Napier Hill Home Renovation

May 9, 2019

We’ve recently finished working with a fabulous client, helping her renovate her home on Napier Hill. Rachael had moved to Hawke’s Bay from Wellington with her two young children and bought a beautiful old character home. It had great bones and stunning views over the hill and out to sea, but the layout wasn’t quite right and the interiors were a bit tired. After working with Citrus Studio Architecture on the plan, Rachael hired local firm Davcon Construction to complete the renovation. It was Davcon director, Julian Davis, who recommended Rachael talk to us about her kitchen design. Jules knew we’d be able to guide her through all the tricky decisions regarding colours, bench tops, cabinet style, handles etc.

The old kitchen was completely removed and this space (above) has now been turned into a media room for games and movie watching. Walls came down and moved to create a much better flow and layout throughout the house, and the kitchen moved over into the old dining room.

After putting the design concept together for Rachael’s kitchen, we worked closely with our joiners, Sydaz, to bring the design to a reality. We’ve developed a great working relationship with the Sydaz team, so it was a really fun project to work on. Both Davcon and Sydaz have exceptional workmanship, it was amazing to watch both teams help bring our design to life.

Our initial idea was to have a beautiful soft sage green on the bottom cabinets, but to achieve this look with the cabinets painted in a two pot polyurethane was a slightly more expensive option. In the end we opted for a more cost-effective thermoform finish in textured limestone, which is essentially a soft white. We then put a beautiful light grey with a hint of green on the walls to bring in some tone while still keeping the space calm, light and airy.

We’re all in love with the bench top we chose. It’s an engineered stone with a textured matt finish. It features a white background with velvety grey swirls and smaller specks of dark grey. Dael took Rachael out to the Archant warehouse in Hastings where they could view the actual slab of stone. This enables our clients a much better idea of how their bench will look, although we always start by showing them a small sample square. Carrying the stone up the wall as an up-stand was the finishing touch - we love it.

You can see from the progress shot (below) that we put a pull-out pantry and integrated fridge along the wall to the right of the main kitchen. There was nothing we can do with that wall in-between, as behind that is the powder room. Positioning the kitchen island long ways helped to connect everything…

But what really succeeded to connect and ‘zone’ the kitchen area was the wall panelling we asked Davcon to create. It absolutely worked with the style of the home, and wrapping it along the wall between the two pantries, and over on the opposite wall, clearly marked the kitchen area from the adjoining dining area.

The media room, where the old kitchen used to be, is off the kitchen, and we love the sneaky peek of the deep blue walls against the soft grey/green walls in front.

media room re-gibbed and ready for it’s transformation.

The entrance, kitchen and dining room have had new flooring put down. Rachael came home from Hutchinsons with a selection she had chosen and we helped her narrow it down to these boards, which look fantastic. These were the sorts of questions we helped Rachael tackle throughout the reno, another was which way to lay the boards. We would usually recommend running the wood from the front door straight to the back of the house, but the front door sits at the side of the house (to the left of the dining room entrance above). So, although the boards run across the entrance, they then lead your eye down to the beautiful big doors and view at the back of the house.

Rachael already had her dining table, chairs and rug. We sourced the pendant lighting for the kitchen and dining room, helped with art placement, and the colour to paint the fireplace. We sourced the kitchen handles from Archant and the chopping board, bowls and jugs are all ours.

The narrow double doors in the living room (above) were removed and an opening was made on the other side of the fireplace for easier access from the front door and kitchen through to the rest of the house. Large sliding doors were put in (below) to take advantage of the view and the light.

With new carpet and freshly painted walls, Rachael just asked us to help her choose a new sofa, coffee table, side table, and pendant light. We had this sofa custom made for her by one of our NZ furniture manufacturers. They’re made in New Zealand, and the quality and workmanship is superb, so it will last her a long, long time. To keep the cost down slightly, we chose a hardwearing but more cost-effective fabric in a gorgeous deep teal. The large coffee table is the perfect scale for the sofa, and the double layer is handy - you can pop baskets for storage on the bottom layer, or spare cushions. We also had new curtains made in a beautiful soft grey linen blend.

Rachael’s bedroom has these lovely character features, but we helped give it a mini makeover with a new wall colour, new curtains, and a new window seat squab.

The wall colour almost glows it’s so warm and gorgeous. It’s a dusty umber and ashen red toned neutral. OK, it’s pink, but it’s such a sophisticated colour that feels serene and restful in the master bedroom. The linen hydrangea cushions (below) we had custom made - all available to purchase from us.

Directly opposite the master bedroom is the tiny powder room. With no natural light this space would’ve looked flat if we painted it white, so we chose another soft, pretty colour.

The family bathroom was created from scratch in the old entrance area. A large space, we created wall-to-wall storage down one end to house the laundry as well as an extra cupboard for the mop, broom etc. I say “we created it”, but clearly Davcon did all the hard work…

And then Sydaz did a fantastic job creating all of the cabinetry. We chose the tiles from Tile Space, and used HardieGroove™ on the walls to add subtle texture.

The children’s bedrooms also only required mini makeovers. In Rachael’s son’s room it was choosing a colour that he would love, and also one that would grow with him into his teens. Also a cool new window squab so he could enjoy his epic view - lucky kid - and new bedding!

In Rachael’s daughter’s room we opted for a warm, happy colour scheme to add a bit of fun and interest. We kept the colour to the bottom half of the walls, and mixed it up with some different coloured bedding.

And here she is… Rachael was one of our most favourite clients and a joy to work with. We were so impressed with the way she managed a massive renovation with two young children, whilst holding down a very important, full-time job. No matter how smoothly everything goes, renovations are often still stressful, just because of the disruption they cause to your life. But this one was well worth it! The other reason we love Rachael is that she listened to us, trusted us, and followed through with everything we suggested. This is always the best outcome, so thanks Rach, and thank you for allowing us to share your beautiful home. x

Favourite Space | Hayden Borrie

January 29, 2019

We’re starting 2019 with one of our “Favourite Space” blog posts, where we introduce you to another one of our clever and creative friends, and show you the space they most love to hang out in. Last year we had a meeting with Hayden Borrie after several people suggested we should meet. And they were so right… you see, Hayden is this super talented guy with an engineering and design background, and he was busy developing a range of beautiful products suitable for both residential and commercial environments. It wasn’t long after our first meeting that we employed his services to help us create a stunning black steel shower frame for a client of ours (we hope to have photos of this soon for our portfolio). Since then we’ve worked on other projects with Hayden and look forward to many more.

For this shoot Dael and I headed out to Hayden’s home with our photographer Florence in tow to photograph his family room. Hayden shares his home in the Esk Hills with his wife, Megan and their two children Roman, 6 yrs, and Fern, 3 yrs. Hayden and Megan bought the section after returning from London, and proceeded to do a huge amount of work on it themselves. They hired architect, Andrew Young, and local construction firm, Robinson Built, but also had a lot of input into the design process. Megan managed the project and all the tradies, and the couple designed the kitchen, installing the island bench themselves, as well as tackling all of the painting and landscaping.

Hayden’s range of self-designed shelving and storage is called smpl. - born out of the desire to create a shelving system for his own home. Longevity was an important factor so they are built to last with powdercoated steel frames and shelves; and wanting a sense of cohesiveness throughout his home, the range also includes bathroom accessories.

Not restricted to residential, the smpl. range is great for commercial settings as well. Hayden designed and installed the shelving at our favourite local coffee establishment, Crazy Good (see below).

Right Hayden, time for a few questions so we can get to know you a bit better…

B+B - What is your favourite space?

HB - It’s what we call our 'family' room, but it’s really just all one big space including the family room, kitchen, dining and lounge.

What do you love most about your space?

The 'openness' of the view out to the north west, while being hunkered into the hill to the east; and it feels like the heart of the house.

What do you love about what you’ve created for Crazy Good?

Modularity and 'the system' (you'll probably hear me say that a lot). It's going to need a bit of customer learning, but the system in CG would equally be at home in a commercial environment or residential housing.

What’s your favourite time if the day?

Late evening. That's when the gears start turning, and can easily go into the wee smalls :) No distractions (I love my family, really), and you can just get on with it.

Who or what inspires you?

Simplifying unnecessarily complicated products and processes. I’m not a big fan of superfluous details, rather I prefer basic 'functional aesthetics'. I love modularity and re-use of components through a design.

George Nelson would be one of my main influences. He's one of the originators of American Modernism, and I love the simplicity in his products, particularly during his time at Herman Miller. Yes, he may have taken credit for a few too many designs of others (!), but there's no doubt he pushed design into places it hadn't been before.

What are you reading/listening to?

I’ve been listening to 'The Roots' lately for designing, and 'Royal Blood' for hard work! Reading even for fun is usually pretty technical. :)

Sweet or savoury?

Definitely savoury!

Favourite drink?

Pour-over Chemex coffee, black.

Favourite item you own?

My Chemex pour-over 6 cup. I like the precise process of it, and that it’s the same every single time.

What are your goals for 2019?

To develop my smpl. product range further, and to continue to provide 'fresh' solutions for custom interiors (mainly from a manufacturing perspective).

Oh and do more mountain biking and fishing!

Thank you so much Hayden for allowing us into your home. To all our readers, make sure you go and check out Hayden’s website to learn more about his smpl. range, and follow him on Instagram and Facebook to keep up with all his new work and product design.

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.