Journal / Materials
The case for fewer materials
- Published
- 14 July 2025
- Reading time
- 3 min
- Category
- Materials
A short palette, used consistently, reads as considered. A long one reads as indecision, however good each individual choice was.
Most interiors improve when the material list gets shorter. Three or four surfaces repeated across a house give it coherence; a different floor in every room gives it none, regardless of the quality of any single floor.
A short palette also survives the build better. Fewer materials means fewer trades, fewer junctions to detail, and fewer opportunities for a substitution on site to break the intent.
The discipline is in the junctions rather than the selections. Where two materials meet is where the quality of a room is actually decided.
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