It’s the details that brought the story of Beechwood together. Every single element of the property was so carefully thought through, agonised over, debated and discussed, so that the results were exactly as I envisioned. It was very important to me that we worked with and supported the supply partners who have supported KWD. And I really felt like it was my turn to enjoy the products that we specify for our clients’ properties in my own home. So that’s what we did!

Beechwood also gave me the opportunity to use the expertise of my design team to create the perfect bespoke joinery for my kitchen, my ensuite and my master suite. KWD has a very talented joinery design team and I wanted to push their boundaries.

I had a bee in my bonnet about how I wanted to kitchen to work, and whilst I don’t cook a lot myself, I do have people cooking in my kitchen and it needed to work for them. We restructured the kitchen design more than a dozen times and worked really closely with Ben and Maria from Gravina Cabinets & Interiors who were relentless in their determination to create the best possible joinery design.

The KWD team really shone in this space, designing this exquisite joinery which was manufactured to perfection by Gravina. The very special 2-pac doors really brought out the grain of the timber which was so important to the overall effect.

In terms of the colour, bringing the outside in is integral to a modern farmhouse feel, so shades of green and the timber tones were the perfect choice. The kitchen colour we chose during the initial design briefing – Dulux Currency Creek – is what we went with and I couldn’t be happier with the result.

The Beechwood kitchen design in effect made me change rules that I previously told my clients, like not to have a sink in the kitchen island. But I’m a convert now. I love being able to chat to my kids while I’m at the sink rather than having my back to them and it doesn’t detract from the design at all.  The English Tapware Company tapware completes the look perfectly. The storage solutions in this kitchen design are incredible too, from the hidden drawers to the streamlined cupboards and the slide-out doors, every detail makes this such a functional space. And having a bar in the kitchen is fabulous!

Whilst the team was keen for me to use Calacutta marble for the benchtops, I had my heart set on soapstone. The way soapstone works was in keeping with the look I wanted throughout my home – an aged feel.

The Soapstone bench-top from Gladstone Granite, is perfect – the tonal greens work beautifully with the cabinetry, and above all I love that the stone has a patina that ages with time. It was cut to size and installed by Xtreme Marble and it looks spectacular. Add to that the Sub-Zero fridge and Wolf oven (complete with red knobs), which I have longed for since I was a child, and I am in heaven!

In terms of the renovation, one of the most dramatic changes we made at Beechwood was in my master suite, where we did some exceptional space planning and combined two rooms to make one large retreat.

The custom joinery that we designed with Gravina is exceptional. I love the painted rattan with the backing, it adds texture to the white and creates such a bespoke look whilst hiding away my clothes and shoes.

We also experimented with some interesting joinery finishes in my ensuite bathroom. Having designed so many bathrooms over the years for numerous projects, we know what storage works best. Incorporating eye-level storage is important. Gravina understood exactly what we wanted and created the perfect joinery for a modern farmhouse bathroom.

And for the jewellery for all the joinery, we worked really closely with Jay Doolan from Domino Architectural Brass Fittings. They have the most beautiful range of door hardware, and they specified the perfect door, drawer and cupboard handles. The hand-aged detailed door hardware is a ‘live finish’, so it ages the more you touch it, which is perfect for the ‘lived-in feel’ I wanted to create throughout Beechwood. The end result is a triumph.

To all of our amazing supply partners who helped to bring the Beechwood vision to life, a heartfelt thank you for your time, your expertise, your effort and the quality of your products and services.