28/07/2026
Whenever we travel, we always make time for visits to print studios – it’s often the first thing we look up in a new city. And lately we’re now also finding ourselves drawn to seeking out ways to visit ceramics studio in person too.
We have collaborated with so many ceramicists over the years, and I got a proper window into how ceramic production works during an artist residency at Kohler back in 2021. All this had been enough to leave us a little obsessed with the process, and always looking for ways to bring ceramic work into the consulting projects we take on.
We met Nicola, who started Kilnhouse Design Studio in 2020, and her sister Michelle, who’s joined as the studio has grown. What caught us was the piece they were in the middle of making – a ceramic “patchwork” of individual faceted tiles, to be stitched together into a large-scale wall-hanging for 100% Design Africa at Decorex Africa . Seeing it in parts, spread out mid-process before it becomes one work, is exactly the kind of thing you only get in the studio. We were treated to a look at how a big piece is planned and built, right there on the table.
This is a studio that thinks in both hand and production, with custom ranges for homes and hospitality, hand-thrown and hand-finished in Johannesburg. What a treat.