Since I often get asked if we do 'more than just kitchens' I thought it might be a great idea to feature a couple of jobs we finished recently that aren't kitchens, but workspaces for a couple of very lovely and creative clients. Plenty of my work time is spent at my desk in the studio so I know how special it is to have a little bit of space that works for you, comforts you and inspires you too, just like a good kitchen I suppose!

Both of these projects were created with chain of custody certified plywood varieties playing off each other to create some considered lines and shapes in the spaces, creating required open and closed storage and desk platforms. The liney laminations of the plywood edge were deliberately exposed in shadow lines, shelving and cut outs for handles. I don't know quite what it is but plywood seems to suit creative spaces, and I am a massive fan of the detail of an expressed plywood edge.

Thank you to T and T for the privilege of helping you to create your creative spaces, I really enjoyed it and am so glad you are happy with the results of our efforts.

Take care, Druce

As a part of my duties as Ambassador for the Planet Ark 'Make It Wood' Campaign I was the subject of this '5 Minutes With' Article in a recent issue of Green Lifestyle Magazine. Very glad to be getting the word out there on the use of responsible timber for building and renovating and pretty chuffed they chose to feature the Queensland Jamie's Ministry of Food Truck Kitchen I designed because it was made entirely of recycled or Forest Stewardship Council certified timber products as advocated by the campaign. I am so super proud of the kitchen in that truck!

A big thank you to everyone who 'dated' me at the Alternative Technology Associataion's Speed Date a Sustainable Designer Event on Saturday. It was lots of fun and such a joy to meet some passionate sustainable renovators and builders. It was also great to meet the amazing team behind Sanctuary Magazine, who do such a lovely job and provide fabulous inspiration for building responsibly. Just quietly the latest issue is a corker!

Take care, Druce

I am really looking forward to attending the Alternative Technology Association's 'Speed Date a Sustainable Designer' event this Saturday May 18 in the Kedron Room, Brisbane City Hall 2.30pm to 4.30pm. It is a great opportunity to pull up a stool, say gidday and have a natter about your renovation project with someone who can give you some awesome hints and tips about how to make your reno sustainable and wonderful. You do need to register to arrange a 'date' at the website: www.sdsd.ata.org.au/brisbane

Although not your traditional lovey dovey 'date' (there is no kissing apparently) I am sure there will be plenty of love in the room, love of designing and building with the environment in mind that is!

I had the pleasure of joining fellow passionate sustainable designer Mark Thompson of Eco Effective Solutions on Rebecca Levingston's brilliant evenings show on 612 ABC Brisbane last night to have a chat about the event, which was heaps of fun. You can listen to audio of our interview here: http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2013/05/speed-date-a-sustainable-designer.html

Take care, Druce

Wow, it has been a long time since that last post. So long I nearly (pretty much did) forgot how to work this blog. Thankfully I managed to remember the password miraculously and the basic doings and I am back at it! I am such a massive fan of blogs, and have a few real favorites in my bookmarks (that is you at number one design files daily!) that entertain and inspire me all the time. So I thought I'd get back into mine.

Plenty of things have happened for me and Greener Kitchens over the past year or so, more jobs with Jamie, an ambassadors role I am really enjoying (more on that later), lots and lots more kitchens, a few bathrooms here and there, a cafe, a new studio and the consistent privilege of working with amazing clients who are as passionate as I am about doings things with the environment in mind.

My passion for ensuring I am designing the most responsible of spaces has me constantly on the lookout for new, more recycled, more recyclable, more local, lower emission, more responsible and more robust materials. And I can proudly say at this moment I have access to THE largest range of the most environmentally responsible products I have ever been able to recommend to my clients. This means there are more manufacturers out there getting on board with making materials that are healthy for homes and the environment, which is a really good thing, really good. It is also very exciting. More on great new materials and fabricators I have uncovered in later posts.

For my first post back I thought I'd have a rattle on about my role as the Ambassador for the Planet Ark 'Make It Wood' campaign this year. I agreed to perform this volunteer role because the message of the campaign is spot on this year and right in tune with my passionate views about wood. I am a timber tragic, and Greener Kitchens has found a real niche in the designing of kitchens with the right sort of wood in them. To me you can't beat the warmth, texture, richness, backstory and all round beauty of natural timber. It is happy in a kitchen because it is robust, renovatable and recyclable at the end of its life. Not many modern kitchen materials can do that! Timber and kitchens are one two of my favourite things so you can only imagine how excited I get when the two get put together!

BUT, it is really, super important that the right timber is used. Using the right timber is something I am passionate about and that is why I agreed to be the Ambassador for the Make It Wood Campaign. The message of the campaign is simple - USE WOOD, but make sure it is recycled or Forest Stewardship Council certified. WHY? Because using recycled timber or FSC certified timber is the only ridgy didge, dead certain way to make sure you are not using irresponsible or illegal timber in your home. Recycled timber is a no brainer, it has had a previous life and using it is ensuring it has a useful new one (rather than cutting down a tree). The FSC is a rigorous worldwide chain of custody certification scheme that follows the tree from the forest to the product being sold, ensuring it is responsibly logged and that we as consumers are made aware of this via their neat tree tick logo displayed on products so we can purchase them. Making these prudent timber choices means we are protecting high conservation value forests and working towards putting an end to illegal and irresponsible forestry practices that wreak habitat destruction and species extinction.

Illegal logging is not cool and I truly believe no-one would not want to support it, even accidentally. The 'Make It Wood' campaign is about spreading the world on how easy it is to make a good timber choice. I have never seen the sense of leveraging our future for the sake of a poorly made kitchen made from uncertified timber products that will end up leaching its toxic glues into the soil in landfill just as soon it has outlived the latest trend. Sadly that is the lifecyle of most kitchens being sold today and the common thinking in the industry. Really sad. Tragic in fact.

The happy news is that it is possible to make kitchens out of FSC and recycled timber in tune with the Planet Ark Make It Wood Campaign, and they can be reasonably priced too. I know because it is what we do at Greener Kitchens day in day out.

Time to get off my soapbox/ high horse (sorry about that), and say bye for now. You might have been unfortunate enough to catch one of the radio interviews I have been doing for the Planet Ark Make It Wood Campaign around Australia, if not, keep an ear out!

I just want to end my return post by explaining the picture above. It is a picture of a cake my Dad surprised me with for Greener Kitchens' fifth birthday in March this year. It really made my day and I got a little choked up just quietly. It is nice to know your old man is proud of what you have achieved. Thanks Dad, and to all the amazing clients of Greener Kitchens past and present that have kept us going. Five years of kitchens that help save our forests makes me kinda proud.

PS cake was yummy

PPS for more on the Make It Wood Campaign see in the side bar for a link ->

Thanks for reading

Druce

New Project Pics to Share

I have been a quiet blogger of late. I am hoping to change that soon. In the meantime here are a few shots of some very special solid recycled timber kitchens we have been designing in Brisbane and Sydney. Love Good Wood!!!

Greener Kitchens loves 'Good Wood'

Kitchens are made of wood.

Despite their often colourful, sleek and shiny exteriors kitchens likely contain the largest concentration of wood product in your home after your framing and your flooring. It seems there is rarely a thought for where this wood comes from. Are you destroying one world to build yours?

Kitchens should be made of 'Good Wood'

Greenpeace are helping us to make responsible choices when it comes to timber products through their 'Good Wood Guide'. It is a wonderful guide that identifies timber products that are responsible and reminds us that as consumers we have the power to save the world's forests and endangered wildlife and put an end to illegal forestry practices. It gently awakens us to the damage we might be responsible for if we do not source 'Good Wood' for our kitchens.

The good news is that Greener Kitchens can help you to create a 'Good Wood' Kitchen. We are very excited to be able to specify a kitchen made entirely from timber product that is defined as the 'best option' by the 'Good Wood' guide. A 'Good Wood' kitchen need not cost the earth (to use a well worn pun), or look any different to the kitchen of you are already thinking about.

Greener Kitchens can help you create your world without destroying another, which is a pretty good thing we think. So if you are thinking about a new kitchen, please contact us to find out how you can make a difference and be part of the solution, not the problem.

For more information on the Greenpeace 'Good Wood Guide' visit www.goodwoodguide.org.au

West End Greener Bathroom

It is very exciting to finally feature this project on the blog! This 'Greener' bathroom is a part of a renovation and extension of a beautiful old Queenslander in West End, Brisbane. Thanks to the determination and vision of a very inspirational client, the renovation stands as an absolutely stunning example of how beauty, modernity, functionality and sympathy for the environment can harmonize in the construction of a family home.

It was a great joy to work together with the client on the design of a number of new spaces defined by the renovation, including the bathroom, shown in the picture above.

We set out to achieve a bathroom with a very low environmental impact but not without a healthy dose of the 'wow' factor.

A view of the tree-tops outside (through the glass ceiling in the shower no less) gave us the inspiration for a natural colour palette for the bathroom, suggesting serene greens and earthy brown tones. The subsequent combination of 'greener' materials chosen for the bathroom included hoop pine eco-ply for storage solutions, locally salvaged recycled Australian hardwood for shelves and a window seat and low emission two pack paint to add splashes of colour.

We designed bespoke storage stools especially for this bathroom , fashioned from recycled timber. The stools move around the bathroom as a platform for clean clothes, a resting spot for the dry towel within reach or (dare I say it) for books next to the best reading spot in the house.

The bathroom has an abundance of natural light (I mentioned the glass ceiling in the shower didn't I) and natural cross ventilation, ensuring power bills are reduced and indoor pollutants are discouraged.

Of course the design also included universal design principles to ensure the space can adapt to the family over time, ensuring easy access into the shower, comfortable access to the vanity basins and storage options above the reach of small children.

I was very pleased with the tranquil and organic feel of the finished bathroom and the knowledge that it will provide a calm, healthy and inspiring space for the family for years and years to come.

Stay tuned for more pics of the project including the kitchen made from 70% recycled materials!

Till then, take care, Druce