Tallow Studio is a Canadian, family-founded natural stone homeware brand. It was created by siblings Elyssa and Daniel alongside their partners Mitchell and Rachel. They design for the way we live; their products are meant to be used, keeping up with the everyday while bringing a sense of grounding, ease, and comfort to homes. They take their name from tallow, a once commonplace raw ingredient, now newly appreciated for its simplicity and time-tested value. Their name reflects the perspective they bring to every design, shaping real enduring materials into objects with lasting usefulness.

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When you wake up in the morning, you reach for your phone and unplug it, and as you roll back into bed, the cord drops behind your nightstand. You don’t think about this at the time, but 15 hours later when you get back into bed and go to plug in your phone…I don’t even need to describe it! Everyone has experienced reaching for a lost cord in the dark. I was thinking about this for a decade, checking Amazon products, ordering silicone sticky wire holders, but I never imagined I would come up with my own elegant solution. 

I never designed anything until I built my home in 2023. We used natural materials and living finishes wherever possible and were drawn to the unique expressions of natural stone. We sourced our furniture directly from factories and fabricators and began designing custom pieces ourselves. While on our burnt-orange velvet couch in our new home, sitting between two Rosso Levante marble end tables, Rachel, my sister-in-law, decided we needed to start a family business centered around natural stone.

We knew there were lots of natural stone home accessories already available; even Target is selling real Calacatta Viola trays. However, we wanted to create something no one else was producing. Daniel, my brother, is the family chef, so we decided to build something around food and family meals (it helped that he had a 100k audience on Instagram). We didn’t need to think about it for long to realize that spoon rests aren’t designed for the way we actually cook. Together in our newly designed kitchen, we wondered if we could elevate the spoon rest so it could become worthy of its place on the counter as well as make it more practical. 

Our first product, The Wave Double Spoon Rest, set our design philosophy: beautiful and functional pieces you actually use. From there, the Donut Cable Catch was just waiting to come to life. 

Elyssa

When designing our spoon rest, we knew it needed to stand up to real kitchens. We absolutely didn’t want to make something that people liked to look at but were scared to use. Also, tomato sauce was another big concern as it’s acidic and red. 

When thinking about materials and colors, we needed something naturally sealed and naturally dark. We love travertine, but it has literal holes in it. Liquid will slowly travel through it, and we were concerned that such a light color would stain. So, all of the materials in our kitchen line are intentionally dark and busy natural stones. 

On the other hand, our Donut Cable Catches are meant for your desk, nightstand, and side tables. We contrasted our spoon rests with light, flowing onyx that picks up natural light and white limestone that feels seamless and unobtrusive. 

Our Cortado Cup, recommended for wine or weekend coffee, is a pale red made of Rosso Alicante. This is also an intentional choice; we chose a color that will deepen with exposure over time. 

The intended purpose of each object guides our material and color selections as much as aesthetics concerns. 

Rachel

We went back and forth on the shape of the Wave Double Spoon Rest: whether it should be streamlined or organic; whether it should have grooves or not; and how pronounced the grooves should be. 

Ultimately, we wanted the Wave to feel imperfect. So, the shape is hand drawn and the lines are soft. 

The bottom, however, is flat so that the piece has the effect of sinking into the counter. 

We wanted to design it in such a way that it looked beautiful enough that you'd actually want to see it on your counter all the time — not just while you're using it.

Above all, we needed the piece to be functional, so we opted to elevate the spoon, allowing sauces or jus to drip down into the valley of the wave, rather than sit within the mess. Moreover, the subtle grooves keep the utensil in place so it never rolls around, bumping other utensils or slipping onto the counter.

We actually made a short video about this on our instagram series, Behind the Design. 

Daniel

Our design process has five stages: concepting, sketching, modeling, testing, and fabricating.

Concepting looks like collaging, having conversations, and sharing problems we want to solve within our own lives… even “champagne problems” like reaching for your charger. 

Next we sketch what a solution could look like. The unexpected part comes from marrying a piece of inspiration with a surprising function. In the case of the Donut Cable Catch, everyone had seen a cool catch-all, but no one had thought to put a wire channel underneath it. 

We bring the sketch to life with a mood board, reference images, and measurements. Then, we have the concept 3D modeled and print the file at our studio on a 3D printer.

3D printing our collection allows us to personally test drive each product. Before having them fabricated, we hold them in our hands and essentially live with the designs in our own homes. We use the 3D prints the way our final products are meant to be used and make adjustments to the model, assuring that it’s functioning the way we intended. 

The last stage in the design process is choosing the material and having it fabricated. Most people are used to seeing natural stone in beautiful finished slabs, such as when you’re shopping for a countertop. Our pieces start as quarry blocks, or large chunks of stone, that are cut to shape with a CNC machine and hand shaped and polished to soften edges and refine any imperfections. 

Many people don’t realize that the slabs in their local stoneyard come from all over the world. Our materials come from Italy, Spain, Turkey, and even Iran. The source location depends on the kind of stone you want; for example, our Rosso Alicante (Lyla Candle Holder) only comes from Alicante, Spain.

When we tested our Donut Cable Catch, we seriously considered adding a rubber lining, some kind of clip, or a removable bottom to hold the wire in place within the hollow channel. Ultimately, we decided against adding anything. The more you add, the more opportunities you have for something to break. We felt the negative space was the most elegant solution, and unlike our 3D-printed plastic model, the weight of the natural stone held the wire in place. 

At some point, we may want to blend different materials, but for now, we love the simplicity of creating solutions out of a single block of stone.  

Mitchell

We are just getting started. Our first collection was small, and we know that we need to expand our offerings to connect with more people. We’re playing with color and variety. We’re working on limited color drops and product variations to expand on what we know is already resonating with people. 

We’ve been slow to grow because we absolutely don’t want to make accessories that you could pick up at any home goods store. We want the pieces that we design to reflect our brand’s values and design philosophy: beautiful things that are meant to be used. For instance, we won’t do a chatchka that just sits on a shelf or fills out a coffee table. That’s not to say those things don’t have value, but it’s not our mission. 

We believe in filling your home with treasures that you can engage with. We all have little kids and don’t have space for pretty things that you aren’t allowed to touch.

Rachel

I cook with Gozney and have for a long time. It’s a beautiful, practical pizza oven that departs from the traditional look. Tom brings his own take to the space and delivers restaurant quality to the backyard. 

Tom’s story is inspiring. He wasn’t a designer or a business person; he just fell in love with outdoor cooking and wanted to bring that access to everyone. @tomgozney

Daniel

My ceramic coffee mug from a pottery class in Umbria. — Elyssa

Shoe Dog, Phil Knight's memoir about building Nike; he flew to China to build his vision. — Daniel

10 minutes of reflective journaling. — Rachel

Floral frogs: I had never used them before, but they really inspired my creativity for composing floral arrangements in new ways. — Rachel

Test and learn. The most important feedback is sales. Listen to feedback and revise. — Mitchell

First coffee of the day is always an Americano Misto. — Daniel