Approach
Noticing more
Design Minutiae
I have always been an observer. Design Minutiae is the name I give to that habit: the belief that the smallest decisions shape how a space is experienced. It is not about adding more detail. It is about noticing more, and then deciding, with care, what each detail is for.
Proportion
I begin with the relationships between things: ceiling to doorway, sofa to wall, table to the people around it. When proportion is right, very little else has to work hard.
Lighting
I plan light in layers and by the hour. A room should feel considered at noon and at nine in the evening, and those are rarely the same design.
Colour
I choose colour for how it behaves in the light of a specific room and climate, not how it reads on a sample card. Most of my palettes are quieter than they first appear.
Materials
I select materials for touch, ageing and honesty. A surface that improves with use is worth more to a home than one that only photographs well.
I allow intuition to propose, experience to question, and logic to refine.
Sahan Mackenzie
Classical & contemporary
I don't treat classical and contemporary as opposing styles. Classical design gives me proportion, symmetry and a sense of permanence; contemporary design gives me restraint and clarity. I let them speak to each other in the same room, so neither becomes a costume.
“I collect influences rather than styles.”
Belonging to the architecture
Furniture should belong to the architecture, not simply occupy it. Where a standard piece would compromise the proportion of a room, we design one that answers it: its height, its depth, the line it draws against a wall.
“The value of bespoke is not simply that something is unique; it is that it belongs.”
Material intelligence
Sri Lanka holds generations of knowledge in its timber, stone, brass, carving, cane, Dumbara weaving, batik and art. I work with these as material intelligence and human craftsmanship, chosen for what they do in a room, never applied as exotic decoration.
“The craft is the starting point; the relationship it creates within the space is the design.”
Timber
Stone & Brass
Cane
Linen & Textile
Carving
Dumbara weaving
Batik
Sri Lankan art
The question behind every decision