Guide/Living Rooms
How to get the stone fireplace look
Full-height, large-format, one material. The proportions matter more than the stone.
The fireplaces people save most often share three traits: they run floor to ceiling, they're a single stone in large pieces, and the firebox sits low and wide. None of these is about money. All of them are about restraint.
Go to the ceiling
A chimney breast that stops short of the ceiling always looks like an afterthought. Take it all the way up and the whole wall becomes architecture.
Furnish low
Everything in front of the fireplace should sit low so the wall reads tall. A chunky, solid coffee table anchors the arrangement; wall lights instead of floor lamps keep the sightline clean.
In front of the fire
Holloway
Block Coffee Table
$1,890
Solid American walnut, oiled finish, exposed joinery. 130cm.
This is a spend. Solid timber at this scale anchors the room and only gets better with a decade of use.
View product
Northlight
Articulating Wall Sconce
$219
Matte black steel, swing arm, hardwired or plug-in. Warm 2700K bulb recommended.
Frees up the bedside table and reads as considered. Buy two.
View productShop the story
Everything in this piece
Holloway
Block Coffee Table
$1,890
Solid American walnut, oiled finish, exposed joinery. 130cm.
This is a spend. Solid timber at this scale anchors the room and only gets better with a decade of use.
View productNorthlight
Articulating Wall Sconce
$219
Matte black steel, swing arm, hardwired or plug-in. Warm 2700K bulb recommended.
Frees up the bedside table and reads as considered. Buy two.
View productKeep reading
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.
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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.
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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.
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The Weekly Edit
One considered email a week.
The best rooms we've seen, the finds worth the money, and the things we'd skip. No noise, no sponsored filler.