Design News

An inside peek into New Zealand’s best modern and minimalist interiors

Article by Homes to Love

Step inside New Zealand’s best contemporary interiors and prepare to be inspired. Our Spaces, a new coffee table book curated by Alana Broadhead, showcases how simple design choices can make a big difference

Our Spaces modern country kitchen

Refined yet relaxed, modern yet modest, New Zealand interiors achieve the artful balance of pared-back beauty and Alana Broadhead‘s new book, Our Spaces, proves this.

Our Spaces

Taking the reader through a Pinterest-esque room-by-room tour, Our Spaces’ theme comes through strongly; that better doesn’t have to mean more, in fact, luxury can be found in less.

“You don’t need to have a lot of money to have style, and the homes in Our Spaces are awesome examples of that,” says Alana.

Our Spaces modern relaxed bedroom

Sitting alongside the homes of New Zealand’s leading creatives and tastemakers, such as Krista and Tim Plews who own Paper Plane Store, Father Rabbit founder Claudia Zinzan, interior stylist Gem Adams, furniture designer Bec Snelling (founder of Douglas and Bec) and Instagram favourite Jess Britten (@hallweneed) – to name a few – are Kiwi mums and homemakers who also have impeccable interior style.

Our Spaces modern kitchen

Having spent a year carefully curating the 400 beautiful images captured by interior and architectural photographer Michelle Weir, Alana has developed a love affair with all the homes featured in the book.

But some of her favourites include: “Erena Te Paa’s very minimal and modernist guest bathroom, the clay pink bedroom belonging to Gem Adams’ little daughter, Lucy Vincent’s restful, dark bathroom, and Annique Heesen’s entire home – especially her bathroom and the laundry she’s cleverly tucked into her kitchen.”

Our Spaces Erena Te Paa

4 things Alana learnt whilst curating Our Spaces:

1. Good things take time (Like cheese!). In today’s world, we’re used to instant gratification, but a truly beautiful home takes time. Layer slowly, live with things before adding more, allow your personal style time to evolve (because it will), and be prepared to be patient until you can find or afford the thing that makes your heart sing.

2. The definition of luxury is changing. Luxury is less about flash and expense and more about substance. Luxury is about time, about meaning, about living our own version of the best life. So we can design our homes to embody our own sense of luxury.

Our Spaces modern bathroom

3. You don’t need lots of money to have style. There’s a quote I love: Style is a matter of being yourself, on purpose. The homes in Our Spaces are awesome examples of exactly that.

4. There are no rules in interior design. If you truly love it, it’ll work.

Scroll down to see more beautiful spaces from this book


Our Spaces ($70) is available at all good bookstores and design stores, and at author Alana Broadhead’s own Sunday Homestore.

Words by: Bea Taylor. Photography by: Michelle Weir

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