Designer Sarah Parker invites customers to stop by, stock up, then shut the front door and enjoy a home filled with bright and unusual products from her Takapuna store
Sarah likes to style the various spaces within the store herself, based on what is on trend and what she is personally drawn to. She loves helping people get the confidence to add their own style to their homes.
When Sarah Parker was sourcing industrial-style lockers for her brand General Eclectic, she had a bright idea. “Instead of their typical grey, how great would they be in a bright colour?” she thought. Now these are available in a range of sunny hues from turquoise to mint green at her new store Shut The Front Door. “It was simply a matter of taking industrial furniture and moving it along towards having a cleaner finish,” she says.
This combination of an edgy design with bright colour to create the perfect product is typical of what you’ll find at Shut The Front Door, based in Auckland’s Takapuna.
Needless to say she leads a busy life, but she was onto a good thing when she opened Shut The Front Door in 2014. Living in nearby Devonport, Sarah felt the area needed a store of this kind. “I felt there was a gap on the North Shore for this type of thing,” she says. “It’s a big store, there aren’t many this size with such a huge amount of product,” she says. With a container arriving from overseas every month including goods from brands such as Middle of Nowhere, Feliz Home, Incy Interiors, Sunnylife, Aura and Bloomingville, a space as big as Shut The Front Door is required to house them all. It’s the only store that carries the full General Eclectic and Lily & George ranges.
The bright yellow and blue cabinets by General Eclectic were the result of Sarah’s desire for colourful options. The bed is from Incy Interiors;
What’s clever about how the shop is displayed are the different zones Sarah has styled within it. Customers will get a clear idea of how to match designs together as well as what ideas work for the home: sofas are surrounded by wall prints and shelves, cushions, rugs and coffee tables; kids’ spaces are set up with brightly-coloured beds, bedside tables and storage of all kinds.
These displays are constantly changing. “My passion is hunting out new products so there is a constant parade of new and exciting products in the store,” says Sarah. “If you see something you love it’s best to buy as it may not be there next time.”
The flamboyant name of the store is easy to remember, inspired by the idea of “coming home and closing the door behind you and focusing on your home and family inside,” says Sarah. “We supply everything you need to make that home awesome.”
Sarah is currently working on a fashion accessories section, which will launch in the store in March. If it’s anything like the homeware in the same shop, people who adore colour will feel at home with them.
Prints from Middle Of Nowhere surround a couch from Ikea.
Shut the Front Door
57 Barrys Point Road, Takapuna, Auckland , 09 486 7771
shutthefrontdoor.co.nz