost like furniture. So that's kind of where we landed.
Speaker 1:But yeah, it is about I I mean it's just the naturally the heart of the home right, everyone just gathers around that island bench and, um, it's just about making it feel comfortable and not so uptight. You know, with those sterile kitchens where everything was put away. I just feel like you can't even relax, like you can't even put your phone down and your bag on the island bench. It just stands out so much because there's nothing else in the space. Yeah, I think that's exactly right and and we tend to do that right, you sort of walk in. I know I often put things. Um, I have a spot where I put things because I do like my kitchen to be. It's still lived in, but I still like it to be ordered. Of course, probably a good word, yeah, but yeah, if it's so minimal, even just like a set of keys, it's going to stand out and you're going to go oh, I need to find somewhere to put those, I know. But if you have like a tray or something, that's where the keys and the bag go. It kind of feels more welcoming space and it's just a little more relaxed, integrated, a little. Yeah, yeah, which is like what we're I guess.
Speaker 1:Our second point is, um, that it is now a decorated space where it wasn't before. You know, we see artwork in kitchens. Now I've got an artwork hanging on on the wall in my kitchen, just a little square one, um, actually I've got two, I've got another one up on a shelf. So I guess that's also helping it integrate into the rest of the home because you're not just kind of stopping the rest of the house sort of stops there and the kitchen's just clear benches and cupboards. Now we're kind of going well, no, this is the space we live in and we still want beautiful things around us and we want to look at the kitchen and still feel connected to it. So I think that's often what the decoration does in spaces, it's that little layer of connection. So now your kitchen has, you know, I don't know the artwork that was handed down to you from your mom, or a bowl from your nana or whatever. So it's got some kind of meaning and even if it's not that, it's just something you love. Yeah, it kind of gives you a bit more connection to the space.
Speaker 1:And I think there's that shift from that white, sterile, minimalist kitchen that just looked very kitchen-y to something that looks a bit more joinery. So we're seeing lots of warm timbers, we're seeing lots of colour used in the kitchen. You know like we've looked at these colours that are coming through the light blues, the burgundies, you know those sort of more beige-y colours, the travertines and more characterful stones. It's not just Carrara marble, it makes it feel more like a lived-in space. It's not just like I mean, obviously it's a kitchen, but it just brings in that warmth.
Speaker 1:And then you add that layer of decoration. You can't do that in a sterile kitchen. There are no open shelves to put the artwork on. Whereas what we're seeing now is that instead of all those overhead cupboards and don't get me wrong, everyone loves storage, but sometimes those overhead cupboards, I mean, they're hard to get, the top shelf, it's hard to reach those things. You don't use that storage every day. So what we're seeing is more practical storage, like drawers, and then we're having a one or two shelves above the, the benchtop, and we have now people say, oh my god, that would drive me crazy collecting dust. I'm like, I don't really feel like it's a huge problem, but you can lean an artwork there, and I'm not talking about, you know, a precious oil painting, because like, let's a huge problem, but you can lean an artwork there and I'm not talking about you know a precious oil painting, because like, let's be real, something under glass is better for kitchen, just a print, cheap and cheerful, or whatever print that you love.
Speaker 1:And then you've got some cool ceramic pieces and it could be a mortar and pestle or maybe that's, I don't know something that you actually use. Yeah, I have one of those. I rarely use it, but I like the way it looks. I've used it a couple of times. I've never used it. I wish I was like one of those people that did use it more. Yeah, I have. I mean I have used it. It's just not like I use it every week. I might use it like maybe once a month, exactly. But yeah, those kind of aesthetic pieces in the kitchen. So yeah, as you said, it's not your kids' plastic water bottles we're lining up there. They still need to be hidden, exactly they do. But it's you know, hopefully you know your favourite coffee mugs and you know your noodle bowls or something like that. So hopefully they're not just collecting dust. Yeah, and that's where that you know.
Speaker 1:The other shift we've seen is the glass front cupboards. So you can see either. I mean, I think the most popular is a type of fluted glass or a frosted glass or a slump glass or something like that. But I think people think that you can't see what's in there. When you have those sort of cupboards, you still have to think about you can't put all your plastic Tupperware container in there. Yes, because you can see it. You might not see it clearly, but if the shapes just look hectic or you've got bright colours, it won't give you the effect you think it's going to give. You need to think about what's going in that cupboard. Not my Paw Patrol bowls and my dog bowl, yeah, and all the kids' coloured drink bottles can't go in that particular cupboard, no, yeah, I mean this is ideal. This is where, speaking ideally, you know where. We lived in an apartment before. We couldn't do that. We had a glass cupboard that we put everything in.
Speaker 1:But you know, I did a cowl as well. I'm like I cannot stand all of these. You know stuff, you know you just end up with mismatched stuff. Mismatched stuff, it's actually I went to House of Orange. Yeah, I went to House of Orange and I just brought up a whole lot of their cool like 1970s style ceramic. Yeah, I love the ceramics bowls and glasses and cups and stuff and they look really cute and it just looked nice. It's sort of a. They mingle nicely together but they're not all 100% matching, if you know what I mean. Yeah, so anyway, yeah, so it's still kind of vibe together.
Speaker 1:I think it's cool to have mismatched stuff, but not if it's like at the moment I am overdue. I need a new. I need new cutlery. I've got to the point now. What happens to the cutlery? I'm like, are the kids throwing it out when they clean up the kitchen? Or the little spoons are the first ones to disappear. And I reckon that's because I used to maybe give the kids yogurt or something and they'd take it to school and I'd always say, use the crappy ones, but use my good ones. And now I don't think we might have like two spoons left. I reckon there's not enough knives and forks. And I'm a bit weird. I think if you're slightly neurodivergent you'll understand this.
Speaker 1:I have to eat with certain cutlery and my good cutlery is the one I like to eat with, and the rest of it I don't even know where it came from. It's just this crappy supermarket, shitty stuff that somehow ended up in my drawer. I didn't buy it, I know that. And if that's what's left in the drawer and it's dinner time, I'll look around and the kids will swap me a fork because I can't eat with this. Yeah, oh, that's so funny. I have to say that does remind me of my three-year-old toddler. You know, if it's the wrong spoon, that's me still. I'm still a toddler.
Speaker 1:I can't use that plate plate. It's got a chip in it. It has to be this plate. It has to be this particular bowl for breakfast and that bowl's okay for pasta. Yeah, yeah, you crazy, I'm trying to just cereal out of this bowl. I know it's anyway.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, I need new, yeah, pulling all that together, and the point I was trying to make before I digressed was all that new stuff. So, you know, I had just like a white, you know plates and bowls and everything. But you can't really have mismatched ones of new things. It has to have a bit of a style to work to be mismatched, doesn't it? Otherwise it's just like, oh, what is all this crap? Yeah, you make a good point. I think that's why I like the house of orange stuff, because it's all the same size but they've used different glazes and stuff on it, so it's really cute. Yeah, it's got that vibe that it can be a bit more eclectic and probably on your open shelf and you don't have to worry about arranging it. They all look, yes, smashed together. Exactly that is key. Yeah, so we're talking about.
Speaker 1:So number one, I guess, was the shift towards warmth and lived in. Number two is making your space decorated. Now. Number three is an unfitted kitchen, so it's kind of like, you know, a butcher's block in the middle. I mean that's nothing new really, but it is. It is a step away. It is, yeah, a step away from that really sterile white kitchen. Look, I think we did it well in the seventies and the eighties and it was the nineties where those things sort of started to disappear, those loose furniture things in the kitchen.
Speaker 1:So I was obsessed with a trolley or a butcher's block. Yeah, I really wanted that in my kitchen. I've never had it one day. Maybe one day and that can be so practical as well. Definitely have that, especially if you can move it and you've got like a really big and small kitchen. So if it's a small kitchen, you might need that extra space while you're cooking so you can like put it where you need it to be and it's an extra set down space or whatever, and then you can put it back wherever it goes.
Speaker 1:But a big kitchen, it's great because if you've got circulation space you can fit it in the middle and it can kind of stay there and it's an extra spot to I don't know either. Just look good, going against what I said, where everything has to have function as well. But, um, I think it would still function. That's the idea, yeah, yeah, and it does make it feel a bit more interesting. Right, it does. And actually you remind me because my mum actually has a.
Speaker 1:It's not a butcher's block, but it is like a little, a little narrow table with little caster wheels on it, and because she's got a u-shaped kitchen. It's not big enough that you would put an island bench in the middle of the? U, but it's, it's. It's not so small that you, you can't fit anything, but it's really handy to have that thing in the middle and it's actually super handy and it's very cute and charming. It's a little antique thing that she found, um, but also what I've noticed is like a look of having like a freestanding pantry as well, okay, like a separate cupboard, yeah. So I've seen, like hecker guthrie do that a lot. They sort of do a freestanding like a unfitted. It's fitted, but it's. They almost they always sort of do like a plinth a stone plinth, yes, and then there's joinery elements that sort of sit like a plinth, a stone plinth, yes, and then there's joinery elements that sort of sit on that plinth and that's just really See, I feel like that was a real 80s thing too.
Speaker 1:Do you remember that everyone had those cabinets that would be I don't even know, it's not a buffet, because it would have, you know, like cupboards above, but it would be the base, sort of, with a plinth and then a little setback, and then you'd have like, say, maybe glass cupboards or timber cupboards that might have cups and stuff in them and you could open it up and put it down and close the door. I feel like that was a real 80s thing too. Yeah, maybe, and that's something you would take with you, like it was a loose piece so it might sit just outside the kitchen, but you know you could house all the glassware in there or something. Oh my God, what do you call that? I don't know. I swear it has a name because it's like a buffet, but it's not. Well, maybe buffet does cover it.
Speaker 1:I'm always buffet. I'm always thinking like, just like a bench height sort of level or a bit lower than bench height. When you think of buffet, what do you think of An? All sorry, that's all right. Or sideboard is the same thing as a buffet, right, yeah, but I always think of a sideboard as being one level and not a higher cabinet like a pantry. Yeah, I'm not sure. Oh, you'll have to show us an image of that. Yeah, all right. Oh, yeah, dig something up from a some archive somewhere.
Speaker 1:But yeah, I've sort of seen maybe, uh, hecker Guthrie do it in more of a contemporary way, but then I've seen more traditional kitchens, you know, like those Deval kitchens or, however you say, those English kitchens where they've, you know they've got their, they've got more of a freestanding kind of look and they'll have it.
Speaker 1:It is like a, um, I guess like a wardrobe, almost proportion, and that's freestanding on its own and that's actually the pantry and it's very, a little bit farmhouse kind of charming, but it has that sort of authentic look to it. I've even seen one and I thought is that a fridge? It's like freestanding, yeah. And I suppose you know what you could say if you were going to attempt this kind of unfitted kitchen look, where you have sort of a module for the sink, you know, another pantry freestanding and almost another one for the fridge, something like that, as you said in the 80s or whatever. You know, you could actually take that apart, which is really, in a way, so sustainable, because it is.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when we're talking about these eras changing, with a white lemonade kitchen, it actually cannot be reused at all. You can't refinish laminate Completely and even when you pull it out, it's not as though you can take that piece and repurpose it. It would pretty much be trashed. So, yeah, I do think and there has been discussion about how to make those kind of designs more sustainable there has been discussion about how to make those kind of designs more sustainable. One of the things that comes up is making the things that would normally be fixed a little bit more modular, so that you can take them with you or sell them and get something else like furniture.
Speaker 1:It makes sense. That's a lot of the way, because people rent so much as well. They don't necessarily fit out their kitchens the way that we do, and they do have individual pieces that can be. They can still have them made and they're bespoke, but then they go to the next apartment. You know, isn't that wild. You take them with them. Yeah, it's such a different. I met a client once she was from Finland but they'd lived in Germany and she said that, yeah, they bought an apartment and they had no kitchen in there. They had to put a kitchen in because they went with the previous owner. They had to get a shop or something. Yeah, it's not uncommon. No, I couldn't believe it. It's just a different way of living, I guess. Yeah, but a lot of it could make sense.
Speaker 1:And I think the other thing we tend to do here in Australia is everything's. We love a big kitchen, don't we? If you've got the space, even if you don't, I think I don't know. I think people maybe even end up with kitchens that are way too big because they just think a big kitchen and so like it's harder to add character to that. But it would probably be better if you'd broken it down into pieces. Even if it was big, it would still have a lot more character, wouldn't it? Well, I mean, you make a really good point. People have a big kitchen as a status symbol. So it's not even a kitchen that they need to cook. They might not even cook at all, or they might cook rarely and they might not even entertain that often. But you've got these island benches with 10 stalls down them. I'm like that just drives me crazy. I don't want to sit by myself having my breakfast. It's such a huge big space lonely. It doesn't feel good, I don't think, but it's um, it's all about that, yeah, showing off a big kitchen, but, um, I've had a funny too.
Speaker 1:I don't know if you've had this conversation with clients where, um, you know you'll talk about okay, so you, you like stools at the kitchen bench, et cetera, et cetera, and say it's a family of five. They're like, well, there needs to be enough for everyone to sit there. I would question that. How many times has everyone, if you're all going to sit together and have dinner, don't you sit at the table? Does everyone sit in a row at the bench, you know? And if you're having breakfast, usually it's like maybe there's two of you there at a time or whatever. It's rare that you're all sitting in a line having breakfast. Or is that just me?
Speaker 1:I have had a client who wanted all the stools at the island bench. She had a beautiful solid oak dining table. They didn't use it because they didn't want to market. I'm not even joking, that's classic. I just couldn't. I was just like, oh, that's actually. Then what's it for? I don't know To look at and not touch. Yeah, they'd bought it overseas. They'd bought it, you know, had it in this house, had it in their next house and they really want to talk after it.
Speaker 1:So the thing too about for me, okay, what's the beauty in antiques and vintage is that it has the mark of the previous owner A hundred percent. So when you have something that is particularly a solid timber table unless you're like a total minimalist I think they get more beautiful the more that they're used Great. And if it's a solid timber table and you get to a point where, like, actually this is looking a bit, then you refinish it because it's solid timber. I agree, you know it's um, I actually you know it could be a different thing. But exactly, I actually met another client and they bought the, the dining table from the previous owner. So they just bought this house and they were like, can we please buy this off you? And he said that he absolutely loves it because it's an antique table.
Speaker 1:It was an old butcher's table. It had drawers underneath some of the part of the top of it and it was all dinted, marked, and he said I can just sit here and relax. Yes, so I like how easy it's like having newly polished timber floors and you know they're going to get marked. They can't not get marked. So it's like that horrible feeling of like going, oh, don't scratch it, yeah, but if it's pre-worn in, you can just live and relax. And he loved that. I thought, oh, that's really cool, which I guess could bring us to the next topic of benchtops. So you know, we're seeing a real move away from those really pristine benches that we feel like we can't even breathe on the wrong way because they'll stain. But you know, it is just a conversation that you need to have and you need to figure out how you live in the space and what is acceptable for you, because, I mean, it depends how you live. Some people will freak out. Yeah, I get that. I get that too.
Speaker 1:And what you were saying about taking the kitchen with you, well, I've heard that in Italy they'll take the stone marble slab with them, the kitchen top with them, which probably sounds hilarious to us because our kitchens are so big. Can you imagine going? I'm just going to take this bench top, but they're bench tops, aren't they? Yeah, they're kind of size, it's a little bit more manageable, exactly, I know. Yeah, it's a little bit more manageable, exactly, I know he's getting a crane in to get you. Get your fetched six meter long slab. I'll just take that with me. But it's, yeah, it's about you know, something that you, you know, you've baked on, you've cooked on. There's signs of life that have you know happened on there and, as you said, you know, the first day in the first cut like it's gonna hurt.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and not everybody's, the deepest said that, cheryl crow, it's, rod stewart, I think a few of them said it. Maybe let's do it. Oh, god, oh, but um, you do need to just be aware of what the maintenance is, and I think we've seen. You know, we just went absolutely all in on this Carrara marble, this cool grey and white, and we talked about the super white marble as well, which is more of a. It's not really super white, is it? It's a grey, mottled sort of no, it's mottled. So the Carrara's probably a bit cleaner, veiny, more contrast, and the Carrara is probably a bit cleaner, veiny, more contrast, and the super white has that, yeah, more mottled effect.
Speaker 1:But I'm just, I am very over a grey marble unless it is super interesting and the grains are interesting, because there's just so much beautiful stone out there, even porcelain slabs. If you are really particular about the maintenance of the stone. Porcelain slab might be a better option for you, but there's still good. You know, there's character and warmth and you can get texture like that. You know what I love? That leathered finish on a stone. Love that. I want to see more of that, god. It's good. Just try to resist running your fingertips off the top of it. It's just beautiful. Beautiful, isn't it? Caressing your bench all the time? That's normal. It's totally normal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think we've seen, yeah, so, a shift from the the cool grays to all of these different colors and also edging as well. So where we used to do, used to do a 40 or a 60 mil thick edge and the waterfall edges, we said we're not doing any waterfalls anymore. But we've seen some really fat bullnose edging, which is kind of fun, or even like a double bullnose. Yeah, I've got that in a project at the moment a double bullnose. Really, I'm kind of obsessed with it. Yeah, it hasn't been made yet, it's just on drawings. Oh, yeah, I'll put one in a drawing too. I don't know if they'll go ahead with it. We're being influenced by trends. I know who isn't. What color's my sweater, but a bullnose is I.
Speaker 1:So when I first started doing design. It was sharks, shark nose, shark nose, shark nose, horrible nose, but shark nose was probably more popular, you know, like with the sharper angle at the bottom, and then it moved to everything being square, with just the little arised edges right, just pretty boring. But also cost comes into it. You know, when you're doing a fancier edge detail it does cost more. It does finding that, that the cost of stone masons have really gone up too, and I also think the craft of stone masoning, stone masoning, I don't know what do you call it like. You know the way that some stone is sort of just looks like it's curved, like a piece of paper. Yes, oh, they can do some amazing stuff, really expertly done. But yeah, you see, you know slim, stainless steel benchtops as well. So it's about that super fine edge which looks really sharp as well and it sounds like.
Speaker 1:You know, when we talk about stainless steel you might sort of think, oh well, that isn't that minimalism. But I've seen some great use of steel in kitchens. That doesn't. That still has character and and it is interesting and I really loved seeing. I saw a great one in um milan last year because it was the kitchen. Yeah, so it was at the fair and I the brand is escaping me, but those who know will probably know what I'm talking about. Where, if they only do metal, and they'd done these most beautiful kitchens all in steel, but they just had still had so much character, and I love seeing that sort of fine edge detail as something a little bit different in a kitchen, because we've seen so much chunkiness for a while. Right, yeah, you're right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, stainless steel obviously is a very sterile, like a literally, isn't it quite a sterile material? Yeah, well, that's why you see it in commercial kitchens. Yeah, it's not porous, it doesn't always no, but it does scratch like crazy. So if you're looking for a perfect stainless steel, that's not it. It's going to scratch and I think the germs and stuff come with the scratches. But I'm sure we can figure that out. But it doesn't always look sterile. So when you pair it with those warm woods, you pair it with the color and you pair it with other stone as well, it can look really warm. And also when you decorate it. So definitely there is a way to use it for sure Colored stone, bullnose edges, double bullnose, stainless steel.
Speaker 1:And what about tile tops? I'm here for some tiled benchtops. I really love it. I actually love the way it looks. I love the fact that you can add so much character and texture on. You know, depending on the size of the tile I mean, usually they're smaller um, the color of the ground, all of that, but it probably would drive me crazy after about a year because I think they don't wear so well, although I've seen old kitchens with tiled bench tops and you know they have a really beautiful character about them. But, um, I think it depends how crazy you get with, like cleaning grout, right, yeah, it depends on how you cook, like, maybe it could be on an island bench where that's actually not where you're preparing, it's where you're sort of more gathering, and the kitchen and the cooktop would have a different bench next to it. Yes, yeah, yeah, maybe it is about having different surfaces to suit what the need is for that particular area.
Speaker 1:And I love I do love a tile splashback. I know we went through the whole, you know, glass splashback, and since then I think people struggle with the tiles a little bit from a cleaning, like particularly behind a stove, because they think that. And I challenge this because people are like, oh, because the ground, like, have you ever tried to properly clean a glass splashback and actually end up looking like it needs to look Once you get a bit of grease and oil and stuff up looking like it needs to look? Once you get a bit of grease and oil and stuff on there, it never cleans properly. I challenge you, or you'd spend a lot of time doing it, probably more so than a bit of grout, I agree, and also a window splash back.
Speaker 1:I think we're moving away from that, because half the time you're looking at your neighbor's fence, you're just looking at a pale fence. We've got one above our cooktop area and I am literally looking at. It's actually brick, because I think it's the side of their garage. So it's, yeah, seems like a good idea. I mean, I think if you do it and you're doing something nice, or maybe your pool's out there or something, and it makes sense, then I get it. But yes, we were doing them and it made no sense, no sense at all.
Speaker 1:So I guess number five is lighting, and I feel like we are really so fatigued with just down lights everywhere, um, and in the kitchen it's. You just need to be so particular with your lighting and I suppose this isn't just something new. But it's really considering that task lighting and making sure that it's not behind you when you're at the bench, yes, which is what everyone seems to do. I don't know what is wrong with that. I think we're talking about very generalised and often spec homes. I think would just put mine is the lights are behind me, they're above but they're just behind, and so you're working and you get that. I think there might be. I turn on the lights in the next room so that I get like a bit more. Yeah, yeah, so it happens so much. I'm just being really clever with that, oh, all the time.
Speaker 1:But we're also seeing more decorative lighting, so it could be you, you know, a light over the island bench. Is it a task light? No, does it give ambient light a bit, but it's more of a statement, kind of sculptural sort of lighting piece. Yeah, and it's a nice one to have on if you, when you're not using the kitchen, maybe like you're not cooking and doing tasks, it is nice to have that, particularly if you are in an open plan area and you've got something that's you know not, maybe super bright, but actually just gives a bit of life to that space. So it's not just all task lighting yeah, perfect. Um, so I think it's the downtime mixed, yep, the task lighting that you need to chop your veggies and whatever. It's about having that ambient lighting, as you say, and then maybe a decorative lighting as well, and it it's okay to mix them up.
Speaker 1:And lamps now in kitchens oh, I love that too. I'll throw that in there. Yeah, particularly now that there's so many options that don't need to be plugged in so you can just charge them and, you know, have a little bit of lamp light. You know I'm thinking about when, you know, maybe you are sitting at the bench and having a drink with a friend and you've already chopped and you just want a little nice lighting in your kitchen. The lamps can actually be, and they're a nice decorative object to have too. I think the first time I saw a lamp used in a kitchen and it would have been on a shoot I don't think it really lived there I was like that's cool, but that doesn't work. And then I think the evolution of how we use our kitchen spaces, but also the fact that you can have a light that doesn't have to be plugged in so it could sit somewhere on the bench. It doesn't have to be right next to the power source, but, you know, with a cord running has changed the way we can use that. Well, I actually have a lamp at sort of the end of our kitchen bench. It is on. It's about to say it's on 24 seven. We don't turn it off because it's just on day and night and when you've got little kids in the house at night time and stuff it's a little bit soft. It's really nice.
Speaker 1:So what about talking about tiles again? So we've moved away from that glass splashback look, and what I've noticed with tiles is we're enjoying this kind of checkerboard kind of moment. So we're seeing, you know, this checkered pattern sometimes being used, and not just for a splash rack, it could be even the front and the top of an island bench, like a real kind of statement yes, yeah, I love it on the front panel. I think also it's really practical because it's very hard wearing. So if you've got people sitting there and you know, kicking their feet into the front panel, it makes a lot of sense. Plus, it's got so much character and you've got so many options of how you can do it. Um, you know, when you talk about checkered, obviously, maybe using two different colors or maybe it's two tonal colors. That doesn't have to be checkered. You could do stripes, like you could do so much with tiles. That's why I really love them in that way. You know, same and it's it's not, uh, the most newest thing to create a pattern with tile. It's probably one of the oldest ideas, isn't it really? Yeah, but it's done in such a fresh way, yeah.
Speaker 1:What about mosaics? Like I've noticed, I think YSG Yasmin uses mosaics quite a bit in her projects and mosaics kind of well, they're very 90s I feel. And when you know that a mosaic it's not obviously a tiler isn't laying every individual tiny little tile. They come on a sheet with a mesh back and it's a 30 by 30 centimetre sort of mesh shape. I hate it when you can see those individual mesh sheets, you can see the join and I don't know what's wrong with me, but I look for that. Yeah, so that sort of puts me off mosaics a bit, I think also just YSG, I could be wrong the way she often uses mosaics is in between other tiles to kind of break up and create more texture. I think that's a really good way to use them as well. Yeah, so you don't have to have, like you know, a splashback. That's all mosaics.
Speaker 1:Maybe you use the mosaics as a bit of a feature within something else. Even stone, even in between stone yeah, I think we might be seeing more mosaics, maybe having a bit of a comeback. Don't know, I've always loved them. I know they definitely had a moment. I kind of I don't know, I kind of always loved mosaics. I think it's just what they look like now, maybe a bit over glass mosaics. Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, little ceramic ones are quite cute, aren't they? Yeah, like the little buttons, those kind of little buttons like chocolate, like little things I could eat.
Speaker 1:One unexpected element that I've noticed is fabric being used in the kitchen. So it's like a skirt over a sink or even like in. You know we're talking about our glass cabinets and how annoying that can be sometimes if everything is an aesthetic within them. A curtain, would you describe it like a drop of fabric? It is like a curtain, ruched fabric inside, yeah, or, you know, I guess you could say it's a drape, a short drape, yeah. Or a skirt, know, I guess you could say it's a drape, a short drape, yeah, or a skirt. I think skirt's probably the best word, yeah, and it's fixed on the bottom as well. What's funny is I mean, I think it's something we're starting to see and I think the reason that's happened is we're looking for more tactility and so if you can bring fabric somehow into the kitchen, you're adding that extra tactile material and element plus. If it's not, you know it's ruched right. So we're talking about um, it having pleats or whatever it is, so that adds even more kind of movement and texture. So I kind of love that.
Speaker 1:But what I find really amusing is that is so old-fashioned, isn't it? That idea is really old-fashioned. So they're taking something you know that's. That'd be 40s, 50s, maybe even like earlier than that. I don't know.
Speaker 1:For some reason I think of the movie Calamity Jane with Doris Day. Do you know that movie? I don't know it. I challenge you to watch it. It's a lot of singing. I could sing all the words for you if you like, but you wouldn't want me doing that. That'd be great. Come over, the kids would love it. Probably. I'll come over and watch it with the kids, but there's this old rundown shack and she makes it over. This is probably why I loved the movie so much as a child, because that's my favorite part when she makes it, they paint it and stuff. But it has the little fabric curtains and it just reminds me of that every time.
Speaker 1:I think about the skirts on cabinets. Are they gingham? I'm sure there's gingham involved, I'm trying to remember. But it's very sweet. It's a very cute moment of the shack being made over. But don't you think as well, it is like again, just a full swing from that sterile kitchen. Look, that's probably the furthest we can get, really, isn't it Exactly? And it's very comforting. That's probably the furthest we can get, really, isn't it Exactly? And it's very comforting. It's very homely.
Speaker 1:It's almost a little cafe sort of style as well. I don't know. I mean, we've seen it done a couple of different ways. Like you're talking about, that kind of cafe style feels a bit homely. But also, was it? Fiona Lynch did a kitchen where she used fabric in it quite a different way and that felt a little more sophisticated. I can't remember the project. So it's interesting to kind of take it to a different level, right as well, very clever. Can you remember how it was done? It was like a ruched leather A ruched, you're right Sort of on the top and the bottom, yes, yeah, and it was a leather that wrapped around an island bench, and I have to say I think I've seen brem so one of our previous guests use fabrics quite a bit within joinery.
Speaker 1:I would say, yeah, um, but you know a, a little fabric skirt underneath the kitchen sink. I mean practical, colorful, a bit whimsical yeah, is affordable and easily to change totally affordable, oh, yeah. Easily change yeah, so totally affordable. Oh, and easily change yeah, so it's quite sustainable. We might say, yeah, I mean, I think it's a mainstream. Rip off your cupboard doors and put up some skirts, just like Doris Day, and doing a quick makeover of your shack. That's our prediction. I do love that, though, and I feel like if you were in an older house where you couldn't afford to update your kitchen just yet and you're like, oh my God, these horrible cupboard doors or whatever they are maybe they're just worn or you hate the finish you could remove them and you could fairly easily install the fabric, which would normally be. You'd still be able to buy.
Speaker 1:It's like a really thick wire that it goes on. I don't know if it's called like a curtain wire, maybe, or a drape wire or something that you put them on and so it wouldn't actually be that tricky. Yeah, and it's tensioned, so it could be. I want to see more of that. People just doing it as a bit of a hack Watch this space, even on your bathroom vanity or something. Yes, actually, that would be way more practical.
Speaker 1:So if you don't have drawers and I advocate for drawers in the bathroom please have drawers. If you're designing a bathroom, you need drawers. Do not put cupboards. Anyway, you know, with cupboards you have to just leave the cupboard doors open and they're kind of in the way. If it was a curtain, it was a skirt, it just slides to the side and you can just put little baskets on the shelf and really get, yes, pull them out. Oh, okay, it's cute, it's cutesy. There you go. Yeah, it is. It is mindful and demure. Mindful, demure, yes, okay.
Speaker 1:So we've talked about, you know, this whole vibe shift towards the warmth and the comfort and everything. We're decorating our spaces. It's an unfitted kitchen, we've talked about different benchtops, we've seen lighting and what we're seeing in tiles, and then we've got our little wild card in there our skirts, cupboards. I think we've done a nice little roundup here. Yeah, I like it. What do you reckon, bree? I think we'll leave some more to talk about on our future kitchen episode, which will be coming up Exactly I don't know when, but it's happening when we'll talk a bit more about appliances and things there and technology, because obviously that plays a big part in kitchens and we haven't touched on that. But we'll do that in another episode.
Speaker 1:So much to unpack. Yeah, it is Always Thanks, brie. Thank to unpack. It is always Thanks, brie. Thank you, always a pleasure Over and out. See you next time Bye.
Speaker 1:So thank you guys for listening in. And just a quick reminder if you would like some help with the interiors for your own home, I can help you in a course called the Style Studies Essentials. Or for designers out there, come into the Design Society for business and marketing and all of the things. Yeah, and in the same show notes you'll find a link to sign up for my soon to be released furniture collections, pre-selected furniture collections and cool trend information, and then in the future some short courses on styling and trends as well. So so good, bree. We've got the utmost respect for the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. They're the OG custodians of this unceded land and its waters where we set up shop, create and call home and come to you. From this podcast today, a big shout out to all of the amazing elders who have walked before us, those leading the way in the present and the emerging leaders who will carry the torch into the future. We're just lucky to be on this journey together.