Using colour inside and out has proved a treasure found for the owners of this renovated and extended 1930s home, where art and collections keep up the lively theme.
Sandra Preston is a self-described maximalist with a passion for colour. As soon as you approach the home she shares with her partner, Arun Patel, near the South Coast of Te Whanganui a Tara/Wellington, you get a sense of the couple who live within. A graphic mural decorates the walls leading up to the modernised home. It’s hard to miss as the house is painted one of Sandra’s favourite hues — an eye-catching vivid green.
When the couple began renovating two years ago, Sandra was adamant she wanted to express her love of colour throughout, so they rejected the theory that their art collection had to hang on white walls. “We’re colourful, joyous people. We want to live somewhere bright and uplifting,” Sandra says.
The pair, who both work in the public service, bought the property in 2006, drawn to the home’s proximity to the city and its good sun and light. “It had a nice energy and sense of flow,” says Arun.
The 1930s house had already undergone one renovation, but its cladding was beginning to fail. Then the roof started leaking, the steep driveway became slippery and a 50sqm deck was rotting and often hit by northerly winds. “I grew tired of getting wet entering the house, because there were no eaves,” says Sandra.
The couple, who don’t do anything by halves, realised that if they were going to spend vast amounts on maintenance, they may as well go the whole hog and do a thorough job. “Everything was starting to collapse at the same time,” Arun recalls.
In 2018, they engaged Spacecraft Architects and gave the firm their brief: a full house renovation, along with a new garage with a studio on top. “We thought, ‘We’ll do this once and stay here until we grow old’,” Sandra says.
Spacecraft appreciated the couple’s need for an open-plan living area with a usable outdoor space, even in a notorious capital-city northerly. Architects Caroline Robertson and Tim Gittos explain the goal was to make the outdoor spaces habitable in the wind, and to expand light into the home. Says Tim: “The original house had strange extensions that had been done in the 1990s; they were leaking in places and overly complex.” The plan was to prune these from the building and find a simple design move to address the issues and integrate the outdoor space to the west.
“Sandra and Arun were interested in Palm Springs as a reference point and the single, long roof plane we used to re-pitch the leaking roof, shelter the eastern entry and western outdoor space chimed well with this.”
A wall between the kitchen and second living space was removed, the 1990s kitchen updated and a west-facing extension made room for a new main suite. While the driveway was redesigned for a gentler gradient and safer stairs installed to a new entrance, costs precluded the studio above the garage.
The old, rotting deck was torn down and the couple are delighted with its replacement: an alfresco area accessed via sliders where they can sit in all types of weather. The deck overlooks a well-nurtured terraced garden; when it turns cold, outdoor heaters extend the season. “It’s now my favourite part of the house,” says Sandra. “I love sitting out there watching the world go by, and the feeling of energy, openness and privacy. We look out at suburbia, but we’re not crammed in. When the lights come on at night, they sparkle on
the houses on the hills.”
The kitchen, the hub of the house, connects two living areas, which span east and west following the sun. The zone to the east was once a separate room but has been opened to accommodate the dining area. The kitchen features oak cabinetry and a U-shaped bench offset by hanging vertical shelves where Sandra’s Crown Lynn collection is on display. The vases are a talking point when people come over to visit. “We love entertaining,” says Arun. “And our friends feel very settled up at the bench.”
The pair are also passionate collectors of New Zealand contemporary art, and wanted to show off their pieces. “Keeping enough wall space was important. Every time the architects had an idea that a wall might disappear, we’d question it,” says Arun.
During the process, the couple engaged interior designer Heidi Brook of The Room Editor to help them create spaces that celebrate their art collection and furnishings across a spectrum of colours from pink to teal, and orange to chartreuse. They wanted nothing pretentious — spaces where they and their guests could feel relaxed and at home.
A joyful palette of green, mustard, brown and pink was decided on. “It was very much a collaboration, a true partnership,” says Sandra, who had the vision and colours in mind, but relied on Heidi to help her source paints and products. “She advised us on how to keep everything balanced and cohesive.”
Existing furniture (such as the dining table) was restored and living-room chairs reupholstered. “This palette is controlled to allow the art and furnishings within to sing — while being bold and playful enough to bring joy and comfort to each room,” says Heidi.
The couple have their own rooms, each reflecting their personalities and interests. Arun’s is off the new deck in the extension of the house. Painted a mustard shade, he has his own bathroom and his wing boasts the couple’s walk-in wardrobe. Sandra’s room is in the original part of the house. It’s feminine and maximalist, with a pink ceiling, velvet chair, bespoke pink-and-coral duvet cover, mirrored cabinets and as much colour and pattern as Heidi felt worked for the space.
Once again, their artworks take a star turn, and Arun is quick to point out that, “It’s actually a myth that you need white walls to hang art on. Many galleries use colour on the walls.”
Heidi specified that the trims, doors and architraves in each room be painted the same shade as the walls which, she says, lends a calming feel. “It does take you on a bit of a journey; each of the colours in the room works well for the purpose and the feeling that needs to be created.”
Heidi is delighted with the end result and says: “It’s fun, it’s joyful and interesting, and it’s a real reflection of its owners. The home is a bit of an artwork in itself really.”
For their part, Sandra and Arun constantly have pinch-yourself moments. “We bought the house because of the openness and light, and now it’s all modernised but it still feels like ours,” says Arun.
Every time she arrives home, standing under the beautiful new eaves by the crazy-paved entrance area, Sandra feels a sense of satisfaction and achievement: “I walk in here and I feel happy. I feel like I’m on holiday.”
Words Sarah Catherall
Photography Bonny Beattie
The post A full-colour renovation by Spacecraft Architects and The Room Editor appeared first on Homestyle.
