Sara Smith, The Listener (FURNITURE 2025)

Photos:

Venita Wilson

Video tour:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMZqP-SSlMJ/?igsh=ZzMxODRuaWdhdmFr

Country

Australia

This was a commission for a lovely client who wanted to reuse an old set of Rimu drawers from her childhood home in New Zealand. She asked me to bring in some Australian timber too, as a way of representing her and her Australian partner — which I thought was a really beautiful idea. She grew up in country NZ, where Art Deco architecture is everywhere, and her current home has this nice blend of Deco and Danish influences. The brief was to house a small record collection and player, with a request to “surprise her” with a few little brass details — which I was more than happy to do. One of the biggest challenges was that the piece needed to be viewed from both sides, and finding a way for the tambour door and track to work cleanly without compromising either side was a challenge. It ended up being a really rewarding piece — full of personal touches, tricky problem-solving, and a nice balance of sentiment and style.

Images have been resized for web display, which may cause some loss of image quality. Note: Original high-resolution images are used for judging.