Karen McCartney falls in love with the kitchen ladle by Sands Made, today's Object of Desire.

Sands Made is the perfect sea-change story.

A young Melbourne man with a facility for web development lives in Tokyo for 8 years and gradually grows tired of the ephemeral nature of his chosen field. Instead he wants to do something that has a sense of permanence, something with timeless design and an honesty of execution. He is in the right country to learn about the aesthetics of longevity – the Japanese have a culture where simplicity, functionality and beauty meet.

When he moves back to Melbourne in 2010 he sets up a studio in Northcote where he designs a range of timber tableware alongside some furniture pieces. Robbie Sands has found his calling.

"I wanted my designs to be timeless, treasured objects that would last for years," he says. When we met Robbie he talked of the challenge of finding exactly the right magnet for his trivet. The tiniest of details matter to him and that is what makes his products exceptional.



While his inspiration is the everyday – a friend with a stirring spoon handle smoothed through years of use, or the mending of an object in his own kitchen – his goal is the creation of items that are used with love.

"With Sands Made I want to create objects that will grow more beautiful and loved with years of use," he says. And this sentiment finds perfect expression in his range of product – chopping boards in a variety of shapes, finely crafted timber kitchen boxes for the storage of salt, coffee or tea, and this elegant ladle.

To me it has such simplicity of form balanced with the sturdiness required for everyday use, meeting Sands' own maxim of functional beauty. It is made in Sapodilla, a hardwearing timber from fast growing plantation trees. Did I mention that sustainability is a core value of the brand?

There is so much to appreciate about this brand that I suspect that once you have bought one thing it just might become a bit of an addiction.