Custom joinery in Vaucluse with Jemma Brender

Downsizing comes with a question: what comes with you? For the owners of this Vaucluse home, the answer included antique furniture, artworks and treasures gathered over years of travel. Interior designer Jemma Brender took these collections as her starting point, bringing iSpace Solutions into the renovation to deliver the custom joinery.

The couple’s new address was just around the corner from their former family home. There was plenty to love about it, including a generous outdoor area for visits from their five grandchildren. Inside, however, the contemporary marble and stucco finishes felt a little too far removed from the home they wanted.

Jemma’s approach was to work with what was there, softening the interiors through materials, architectural details and cabinetry. “Rather than undertaking major structural changes, we focused on carefully editing and refining the existing interiors,” she told Vogue Living.

Our team worked to Jemma’s designs, with the joinery forming part of this update. Antique furniture and collected objects were central to the brief, so the new cabinetry needed to find its place among them. Getting the proportions right would allow fitted elements and freestanding pieces to sit comfortably together.

This is one of the pleasures of custom joinery. The conversation can begin with a favourite piece of furniture, a collection that needs a home or the way a room is used each day. Those details give purpose to the cabinetry, informing its scale, storage and relationship to the rest of the space.

Throughout the living areas, books and ceramics fill built-in spaces, alongside linen sofas and an antique rug. There is room for the owners’ belongings to be seen and enjoyed, with doors opening onto the outdoor area where the family can spill out when everyone visits.

Behind the finished joinery, our work involves translating the designer’s drawings into cabinetry that can be manufactured and installed. Dimensions, junctions and clearances all need resolving, particularly where new pieces meet an existing building. It’s detailed work, with decisions made well before the cabinetry arrives on site.

With four months allocated to the renovation, iSpace worked alongside Jemma and Blue Label Constructions as the interiors took shape.

Explore more of our Vaucluse project here, or read the full feature in Vogue Living.

Planning joinery for your own home? Our team can work with you, your designer or architect on cabinetry for kitchens, living spaces, wardrobes and more, from the initial details through to manufacture and installation. Call 02 8766 3255 or email info@ispacesolutions.com.au to discuss your project.