During my time as a bespoke furniture maker I have come to recognize the importance of including the user in the design process. My current practice explores the boundaries between public and private space, looking at the way users interact with the objects that inhabit such spaces.Inspired by the defensive architecture that is becoming increasingly common in cities, my current piece hopes to begin a discussion about the ways we perceive and react to public and private furniture. According to popular practice it is acceptable to put anti-personnel spikes on ledges in city centres, among other forms of defensive architecture. But how do people react when faced with an object recognized as domestic when the same spikes are applied to it? The upholstered cushion gives us a choice; do we sit above the spikes, on a cushioned seat? Or do we choose to give up a bit of our own comfort, offering the cushion to someone else and create a second space for someone to sit?