homestyleの October/November 2023 の目次

Being invited to attend New Zealand Fashion Week: Kahuria recently was a very luxurious little pick-me-up. Working on this magazine by day then seeing runway shows at night filled my creative cup to the brim. Although I added several garments to my wishlist for the warmer days ahead, getting excited about shopping the looks came second to being uplifted by the spirit of connection and celebration in the fashion community, and the reminder that great design takes many shapes and forms. The fine forms in this issue include our cover project on page 56, for which Sam Lennon of The Lennon Project took his local sensibilities to Bali. Having challenged himself not to use a single panel of gib in the holiday home he was hired to design, he landed…

The new French look is spirited and fresh, layered but never fussy, effortless yet always chic. It confidently uses elements of colour and pattern to create an elegant atmosphere, but with a sense of exuberance. It’s not all about the new, either — it references history, without ever looking stale and stuffy. There’s a respectful nod to the past, but at the same time, the interiors are edgy. The French have refined the art of looking chic without trying too hard. Although it can be a difficult style to emulate, it can be done, but before talking about the finer details, it’s important to understand the overall approach the French take to decorating their spaces. There are three main themes that inform their choices: art, dining and history — and…

STYLE —— Store profile Everything’s pretty, useful or pretty blimmin’ useful in this new store in Warkworth’s Riverside Arcade. The budding venture is by dried-floristry darling Antonia de Vere of Mark Antonia, who relocated with her designer husband Mark Seeney to the area a few years ago after moving on from their retail space/ studio in Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland. Antonia, was there an a-ha moment that led you to start Pretty Useful? I was working from home and had no separation of work and life, so I knew I either needed to get a studio built or find a different option. I really did miss working in retail — I missed talking to humans rather than our pet cats Louis and William, and possum Medea Romulus — so I thought there…

How to… - Achieve this gentle limewashed effect by applying two coats of your base colour to the wall. For our back wall and ledge (opposite), we used Resene Field Day, and for our front wall (above), we used Resene Merino. - When that’s dry, mix Resene FX Paint Effects Medium with colour from a testpot and apply it to the wall with a wide brush, creating large, cross-shaped swipes (you don’t need to cover every inch). For our back wall and ledge, we used a Resene Kinship testpot, and for our front wall, we used a Resene Four Winds testpot. Leave the roughly applied brushstrokes for a couple of minutes, then use a clean, dry rag to blend the still-wet paint, filling in all the gaps to create a…

WINDSOR ARCHITECTURAL HARDWARE —— Product profile An indisputable hallmark of well-done dwellings is visual cohesion. Through colours, materials and forms, virtually every detail in such abodes combines harmoniously with those around it, while contributing — often unobtrusively — to a strong overall effect that works as one. Paying due attention to the fundamental, functional features of your home will help you to create a united front, and among these elements, your door handles are an item you can easily elevate. Makers of some of the best around, Invercargill’s Windsor Architectural Hardware has been honing its craft for close to 40 years, ever evolving to deliver interesting innovations and updates. The latest we’re loving is this new lever style the family business has added to its solidbrass Nido range. Now with…

MAJOR FLEX The reissue of a classic, this 1977 sofa reinterprets King Living’s original Award sofa, with its name a reference to the year the brand began. Integrated into it are four key elements: timelessness, modularity, serviceability and sustainability. The ultra-customisable result modernises the chill of the era into an ultra-flexible form that lets you arrange corner, chair and chaise modules in various hues of two exclusive fabrics (bouclé Leura, pictured, and quilted Tempest), with covers that can be easily removed for machine washing, all made from uncontaminated materials that can be disassembled and recycled. It’s more than a sofa, it’s a vibe. kingliving.com TWISTS & TURNS Life is quite the winding road, and metal fabricator Ceri Price’s led him through boat building to pick up blacksmithing and metal-forging skills…

He’d made props for a massive name in the movie business and lent his talent to an appliance giant, but by 2018, industrial designer Alex Buckman was ready to dedicate himself to something he’d long been a big fan of — lighting. Your home could be the better for it. As well as bringing to life his own ideas and the bespoke pieces on which he collaborates with private clients, in the ensuing years, Alex has joined with local brand Città’s 3D designers David Moreland and Nikolai Sorensen on two award-winning series, including this one, Point (the other is called AB). In floor, table and pendant form (the last of which you can add extensions to, to create a customised version), the Point lights team traditional techniques with modern manufacturing.…

INTO THE WOODS PEOPLE —— Artist profile Leanne Culy reckons she popped out of the womb interpreting the world in a creative way. Art was her favourite subject at school, kickstarting a career that traversed graphic design, interior design, styling for still shoots and TV, then making low-impact commercials while raising two daughters on an organic farm in the Wairarapa with her photographer/ cinematographer husband Brian. Painting followed, then a move into designing her own fabrics and furniture, which resulted in opening a store in Ahuriri/Napier called Homebase Collections. In 2019, she became a full-time artist, and since taking up ceramic modelling in 2020 and doing a stint at Coromandel pottery Driving Creek last year, she’s been exploring a new medium, clay. Leanne, what’s wonderful about art being so central to…

THE PROJECT Bull O’Sullivan Architecture and Murray Long Builders created this four-bedroom home in Auckland’s Muriwai for a family of five. Depending on your sporting affiliations, it would be natural to liken the sensual sweep of the roof of this house in Muriwai, Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland to many things. A rolling wave if you’re a surfer. A ski ramp if you’re a snowboarder. Would-be Evel Knievels would be tempted to wrestle a Harley onto its heights. But for Michael O’Sullivan of Bull O’Sullivan Architecture, the dual curvatures are an extract of a cross section of the “lyricism of the land”. Seeing it in his mind’s eye was one thing — next, all he had to do was capture the clients’ imagination. When Michael first came to view this property, surrounded by…

DESIGN —— Garden Sitting back and letting nature take its course isn’t something many of us embrace. We prefer to control it, steering plants in a certain direction. Late-summer blooms get clipped back before they linger in their dried glory and typical hedge species are trimmed rather than allowed to grow loosely in their own way. Encouraging plants to take their proper form aligns with patience and appreciation, which Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland’s Kate Paterson seems to have plenty of. With that comes the blessing of surprise as her garden evolves with the seasons. Seeking an immersive garden of contrasts brought about through unusually structured plants and striking flowers, Kate and her husband, architect Aaron Paterson of Pac Studio, asked landscape design studio Xanthe White Design to craft a scheme for the…

She’s a writer and an artist with a background in interior design, who’s run her website Studio Home for 15 years after it began as Aotearoa’s first design blog in 2008, but Ōtautahi/ Christchurch’s Julia Atkinson-Dunn had never been a gardener. Since a personal challenge combined with buying her first home saw her add this string to her bow, she’s embraced her new interest with such fervour that she wants everyone to know it’s the best — so much so it’s the subject of her latest book. Julia, you approach gardening from a decorative rather than a vegeproduction perspective — what are the biggest pleasures of ornamental gardening for you? My pathway into gardening was led by my interest in space-making and design, which naturally sent me down the rabbit…

Colour forecast —— DULUX Offering excellent insight as always into the wider world of interiors, the Dulux Colour Forecast 2024 presents a trio of palettes befitting both the 15th anniversary of this illuminating annual fixture and our Kiwi lifestyle. Based on year-round research into the latest local and global trends predicted to influence interior design and the way we live, this year’s curation is characterised by a collective appetite for positivity and spaces that nurture through texture, lightness and warmth. There’s an interesting absence of greys; however, many of the colours are themselves greyed-off to form ultra-usable mid-tones. That means fewer brights and pastels than in the past, but rich alternatives with a hint of nostalgia. The world’s on the road again and the Journey palette’s along for the ride,…

In a world overwhelmed with fast everything, the secondhand luxury clothing and accessories market is booming. As well as making economic and environmental sense, and providing access to super-special pieces, buying preloved delivers a shortcut to coveted brands hindered by global supply-chain issues and with waitlists that can stretch to months or years. Auctions such as those run by New Zealand’s premier auction house Webb’s offer items at the more premium end of the market, encompassing antique, vintage and contemporary finds you can style your way or repurpose into bespoke pieces. Here’s head of fine jewels, watches and luxury accessories, Christine Power, to tell us more. So Christine, where does Webb’s source its items from? We’re lucky to have a steady roster of repeat clients, and they often refer new…

HOME, COMMUNITY, PAST, FUTURE On now, Dagmar Vaikalafi Dyck and Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi’s exhibition ‘Amui ‘i Mu‘a: Ancient Futures at Te Whare Toi o Heretaunga Hastings Art Gallery is a chance to see two stars of Tongan contemporary art aligning. With previous iterations presented in Nuku‘alofa and Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, it surveys the work of both artists from the 1990s onwards. Part of a bigger research project exploring the legacies of customary Tongan art practices — textiles, weaving, carving and lashing — it firmly locates artmaking within processes of making home and community, and maintaining connections between the past and future. The foundations for this exhibition were laid in 2017, when along with a group of other researchers and knowledge-holders, the pair were awarded a prestigious Marsden Fund research grant. With…

HOMES THE PROJECT Hyndman Taylor Architects and Rutch Building created this four-bedroom bach in Wānaka for an extended family. Two sisters, three daughters, one husband, and a brother with a bach next door — this project was quite the whānau affair. “It was very special, like a relay race through the family,” says architect Erin Taylor. “Everyone was involved at various stages and solutions were found by committee in a project to create a holiday home that’ll be theirs for generations to come.” All having vacationed in Wānaka over the years and with their own areas of interest and expertise, every family member had something to contribute. The elder generation got involved in the concept and spatialarrangement stages, and took on site management, exterior painting and several of the finer…

DESIGN —— One great thing Early into our journey as Isadia, we found it hard to find vases that complemented our un-orchestrated arrangements. We could’ve sourced ceramics from overseas but wanted to find a local supplier, so we opted to collaborate with our ceramicist friend Humphrey Tait. We love creating minimal arrangements in our own ikebana vases at home, using a few flowers left over from the studio or plucked from the garden, so as an extension of that and the naturalistic arrangements we create for our clients, we decided to design an ikebanainspired vase. We say “inspired” because we’d hate to diminish the Japanese artform that takes years to master, but our arrangements naturally follow many of its principles. Traditional practitioners have respect for the importance of silence and…