In a Room is a conversation series where we ask our friends to share their favourite domestic spaces. For this edition we’re joined by designer and Worktones founder Huw Bennet.
Huw is the creative mind behind Worktones — the cult-favourite uniform and textile brand worn by some of Australia’s most interesting cafés, shops, and studios. A designer by trade and a hospitality lifer at heart, Huw brings care, colour, and quiet humour to everything he touches. His work is about beauty in utility — making things that are meant to be used, lived in, and loved for years. That same spirit carries through to his home life, where every object has a story and nothing’s too precious to be practical.
In this edition, Huw reflects on the rooms that hold his family, his memories, and his stuff — in the best possible sense. He talks about inherited sofas, hotel lobbies, natural light, and the slow process of shaping a home that feels truly lived in. The result is an honest and generous take on domestic life: a little bit messy, deeply intentional, and always full of feeling.
Huw Bennett of Worktones
Which room are you in today?
I'm in what we call our cosy room watching a movie with my kids, it's probably traditionally described as a lounge or living room. We have a really generous apartment that we've been trying to workout the best lay-out now for 4 years.Originally this room was our dining room but we changed it to fit a large sofa we inherited from my mother in law and an even bigger shelving unit that has finally found its spot in our home. The room is generally quite temperate, and offers a little sanctuary within our busy home. It really comes into its own when the weather is cold and wet outside and a good movie is ready to go. Sadly we can't always guarantee quality viewing with an 11 and 8 year old.
Which room is the heart of your home?
The living room. Our apartment is a square and all rooms extend off this room. It's colourful, generous in size and has beautiful natural light. It's central to our family for meals, socialising, working and providing a space where we can all sit to do things together or individually.
The Bennett Family Living Room
Is there a room from your past that has stayed with you?
I often remember or feel drawn to a house we used to holiday in regularly before we had kids. It was a small bedroom with a big plush bed pushed under the window, the carpet was a rough sisal, well worn from years of visits and the walls had an off white wainscoting and a faded blue paint above it. It smelt like wood and the fires long past from the downstairs fireplace and really became a place of immense comfort and sanctuary.
What makes a room feel like home and not just a space?
What do you need to make it so? For me it's family, it's all the little bits of collecting, regular comforts and familiarity that make a space. We live in a home with 4 people and a dog and sometimes it can just be the collective presence that makes the space.
What sort of rooms do you try and avoid?
My wife and I used to write lists of non-negotiables when searching for a home. There were a couple of no-go's on there. One that always stands out is bathrooms without windows or natural light. Red flag for me.
Is there a type of room that you’re always drawn to?
Out in the world it'd be hotel foyers or their version of a comfortable space. I love travelling and like it more when I know I'm going to land somewhere super comfortable that I can work in, lounge about and rest. For me there are 3 things I always look forward to, and that's a nice shower - the design of which is important. Melbourne Place has a great one, a good comfortable bed - this is a must. My favourite is at Osborn House in Bundanoon and a warm and inviting lobby or space where you can spend time comfortably alone or with a group - the back lounge at The Standard X in Melbourne is a great spot.
What is your all time favourite room?
I'm probably still working on that. It's a slow and steady pace we're setting with our home, we try and buy only pieces of value that we really love and genuinely believe we can live with indefinitely. I don't know about fiction, but there are a lot of rooms I'm excited to discover, most of which are hotels or homes. Some I'd like to try are Crafters, the Adlib in Bangkok, and Cape Weligama in Sri Lanka.
