Eskridge Home | Before + Afters

November 13, 2020

This is a project that brightened up a pretty crazy 2020 for us, despite Covid19 making some aspects of it a bit trickier. Our clients contacted us at the end of 2019 when they had just purchased their beautiful home in the Esk Hills, Hawke’s Bay. They took possession of the house early 2020 and hired us to help them furnish it. Essentially no structural work was to be done, and the kitchen and bathrooms were not part of our brief (other than a mini makeover in the powder room).

Let’s walk through the home with some ’before & afters’ and I’ll explain what we did. Although the house was already painted a neutral, slightly beige-y shade, we re-painted it a fresher, lighter shade of white. The change is subtle but it’s amazing how it elevates and gives the home a more contemporary feel.

You can see in the ‘before’ photo above the little nook to the side of the front door. As soon as we saw it we knew the perfect furniture piece for here. I measured the space and found it would fit with millimetres to spare and was the exact depth. The cabinet with internal shelves is used for the family’s shoes, and a matching nook on the opposite side has hooks for coats and hats. We chose the dish on top of the cabinet to throw the car keys as you enter. The print features colours that we’ve used throughout the home, whilst the frame picks up the oak in the cabinet.

The previous owners had a single runner down the long hallway. We had two gorgeous, deep teal runners custom made to fit either side of the front door, leaving the walkway from the door into the main living area clear. The two runners help to lead your eye down to the rooms beyond, and add a softness to the polished concrete floors.

The original home owners had a round dining table, which was nice, but our clients had their hearts set on a long antique French-style table. We found the perfect table for them and it works so well in the space. The long table sits beautifully in front of the large window and leads your eye out to the view as you enter the room. We teamed it with deep green velvet chairs, super comfy for long, leisurely dinner parties.

The dining area sits between the main living room and the kitchen in a large open space. The light hanging over the dining table helps to zone that area, and we used a large wool rug to zone the living area. The existing schist fireplace echos schist on the exterior of the home, so the clients wanted this to stay.

The living room consists of several custom pieces. We had a large corner sofa made, which enables multiple people to either watch TV or enjoy the incredible view beyond. A pair of custom made arm chairs create a social setting with the sofa; and a large custom made ottoman tucks under the coffee table and can be used to put your feet on, an extra seat, the kids can lie on it, or you can pop a tray down for drinks. We had the artwork behind the sofa commissioned for the room.

We had new curtains made for the living room and chose a matt black curtain rod for a more contemporary look. We then replaced the venetian blinds on the smaller windows with roman blinds in the same fabric.

As I mentioned, we didn’t do anything in the kitchen, other than provide a set of cool barstools. But there was a built-in drinks cabinet tucked in a corner between the kitchen and dining room. It was made from a beige-y yellow melamine product (or similar), and this didn’t look great once we painted the walls in a fresher white, so we got our painters to give it a new lease on life by painting it black and we added cute brass handles.

At the other end of the large open plan living area, past the kitchen is a smaller living room that we dubbed “the sunroom”. It’s always great having two living areas in case the kids are watching TV in one room and you want a quieter spot for a glass of wine with your girlfriend (one example that springs to mind).

We liked the previous owners furniture layout, it created a social setting and you could enjoy the gorgeous view from the sofa.

Because this room is smaller we chose to add circles and curves to soften the straight lines and angles. A large round wool rug grounds the furniture which includes a small round coffee table, and a pair of custom made curved armchairs. These are covered in outdoor fabric to protect them in their sunny spot. A small round side table brings a touch of colour and pattern. It contrasts the chairs and coffee table, which we deliberately kept light and leggy to give an airy feel in this light-filled room.

Along the hallway that leads to the bedrooms, there is a small guest powder room. The client asked us to give this a mini makeover, meaning they didn’t feel the need to change the toilet or handbasin, but they did want to remove the frieze that ran around the room.

We replaced the frieze with a stunning wallpaper that echoed the teal blue runner outside. We swapped the mirror out for a round one to soften the strong angles in the basin and vanity; and we also replaced the smaller fixed accessories like the hand towel rail and toilet roll holder for slimmer matt black versions.

Another of our custom curved armchairs sits in the corner of the master bedroom and also creates a focal point as you walk down the hall into the room.

In the master bedroom we had the chair, the headboard, the bedside tables and the ottoman at the foot of the bed custom made. We took our colour palette from the gorgeous art piece that we chose for the room, and it also repeats colours used in other areas of the home. We wanted the room to be a calm oasis for our clients to escape to after a busy day.

The cushion was also custom made, as most of our cushions are to ensure the best quality and longevity.

We wanted the guest bedroom to also have a calm and peaceful vibe, so we painted it a soft green blue. Once again the headboard and cushion were custom made and we chose bedding to compliment.

Finally we move on to the two little girls’ rooms, which we had so much fun designing. Both these rooms had bright blue feature walls before we got to them. It’s our belief where possible to paint or wallpaper all of the walls in a room. Feature walls were big in the 90’s so they can look dated now, and we encourage you to embrace your choice of paint or wallpaper and just go for it!

On occasion this room will be used by guests also, hence the king bed. But the little girl is still very young so we wanted a room that she could love as well as having a quiet sophistication for when adults stay.

We had the headboard, the long cushion, and the chair all custom made for this room. When she outgrows the whimsical wallpaper it can be stripped and the room painted, but the headboard and chair will still work for a teenager or young adult.

Little sister has a pair of single beds so big sister can share the room when needed, and when she’s a bit older her friends can stay over. We piped these curved custom headboards, which might just be my favourite of all of them. The wallpaper is a bit bolder in this room, but the colour scheme has a sense of continuity between the two children’s rooms.

What a great way to finish, on one of my favourite photos. I hope you enjoyed this tour and getting a glimpse into the journey. Thank you so much to our amazing clients (who were a pleasure to work with) for allowing us to share their home with you.

Neighbourhood Eats Cookbook

November 19, 2018

Introducing this beautiful cookbook filled with treasured family recipes from the Napier Central School neighbourhood…

Dael and I are thrilled to have played a small part in this beautiful cookbook, “Neighbourhood Eats”, which features mouth-watering, tried and trusted recipes from the Napier Central School community. The book is a school fundraiser to raise money to help save their school pool, which needs major refurbishments.

I know when you envisage a school cookbook you might think photocopied pages and spiral binding, but not this cookbook! Neighbourhood Eats is the most beautiful hardback book filled with 275 recipes and more than 300 incredible original photographs shot by our favourite photographer, Florence Charvin.

Every family has at least one or two favourite recipes. You know the ones handed down from your grandmother; the ones that have a story that goes with them, and a history; the ones that have been experimented with and adjusted until they’re just right. Put together in one stunning book, the recipes and the stories in Neighbourhood Eats will make their way into your kitchen and your heart.

The recipes in this book are a perfect reflection of the cultural diversity found at Napier Central School. As well as Kiwi kids, they have pupils whose backgrounds include Thai, Swedish, Scottish, Malaysian, Japanese, Indian, Australian, Irish, Middle Eastern, Greek, Italian, and German, to name a few. Also scattered through the book are recipes from some well known New Zealanders - Jacinda Ardern, Peter Gordon, and Jospeh Parker have all donated their favourite recipe.

Behind the scenes there has been the most incredible group of people working tirelessly to make this book a reality. A group of volunteer cooks made up of mums, dads, grandmothers and teachers, cooked all of the recipes. Members of the Napier Central PTA organised and oversaw the photoshoots, liaised with the graphic designer, recruited sponsors, organised printing, donating their time all in an effort to help their childrens’ school.

The name Neighbourhood Eats came about because of the huge effort put in from the whole community - parents, teachers, pupils and local businesses. Sponsorship support from a large number of local businesses covered all of the production costs, which means that 100% of the profits can go directly into the Napier Central School “save the pool” fund. Between us Dael and I have five daughters, all of whom are past pupils of this wonderful school, so we were very happy to be able to help with this project, sponsoring the ‘soups and breads’ chapter.

The Neighbourhood Eats cookbook costs $45 and can be ordered from their great looking website (built by Kathryn McGarvey). What a brilliant gift it would make, so why not grab a few copies for your mum and your sister too, knowing that you’ll be giving a fantastic gift as well as contributing to a worthy cause. I’m sure these are going to fly out the door, so don’t miss out, order your copy today.

Belmont Home Design

March 5, 2018

We hit the client jackpot when we got an email back in 2016 from an awesome young couple, Emma and Ian. They had just bought a new family home in Belmont, Auckland that they felt had great bones but lacked personality, and they wanted our help. Of course we love these kind of projects, as we relish any opportunity to bring a home to life and help it to reflect the people that live there.

Emma and Ian had only some very minor structural renovations in mind, but wanted nearly a full fit-out of new furniture, window treatments and accessories. Their brief was to create a home that had a holiday vibe - "a sub tropical deluxe retreat with an edge" were Emma's exact words.

The back of the house is beautiful, light and airy with a high vaulted ceiling and large french doors opening out onto the back lawn. It contains the kitchen, dining area, and a living room which was zoned by a rectangular piece of in-laid carpet.

A coat of fresh, white paint, and swapping the roller blinds out for beautiful linen curtains created a timeless base to work with. The curtains add a softness, and when pulled the gentle folds add lovely texture to the room. Removing the carpet and replacing the floorboards was a rather costly option, so we got a rug custom made to cover the carpet, and because it was a bit larger, it gave the living area a bit more breathing room. The beautiful large chandelier also helps to zone the living room in the open plan space.

We chose a large four seater sofa that can withstand a couple of boisterous (and adorable) young children, it's super comfy and very cool - for that edginess that Emma wanted. It's long and low profile hunkers down into the room allowing the view outside to be accessible from throughout the room, and the back creates a clear divide between the living and dining areas.

To fit the space between the kitchen and living area, the dining table is long and narrow. We used a bench seat on one side, which is perfect for kids, and it helps to keep it from looking cluttered - which is key in an open plan room. When not in use it can tuck under the table discreetly. Roman blinds in a blue and white batik fabric replaced the original roller blinds.

The wall between the two smaller windows was a great spot for some art, so the wall light was removed and we anchored the large print with the wooden bench below.

We kept the colour palette to shades of blue, green and white to create the tropical feel, with wood and brass accents for warmth. We also wanted to reflect Emma and Ian's love of travel by using pieces they've collected over the years, and by introducing new pieces with a global influence. The large stool in the corner is a vintage Indian grinder table picked up in Hawke's Bay when we took the couple shopping in some of our favourite shops.

The kitchen was quite new and Emma and Ian didn't feel the need to replace it, so we had some simple solutions to help them update it.

The original kitchen had a lot of silver handles everywhere. We replaced the ones on the lower cabinets with the same size handle but in a beautiful matt black. The upper cabinets had their handles completely removed and a push-to-open mechanism was installed inside, giving a cleaner, more contemporary look. The light over the breakfast bar echoes the one in the living area and helps to zone the kitchen area.

We replaced the painted glass splash back with gorgeous soft green subway tiles to add texture and interest.

For another layer the scallop tiles were added to the front of the breakfast bar. They compliment the subway tiles beautifully and continue the tropical holiday vibe without being too literal. A strip of LED lighting runs along under the bench to subtly highlight the tiles. The bar stools are low in profile so they can also tuck away when not in use, keeping the look unfussy.

Emma and Ian picked up the 'lady with the green lips' while they were in Bali, and she works so well in this space. We commissioned the small resin planes from Michele Bryant, each has an international destination on it - cities or provinces that Ian has worked with Air New Zealand.

We chose the large marble and metal coffee table for it's scale as we wanted a piece big enough to work with the sofa. A pair of rattan armchairs face the sofa and can also be pulled outside for extra seating when needed.

The master bedroom is off the living room and has large bi-fold windows that open onto the back garden. We wanted the room to have a sophisticated holiday vibe, and to be a place of calm and quiet for Emma and Ian to retreat to.

We chose a deep teal blue for the walls, fresh white linen bedding and a quilted blue throw to ground the end of the bed. We had the green velvet headboard custom made, and also made the pink & gold cushion and bedside lampshades specially. The palm tree lamp bases, scalloped bedside tables, and fish trap pendant light all continue the tropical theme.

The light oak drawers compliment the blue walls and pick up the tones in the artwork by Chris Sisarich.

The bathrooms were similar to the kitchen - Emma and Ian chose not to completely replace the fittings and fixtures, but instead to simply 'zshush' them up.

The shell mirror was bought on Emma and Ian's shopping trip with us in Hawke's Bay, and it instantly updates the room. The walls were freshened up again with a bright white, and we bought a little rustic wooden stool in to add some warmth and texture.

The seperate toilet room got a similar treatment with the mirror replaced and some beautiful wallpaper added. Little touches like a colourful hand towel and pretty soaps are so simple to add and can make all the difference.

Blake and Isla share a bedroom and Emma wanted us to give it a whimsical, playful makeover.

We defined each child's side of the room with their own wallpaper. Blake's is blue and white with a striped linen duvet and denim pillowcase.

Isla's side of the room is in soft peaches and dusty pinks, and her wallpaper has the same sense of whimsy as her brother's but in a much more girly way.

The front living room was lacking the natural light that the main living space had, so we removed the door frame and opened it right up, replacing the door with an internal slider. The walls were painted and the furniture was updated.

A pair of vintage armchairs were screaming out for some love, so we recovered them in one of our favourite kilim fabrics giving them that global vibe we love so much.

The linen slipcover sofa is another favourite of ours and perfect for a family with kids. All of the covers can be easily removed and thrown in the wash whenever necessary. The larger door opening lets in much more light during the day, and can be closed up in the evenings if the kids are sleeping.

The entranceway was another area that just needed tweaking. The little built-in box was removed and replaced with a bench seat. A piece of art was hung above it and an antique runner was introduced to lead you down into the heart of the home.

It was an absolute pleasure working with these guys, and seeing their home come to life, we will miss them terribly. Make sure you come back to Hawke's Bay for some more shopping trips, Emma and Ian :)