Space Well SpentBeautiful Homes. Smarter choices.

Space Well Spent

SWS Journal

Inspiration, with a point of view.

A calm, considered living room with a linen sectional, travertine coffee table and steel-framed glass doors opening to an olive-lined terrace

SWS Journal

Where to Spend & Where to Save in a Beautiful Home

A considered home isn't about spending more. It's about knowing where it matters.

Read article →

15 stories

Two French bulldogs resting on a cream bolster bed beneath a walnut staircase, with warm concealed lighting, brass-handled storage, hanging leads and a low pull-out drawer holding stainless-steel feeding bowls.

SWS Journal/Living Rooms, Entryways

The Hidden Dog Nook: Beautiful Under-Stair Storage Ideas for Dog Lovers

Margaret and Barbara like to be close. Their beds take up room we need in the lounge. An under-stair nook is a way to keep them nearby, with somewhere for their things to go.

Built-in walnut home office with pocket doors open, revealing a desk with a monitor, brass desk lamp, pull-out printer drawer, filing drawers and warm integrated shelf lighting.

SWS Journal/Living Rooms, Bedrooms

How to Create a Hidden Home Office with Built-In Storage

A full workstation that closes behind cabinet doors. Here's how the design works, what to measure, and where the money actually matters.

Narrow small bathroom with floor-to-ceiling grey stone-look tiles, a frameless glass shower with a lit recessed niche, a black heated towel rail, a wall-hung walnut vanity with a stone basin and a tall mirrored cabinet with warm concealed lighting.

SWS Journal/Bathrooms

How to Make a Small Bathroom Feel Luxurious (Without Wasting an Inch)

A narrow bathroom doesn't need more space to feel generous. It needs height, light, fewer materials and storage that disappears.

Compact kitchen with dark timber cabinetry, a veined stone benchtop and splashback, an integrated dishwasher, a pull-out bin beside the sink, deep crockery drawers and a small coffee station beneath a window.

SWS Journal/Kitchens

A Small Kitchen That Works Harder

How to make a compact kitchen feel beautiful, calm and incredibly functional — without simply adding more storage.

Hidden kitchen appliance garage in warm oak joinery with a coffee machine, kettle and toaster on a stone surface, a pull-out work shelf, an angled spice drawer and deep drawers of pantry jars and small appliances.

SWS Journal/Kitchens

The Kitchen Cupboard That Replaces Your Kitchen Bench Clutter

Coffee machine, toaster, spices, breakfast essentials and everyday appliances — one hardworking cupboard can give all of them a home without sacrificing how your kitchen looks.

Modern functional laundry with raised washer and dryer, pull-out folding bench and built-in basket storage.

SWS Journal/Laundry & Utility

The Functional Laundry: When Every Detail Has a Job

A laundry doesn't need more cabinetry. It needs better-placed cabinetry.

Limestone terrace at golden hour with sunken firepit lounge, outdoor kitchen and long dining table under a timber pergola

The SWS Edit/Outdoor

A backyard designed around how you actually use it

Firepit. Outdoor kitchen. Dining. Storage. Green space. Here's how we'd make every square metre earn its place.

7 min read

Long aged oak dining table with black steel-framed cream upholstered chairs beneath a large black dome pendant

SaveSAVE

Save / Spend / Skip/Dining

The dining chairs that deliver the look without the designer price.

Black steel frame, upholstered seat, clean line. You don't need the original to get the room.

4 min read

Strongly veined marble splashback and benchtop meeting warm oak cabinetry

SaveSPEND

Save / Spend / Skip/Kitchens, Bathrooms, Living Rooms

Natural stone where it actually changes the room.

Not everywhere. In the two or three places your eye lands first.

5 min read

Moody kitchen with butler's pantry beyond and a wall of black steel glass-fronted cabinets

SaveSKIP

Save / Spend / Skip/Kitchens

The expensive kitchen feature you'll probably regret.

It photographs beautifully. Then you live with it.

4 min read

Compact laundry with floor-to-ceiling oak joinery, limestone benchtop and black steel window

Guide/Laundry & Utility

The small laundry that does everything

Two and a half metres of joinery, one hanging rail and a bench you can actually fold on.

5 min read

Living room with a floor-to-ceiling limestone fireplace and cream linen sofa

Guide/Living Rooms

How to get the stone fireplace look

Full-height, large-format, one material. The proportions matter more than the stone.

6 min read

Bedroom with natural linen bedding, oak bedhead and a black articulating wall lamp

The SWS Edit/Bedrooms

A bedroom with nothing you don't need

Linen, oak, one wall lamp each. The most restful rooms are edited, not decorated.

4 min read

Entryway with black steel door, oak console table and linen bench on limestone floor

Guide/Entryways

The entry that hides everything

A console, a bench and a wall of hooks. Where the shoes go is the whole design problem.

3 min read

Bathroom clad in travertine with a freestanding stone bath, oak vanity and black tapware

SaveSAVE

Save / Spend / Skip/Bathrooms

The travertine bathroom without the travertine bill.

One real stone piece. Porcelain that matches. Nobody can tell in the photos, or in person.

4 min read