Wash up

February 9, 2015March 9, 2015Leave a comment

We love our bathrooms at The Shed!!! Seriously!

Industrial features means lots of concrete, steel, corrugated iron and plywood. Details like gal pipe towel rails, bain marie pans as storage and custom benches all add to this unique theme. A vintage cast iron bath, large square basins and simple tap ware complete the picture. Luxurious bathrobes, towels and radiant heating add warmth and absolutely no tiles at all means super easy to clean!

Washing up has never been so easy….

Ensuite at The Shed

Ensuite

Ensuite Shower

Ensuite Details

Ensuite

Cast Iron Bathtub & Gal Pipe Towel Rails

Ensuite Natural Wall Art

Ensuite

Main Bathroom / Laundry

Ensuite Details – Bain Maries

Main Bathroom / Laundry

Light Up

November 9, 2014March 9, 2015Leave a comment

Lighting was such an important detail to get right at The Shed. The type of light fitting not only had to suit the room it was lighting up but we soon learnt the size of the lights were on a scale we weren’t used to… lights that would look right in a normal home looked like toy lights in The Shed!

Here are some of our lighting choices…

Birdcages for the hall

Laneway lights in the bathrooms

Desk lamp fixed to the breezeway wall

Bedroom 2 lights cast a beautiful shadow

Czech Facroty Lights over the Dining Table

The massive dome light in the breezeway

Bunk room lights

The Fireplace

October 15, 2014March 9, 2015Leave a comment

The plan was always to have a double-sided fireplace which would act as a divider in the open plan living/dining area. Originally we were thinking of having a double sided GAS fireplace for ease and warmth that would be built into a central unit. After going back and forward and doing plenty of research on all the various types of fireplaces, we came to the conclusion that you really need the ambience of an open fire and we settled on a double sided open wood fireplace. We were just about to order it when the installer confirmed our fears of heating and draft issues. This took us full circle back to a French model, Chazelles Chiminee, which offers both slow combustion & an open fire through the use of a glass counterweight door on one side. Usually they are built into a wall or central unit, but we loved the strong lines and industrial feel of the fireplace so much, we thought it should be as much of a feature as the fire itself. Our architect designed a long steel stand for the fireplace to sit on – as well as the wood and other items. Looking forward to Winter!

checking position

checking it with flue

that seems about right

A crane was needed for the stand

looking good

ready to go

Slab & Steel

April 4, 2014March 1, 2015Leave a comment

The last few months have been an amazing experience as we witnessed the early stages of construction of THE SHED. From watching the pouring of our giant slab and the meticulous work of our concreters, to the touch and go placement of the enormous steel ‘A’ frames that would form the ‘backbone’ of THE SHED and the galvanised steel purlins that would form the ‘skeleton’. There was a lot at stake as all these elements would ultimately be exposed and a main feature of THE SHED, true to industrial architecture.

Alexander (Michael) The Great

September 15, 2013March 1, 2015Leave a comment

I never forgot a house I saw featured in Vogue Living Australia about 8 years ago … it was a weekender perched on the very picturesque escarpment in Kangaroo Valley, NSW. Of course, I didn’t still have the original issue but scanned my memory for enough info to feed into Google and lucky for me I found the details of architect Alexander Michael. Looking at his magnificent past work and knowing my house building budget (meagre!!) it was with trepidation I called Alexander for a chat about the possibilities of working together….
After a 30 minute chat I knew we had found our guy … the Kangaroo Valley house was designed by Alexander for himself and his partner as a weekend escape and completed in 2005. Alexander’s extensive use of concrete, steel, glass and wood plus his obsession with adapting commercial and industrial items for use in a domestic setting meant a result would never be “suburban” (Alex’s favoured term). A weekender with a difference …simple, light and robust!

Here are some picture taken from Alexander Michael’s website siloboy.com and here is the full article on his Kangaroo Valley Retreat.