Brass House
Orchard Lane is a home with a biography. Lived in for seven years, loaded with memorabilia, art brought back from travels, furniture that has moved from house to house and found its place again. It’s not a home designed to be looked at. It’s a home designed to be lived in, loudly and joyfully.
The brief for the floors reflected that entirely.
The Vision
Melanie Strathdee of Leo & Lotus didn’t come to this project looking for a trend. With four children, many pets, two people working from home, and people always visiting, durability was the brief. The home needed to look good lived in, without demanding frantic cleans.
“We needed a floor to ground the colour above. I’ve worked with Kustom Timber before. They were my immediate go-to.”
— Melanie Strathdee, Leo & Lotus
The Design
With the brass kitchen already in place, the floors had one non-negotiable: they couldn’t be shiny. Balancing matt and shine was, as Melanie puts it, the key to how things feel. Black Japan answered that, deep, matte, authoritative. A floor that grounds without competing.
The chevron pattern solved a problem nobody anticipated. The family’s Dalmatian sheds short white hair constantly. The chevron conceals it to a surprising degree. A practical discovery that validated a design decision.
There was one more unknown: the floors were being laid over heated tiles. Would the timber perform over underfloor heating? Completely. Warm floors through the Mt Eliza winters, with no compromise on the finish above.
The chevron carried outside too, repeated on the deck where the airstream is parked, linking the outdoor space to the interior in a way that felt entirely natural.
The Flooring
Black Japan in a chevron pattern. Selected to ground everything happening above it and, in doing so, giving it room to breathe.
The Kustom Timber experience
“I had faith in Kustom Timber. They’re highly professional and their install team are tidy and methodical. Theo and Cam were a delight, I hope I get to see them again one day.”
— Melanie Strathdee, Leo & Lotus
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