Dael and Lee bought their two-storey home in a great location, close to their girls’ school and with a lovely back aspect out over a tree-filled valley. Dael describes it as a “head” decision, not one made from the heart. She knew the location, size and price point was right for them. The house itself, however, was in need of some work, particularly in changing the layout and flow to make it more functional for their family. The main living area was broken up into the kitchen, a small dining room tucked in between two walls, a large laundry and utility space, and a living room with a separate adjacent sunroom.

You can see how the original kitchen (below) had the breakfast bar facing the living room, but Dael felt like it was encroaching into the living space. She wanted to pivot the kitchen towards the dining area and the outdoors. So the entire kitchen was ripped out and a new galley style kitchen designed.

Dael chose her bench top about a year before when we were visiting the Archant showroom in Auckland. She fell in love with the beautiful porcelain material that looks like stone but has the flexibility to be able to put hot things onto it straight from your oven. She chose a marble look with warm gold veining and created a waterfall end so you can appreciate it’s beauty as you walk into the room, as well as from the living room.

By running the porcelain up the wall behind the cooktop, as well as on the bench top, it creates a clean, seamless look and shows off the beautiful, subtle pattern.

To bring some warmth into the kitchen Dael chose a gorgeous rich wood veneer for the back line up of cupboards. Some people mistakenly assume that wood veneer is an inferior product to solid wood, but we’re here to tell you that’s not the case. It’s environmentally kind - you get 32 veneer surfaces for every solid wood board. The thin (real) wood veneer surface is then glued onto a MDF panel, and because this is a stable substrate it produces a surface that is not prone to warp, split or move. And, the best and most interesting logs are cut into veneers.

The cupboard on the left is a tall pantry, and on the right the fridge is hidden behind another cupboard front for a seamless look, which is great in a small kitchen. Simple brass handles sit flush to the edge of the cupboards to continue the clean lines. A thin LED strip light below the overhead cupboards and under the breakfast bar adds a lovely glow washing down. The front of the breakfast bar is a blackened oak veneer to add a touch of weight to the room.

The new breakfast bar is now positioned in the spot Dael had previously put her dining table (below), taking advantage of the view outside.

The one thing that Dael’s husband, Lee, requested in the new kitchen was a tap that supplied them with hot, cold and boiling filtered water. It’s now something that Dael says she couldn’t do without. It means they don’t need a kettle anymore, and they both love the convenience of having boiling water on tap. But also not having the noise of a kettle in an open plan space has made a really positive difference.

There’s a clear division now between the kitchen and living room, even though it’s all open plan. You can see in the photo below how the barstools were actually on the carpet in the living room.

In the original layout there was a separate sunroom on the front of the living room. It was quite narrow and the family weren’t really using it. So the wall was taken down allowing not only more space, but also a lot more light in the room. The little French doors were kept and repurposed in the new dining room. The old carpet was taken up and the floors between the two living spaces levelled out before new carpet was laid.

Because the window faces the street, Dael installed a double track for her curtains. A semi-sheer curtain is pulled all of the time for privacy, but still lets in light; and in the evening the bottom curtain is pulled for warmth and blockout.

The previous owners had their dining table in the little nook (below) which is opposite the kitchen, and on the other side of the wall, that window led to a laundry and utility space.

Dael and Lee knocked down that wall and relocated the laundry to a large downstairs bathroom. The French doors from the sunroom were put on the old laundry space which is now used as a kitchen overflow cupboard where Dael keeps all her large appliances, platters and vases.

The old dining nook is the perfect spot for the buffet, and we love a good buffet for creating some styling moments!

Leaning art and mirrors rather than hanging them creates a relaxed vibe and allows you to move them around and change your look from time to time. If you’ve watched any of our videos you’ll know that we love trays for grouping and grounding smaller objects.

In this ‘before and after’ you can see the relationship between the different spaces, and how, by knocking out some walls and re-orientating the kitchen, the flow and usability is now so much better.

The final part of the downstairs renovation puzzle for Dael and Lee was the hallway that leads from the front door and bedrooms down to the kitchen, dining, and living rooms. The old carpet was ripped up and the floorboards polished, whilst the wooden steps were carpeted making them so much more quiet. Dael had her builder add battens for a board and batten effect on the walls creating some interest to an otherwise fairly plain space. The large artwork is by our friend and talented photographer Florence Charvin. The custom Armadillo&Co runner from The Ivy House leads you down to the stairway, which is wallpapered in a beautiful Arte paper. The finishing touch is the addition of the stunning lights by David Trubridge.

To summarise, Dael, Lee and their girls are now so much happier with their home. It’s amazing the effect good design and good flow can make on your everyday life!

2020 started out as our best year to date. We had some amazing clients and projects on the go, as well as in our pipeline. We were really excited about the year ahead. Then along came Covid-19 and threw one mighty large spanner in the works! Yes, we had to postpone several consultations with new clients, and push out finishing dates of some existing projects, but we’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to continue working from our homes to some extent. Design work continues and Dael has been able to talk to clients and suppliers on the phone and via Zoom meetings. And one benefit of being at home and having a bit more time is that we finally started our IGTV channel, posting short videos with design tips to Instagram and Facebook. Something we’ve been meaning to do for a while now.

Living in Lockdown has been a massive adjustment for all of us, but it’s been so cool to see the innovative ways individuals and businesses have been coping. Our hearts go out to all those who have experienced heartbreak and stress, I can’t even imagine how tough that has been. As an eternal optimist I like to find a silver lining, and for me there have been a few…

Slowing down, literally smelling the roses, spending quality time as a family, regular exercise and creating new rituals, not to mention that the planet has been given the opportunity to ‘breathe’ and recalibrate. It kinda makes you wonder! It’s given us all time to realise what is most important in our lives, and one thing that Dael and I know, but we hope that you are all realising now too (if you hadn’t already), is how important your home is.

We’ve all been spending more time in our homes than we probably ever have before, and if you love your home, that will have made this time so much better. People who don’t value beautiful interiors may think it’s just superficial and shallow, but whether you realise it or not you are greatly affected by your surroundings. A good design not only transforms the interior, it transforms the lives of the people living there. If our designs are contributing to more happy, content people in this world, then how cool is that?!

There are a few simple things you can do right now to make your home more enjoyable. Start by decluttering and editing. Piles of clutter can cause you stress. Look to see if there are certain areas that are constantly being used as a dumping ground. Can you add a basket to collect the abandoned shoes, or a pretty box for mail and paperwork? Make sure that items on display that have a practical use look good too.

Create vignettes around your house made up of things you love, maybe they have a memory or story attached. It’s amazing how they’ll make you happy when you see them. Start with just one surface and have a play, when you feel more confident try another surface. Move pieces around regularly to keep your home feeling fresh. We give you lots of tips in our videos, so check them out if you haven’t already.

Add greenery. We talk about this a lot, but it’s a really simple way to inject life, texture and interest into your home. You don’t even need to go to a florist (although we’re all for supporting your local florist, especially now), you can just take you secateurs into your own garden and cut off a few branches.

Paint is one of the simplest ways to transform a room, it can literally change the mood of a space. We have an online colour course that you can download and do at home anytime. It teaches you how to choose a colour palette that will be just right for your home. Whilst in Level 3 (and 4 before) we’re offering a 20% discount, so go check it out.

As we head towards Alert Levels 2 and then 1, I hope that we will all adopt a new normal. Take whatever positives you found whilst in Lockdown - slow down, spend more time with loved ones, exercise more, get creative, whatever you discovered (or re-discovered) that is going to enhance your life. Travelling overseas won’t be happening in the near future, but why not see more of our own country, support local tourism, and support local businesses as much as possible.

At Bibby + Brady we work with some incredible local businesses and NZ furniture manufacturers (the sofa above is a great example of one of our NZ made creations). This means we will be able to continue to create beautiful spaces, no matter what. If you decide that you want to spend that money you had put aside for overseas travel on a new kitchen, or a complete house renovation, maybe even a new build, then get in touch with us so we can put you into our calendar, or you can fill in this form. We can work with you right from the planning stage, through to the install. We can project manage the entire reno if you want us to, we have some fantastic tradies and suppliers so you can rest assured that the job will be done to our high standards.

Wishing you all the best, and remember better times are yet to come. Stay safe, stay healthy, and for now, stay home. Vic + Dael x