All my best memories of summer involve spending time outside — huddling around campfires beside the river and sleeping under the stars in the treehouse my siblings and I shared with our neighbours as a kid; sheltering in a gazebo with a gaggle of friends to ring in the rainy millennium New Year as a teen.
Although I’m still happy with a sausage cooked on a stick, outdoor living’s got a lot more grown up since then, and not just for me. Kiwis in general seem to have become more sophisticated in terms of accessorising our outdoor pursuits, whether that means going bush or entertaining in our own backyard. I often discuss the benefits of making the interior of your home a space that exudes personality and reflects your needs and desires. Recently, I’ve found myself thinking about how the same principles can be applied to help us maximise the enjoyment we get from our outdoor spaces.
How it started: a list of ways to upgrade my family’s dining-on-the-deck set-up. How it’s going: finding the dream landscaped garden to feature on our cover this issue! I mean, not every backyard is suited to having its very own European-style cabana, but we’re here for the fanciful fun of it at the home of Sydneysiders Anthony and Rebecca Wyer, which you can see more of on page 110.
For some of the other highlights in this issue, we go back to almost-basics at a family bach in Wakaroa/Pigeon Bay by architects Jane and Hamish Peddie (page 96), which seeks to slip in seamlessly alongside the surrounding farm buildings. In Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland, we check out a villa renovation by architects Jessica Walker and Maggie Carroll of Bureaux (page 68), whose signature aesthetic marries heritage character and chic new additions with aplomb. And if getting outside of your own four walls is at the top of your list of things to do, we can highly recommend turning to page 138 to read up on a rustic coastal escape in Taranaki that exudes all the natural charm — and calm — we crave at this time of year.
That said, holidays at home have their virtues as well. We’ve always been proponents of making the best of where you’re at, so to help with that, we’ve brought a whole lot of colour to the following pages to inspire you to brighten up your life inside and out.
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