Light the surface, not the room. One corrected wall for judging colour.
North glazing does the daytime work; two articulated task lamps at 3000K cover the bench after dark. The review wall alone runs at 4000K and 95 CRI, because a sample judged under warm light is a sample judged wrongly.
Blackened steel, oiled ply, raw canvas, cork. Everything takes a mark.
Steel is blackened and waxed rather than painted, so a scratch reads as use, not damage. Ply is oiled and left with its edge showing. Canvas is unbleached and will soften; cork is waxed and will darken where hands land.
One long bench sets the axis; storage is flat to the wall behind it.
The 3.4 metre worktop is the only object allowed to occupy the middle of the plan. Everything else is pressed flat against a wall, which keeps the floor clear and the room honest about what it is for.
Two seats for working, one for stopping. Nothing upholstered near the bench.
Stools at the bench are steel with a leather pad, deliberately unwelcoming past two hours. The canvas sofa at the far end is the only soft piece in the room, so rest has to be chosen rather than drifted into.
