Table of contents for February/March 2026 in homestyle

There's a moment in every project where instinct nudges ahead of certainty. A decision that feels bold at first, then becomes the thing that gives a home its character. For Hannah Heffernan and Mark Whitmore, it was a red kitchen island. “Mark needed a bit of convincing,” Hannah told me, “but now it feels completely right for the house.” That confidence — earned rather than impulsive — is exactly why we chose this kitchen for our cover. Guided by Patchwork Architecture, the colour isn't decorative for its own sake. It's a considered response to the home's original brickwork, bringing warmth, intent and modern family life into conversation with what was already there. See how it all comes together on page 56. That same spirit runs through the homes in this…

To mark 3daysofdesign, a showcase of emerging and established brands that takes place annually in Copenhagen, &Tradition turned the top floor of their showroom into The Living Archive. Based on the concept of an apartment, visitors were invited to escape the busy streets momentarily to a place where an eclectic mix of products by international designers was curated alongside artworks found or commissioned by &Tradition — an experience not unlike stepping into the calming home of a collector with a critical eye. Earthy tones of brown and green, expressed in paintwork, velvet and wool, brought tranquil warmth to the apartment, which included a living space and a bedroom. Sleep is a luxurious reward in this cosy tobaccocoloured space that takes inspiration from the newly opened Petra Hotel, brought to life…

Creative agency Motion Sickness didn't want a conventional office. They wanted a space that felt closer to the work they make. Designed by Wonder Group, their studio is a former Youthline building in Grey Lynn, Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland, reimagined as a place for thinking and making. The fit-out is organised across two levels, with social and work spaces sitting alongside each other, rather than being tightly defined. Colour is used with confidence. It references advertising's mid-century ease, without tipping into nostalgia. Powder blues, blush tones, bright splashes and tactile finishes sit against industrial structure. The studio reads as specific and lived-in, rather than styled. Less template, more clubhouse, it supports collaboration and momentum in a way that aligns with how Motion Sickness works day to day. wonder.group…

Painting entered Christian Dimick's universe at the moment he needed it — first as an escape, then as a direction. Since then, encouragement from mentors and the steady rhythm of the studio have shaped an emerging practice that is intuitive, playful and open. We talked to Christian ahead of his residency at Melbourne's Abbotsford Convent and his presentation with Tamaki Makaurau/Auckland's Grace gallery at the Melbourne Art Fair. How did painting come into your life? I didn't start painting until a little later on — I was 18. I was studying music in my first year at university in Melbourne, and I hated it so much and was very sad. My older brother draws a bit, so I started drawing also. Then I started painting and reading about painting; I…

1 … BAKING up a storm with my son, Ted. Having a few things stashed in the freezer for lunch boxes helps me stay organised, and it's been fun working through favourite recipes together. Di McHardy's Better Blondies from her book Family Cooking are currently on high rotation — chickpeas and all. 2 … PLANNING to embrace a little more fun and frivolity in interiors. These star-shaped side table-cum-plinths by Totty Bowman do just that. Spotted at The Market in Auckland, and available from Kiosk, they're proof that whimsy can be a design decision too. 3 … STAYING sun smart with Raaie Sun Milk Drops SPF50. I like to keep things simple, and a skin tint with SPF is the only layer I need most of the time. Fewer products…

Capturing a meditative mood through spatial purpose, natural and neutral texture and colour choices, alongside a commitment to soft minimalism, injects a sense of serenity into our 24/7 lives. Interiors stylist Michelle Halford (aka The Design Chaser), and a regular contributor to Homestyle, breaks down the global ‘house hushing’ trend in this book that's a breath of fresh air. It's a practical guide but relaxing too — the type of read that has you flicking through the pages in an instantly mellower frame of mind. Learn how to introduce curve and flow, focus in on tactility, work with wooden surfaces, organise storage and more. A room-by-room guide is a deep dive into this calming choreography, where serene vignettes in pale-and-timber palettes will have you dreaming of a life less complicated.…

Colour relationships are not always about stark contrast. The most interesting pairings often fall just short of opposition, bringing a touch of the unexpected that feels inviting. Here, an elusive violet-tinged shade (Aalto Porcini) sits alongside a green touched with yellow (Aalto Salubrious), their connection anchored by the solid depth of Aalto Barrack. Although the tones differ, the tension between them is softly purposeful. Porcini's subtle complexity is lifted by the freshness of Salubrious, while Barrack grounds the palette. Together they form a scheme that feels refined and quietly confident, where each colour makes a contribution, without being overwhelming. The theory: This palette creates quiet intrigue through a subtle complementary relationship. Porcini and Salubrious are both midtones, so their contrast is understated rather than stark. Barrack, a dark hue in…

In the small linkway that joins this original bungalow to its new kitchen/dining wing, the intentions behind Hannah Heffernan and Mark Whitmore's renovation are immediately felt. The brick wall still shows the marks of its exterior life, a rosewood bench tucks into a niche and a slim marble ledge — a way to use offcuts from the kitchen and bathroom surfaces — sits opposite it. Morning light falls across these surfaces, softening the shift between eras. It's a modest space that captures the project's ethos: the old kept honest, the new shaped with intention, and the family's instincts allowed room to take hold. When they returned to Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington after years overseas, Hannah and Mark were drawn to a brick bungalow on the Miramar ridge the 1930s character of which…

Red lava rock has, since pre-European times, been part of the Polynesian maker's palette, and more recently it has erupted into our built vernacular. In this full-time dwelling in Piemelon Bay on Waiheke Island, it's a cornerstone colour, a solid shade that weaves through the programme. “We used scoria red on the stairwell, the splashback and rangehood, the hearth, tiles in the bathrooms — and there are hints of it in the courtyard,” explains designer Oli Booth. On this project, Oli and his wife Libby Elmore, who co-founded Elmore Booth, teamed up with landscape designer Xanthe White, who has artfully softened the structural edges with, among other plantings, ruddy-toned coprosma and fiery euphorbia. This seriousness of connection to landscape is no fleeting idea: it began a decade ago, with a…

A cluster of cacti lines the central path through Alex Fulton's garden. Upright and graphic, their presence is unexpected, setting the tone immediately. Beyond the path, the planting is controlled and deliberate. There are no flower beds competing for attention, no sense of the garden performing for the house. Instead, green holds the space, layered and varied, applied with restraint. The garden isn't decorative. It's considered, and it's designed to be read in relation to what happens inside. “I approached it the way I would a room,” says Alex Fulton. “Flow, balance and knowing when to stop.” Such thinking has always underpinned Alex's work. Colour may be her calling card, but structure sits beneath it. Confidence has always been present, even when her work leans generously into colour. What has…

TAONGA DISCOVERED Launched in 2022, Noa Blanket Co teams the physical heritage of woollen blankets with the unique storytelling power of Maori design to produce consciously crafted keepsakes, where each pictorial facet has symbolic meaning. Their latest release adds two new expressions to the Limitless collection. Mataraunui (shown above left) acknowledges the qualities of leaders who contribute to the wellbeing of community and includes the well-known patiki motif, a diamond pattern that symbolises abundance. Purena koa (right) takes as metaphor the many twists and turns of a river (akin to our own pathway through the world). Made from 100 per cent New Zealand wool, the blankets, a luxurious exploration of narratives, are works of art that represent an identity based on strength and resilience. “Limitless embodies our ambition to live…

Stylist's tip Place contrasting shades side by side for maximum effect, and keep the floors neutral. When it comes to family spaces, quiet corners often hold the most magic. Here, a tucked-away creative nook is brought alive with a patchwork of bold hues, where colour and imagination meet to shape a space all its own. The back wall in Resene Tenor introduces a soft, neutral-adjacent depth, providing a calm backdrop for the gabled ceiling, split playfully into two personalities using Resene Deep Teal and Resene Grenadier. On the walls, the sunny yellow of Resene Funk sits opposite the breezy blue of Resene Island Time, making for a cheerful contrast that energises the space, without overwhelming it. A desk in creamy Resene Solitaire offers a place for drawing, learning or daydreaming,…

You've been recognised as an Arts Foundation laureate for the way you challenge and evolve ceramic practice in Aotearoa. Can you describe the thread that runs through your work? Clay and ideas…a preoccupation with the formal elements: form/space/colour/ composition, with specific attention to ideas about Aotearoa as a fourth-generation Pakeha. What first drew you to clay, and what is it about the material that keeps you curious? Art school was a real eye-opener for me. With exceptional tuition, I learnt the power of mark-making and how to translate an idea into two dimensions. I was curious to see how ideas could play out on three-dimensional form and, coincidently, at this time, I saw an exhibition: Contemporary British Ceramics at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, accompanied by the publication of John…

Bev Worsfold knows the numbers: 22 family members who live within 10km of her home in Mangawhai equals infinite opportunities for catch-ups (spontaneous or otherwise). This is one grandma who is never going to be at risk of social isolation. Not that there isn't someone she still misses seeing. Bev's husband. Bill, with whom she began this project a decade ago, dreaming of a new house for land they had purchased in the early 2000s, sketching up ideas and “prancing around with chairs” trying to envisage how the spaces would fit, died in 2017. “After that, I thought, ‘Will I continue on?”’ says Bev. And, eventually, she did. Her friend Peggy Deamer was instrumental in pushing things forward. An architecture professor at Yale, Peggy now divides her time between New…

Mornings often start slowly in the Tukituki River basin, with an inversion layer settled across the valley floor. As the sun rises, the cloud lifts and Te Mata Peak reveals itself — a view that drew architect Tom Rowe's clients to the site. They had been looking across several plots in the area, but this one offered the right balance of shelter, privacy and that extraordinary northern outlook. Tom, of RB Studio, remembers his first visit well. A gentle knoll offered the house its natural bearing and the northern aspect opened directly to Te Mata Peak. “They had chosen the land well. It had a front-row view, along with the shelter needed to make the architecture feel grounded,” he says. The clients had emigrated from Germany and brought a distinctive…