Photography: Ash Muir
Ange Demchy’s family never knows what she is going to return from her regular Saturday morning op-shopping trawl with. All around their Waikato River-edge home are collections and displays of treasures Ange has fossicked from local op-shops: gold mirrors, vintage purses and bags, crystal decanters, cameo brooches, vintage perfume bottles, art, Wedgwood Jasperware and “I don’t know why” white ceramic gravy jugs.
Her Saturday op-shopping expeditions are so successful that her family has attempted to impose rules.
“I’ve tried to introduce a policy of one in, one out. She’s yet to abide by it,” says Tony.
“The garage is evidence of non-compliance. Too many cushions – the wardrobes are full of them.”
“Yes, no more little crystal bowls, or things that she already has 20 of,” chimes in daughter Aria.
Her son Kheilan is more direct: “she just brings home too much stuff from The Sallies’ shops. It’s all going back there one day.”
Ange just laughs. She knows that it’s these finds that make their house a home and the oooohs and ahhhs of visitors through a recent Fine Homes House Tour suggest she might be right. Ironically, it was a different kind of shopping trip in 2018 that led the Demchys to this Hamilton home in the first place.
“We had just gotten our new kitten, Willow and were heading to Kmart for toys,” says Ange.
“We weren’t even looking to buy.”
Home Profile
Meet & Greet: Tony (health, safety, risk and compliance general manager) and Ange Demchy (part-time primary school teacher), their children Kheilan, 21, and Aria, 18, plus Kheilan’s girlfriend, who lives there half the week, and Koko the bluepoint ragdoll and Willow the flamepoint ragdoll.
The Property: A six-bedroom, three-bathroom, two-storey 1990s faux Tudor in Hamilton, with two living areas, two dining rooms and a sun room, plus views over the Waikato River.
As they navigated a roundabout in Hamilton, they spotted an open home sign.
“We thought, ‘let’s just have a nosy.’ When they say you know within eight seconds, that’s exactly what happened. I walked in and just knew.”
The house was largely original, but Ange could instantly see its potential. By Monday, she had bank approval for bridging finance. By the end of the fortnight, they owned the house.
“We went out to buy kitten toys and came home with a house,” she says.
Thankfully, their previous home sold quickly and the bridging finance wasn’t needed. This wasn’t their first renovation rodeo. Ange bought her first home at 21, tackling painting, wallpapering and curtains herself. Then, as a couple, she and Tony steadily levelled up their skills on other houses – from cosmetic updates to kitchens, bathrooms and flooring. They got so good at it that in 2016, Ange paused her teaching career and launched a house-flipping business.
“We did some of the roughest houses you can imagine,” she says.
“Seven days a week. I project-managed everything and Tony worked evenings and weekends. We did all the demo, tiling, kitchens, bathrooms – everything except plumbing, electrical and carpet. It was exhausting, but you learn so much when you just give things a go. We loved it.”
That confidence is stamped all over their current home. They closed off a sewing room and knocked through a wall to create a walk-in dressing room off the main bedroom. They installed a gas fireplace in the living room, revamped bathrooms, fitted a new kitchen and painted every wall – all on a modest budget.
Ange’s guiding principle is minimum dollars for maximum impact.
“You can create a feeling of luxury without designer price tags. We have nothing high-end here, yet people always say ‘wow’. Paint and wallpaper are powerful tools; a few hundred dollars can completely change the feeling of a room.”
Ange’s aesthetic has been decades in the making. In her twenties, she watched the film Something’s Gotta Give with Diane Keaton and fell hard for its Nancy Meyers-inspired interiors.
“I spent the whole movie idolising that house,” she says.
“I kept magazine clippings for years.”
The traditional, layered, homely warmth typical of Nancy Meyers’ movie sets still underpins her style. More recently, influences such as Shea McGee and Joanna Gaines have slipped in, but the basis remains: character over perfection. Hygge over minimalism.
“Every room needs a bit of patina. Vintage is the jewellery of the home. It’s the final 10 percent that makes it feel finished.”
Ange’s mum is also a keen op-shopper, but Ange mostly got into it when the Demchys were flipping houses. They needed to furnish and style them for sale and op-shops were the most practical and cost-effective way to do it. She tries to get to her favourite ones every Saturday and her favourite discoveries include cameo brooches, crystal candlesticks and vintage tableware. One special pair of brass-and-glass wall sconces came with a story after Ange proudly shared her purchase online, a family member of the woman who donated them messaged her.
“They belonged to a well-to-do, interiors-mad lady called Betty who had passed away. The daughter was so happy they’d gone to someone who loved them.”
She can now set a table for 20 entirely from her finds – 50 plates in mismatched florals, Rodd-style cutlery collected piece by piece, crystal glassware and silver trays.
“I love dressing the table for special occasions. Every piece has a story. And it has to be priced right – there’s no thrill in paying top dollar.”
Ange’s white cabinet brims with vintage dinnerware, inspired in part by a fellow Hamptons enthusiast she follows online. Unable to initially source true vintage, she began with a contemporary set and slowly layered in op-shopped tureens, plates and serving pieces as and when she came across them.
Other treasures carry family history: her nana’s chair, painted black and reupholstered in ticking; a Wedgwood trinket box gifted by a lifelong friend; a small occasional table that belonged to her great-grandmother, restored by Tony and refinished by Ange.
Then there’s her collection of heart-shaped stones. “When the kids were little, they’d find rocks shaped like hearts and give them to me. My son called them ‘I love you hearts’.”
Ange’s simple but effective upcycling is largely self-taught.
“Trial and error,” she shrugs.
“Buy a $10 piece and just start.”
She strips, sands and paints, favouring soft, chalky finishes. Many pieces have been redone more than once as her confidence has grown.
“I don’t sell anything. It’s all for us,” she says.
Tony’s handiwork is equally inventive: barn doors fashioned from a bifold and salvaged pantry doors, trimmed to fit; built-in shelving for their daughter’s room; clever spatial tweaks that allow three young adults to live comfortably under one roof.
Upstairs, the children’s bedrooms and bathrooms are thoughtfully separated, while Ange and Tony occupy the opposite wing.
“Space is what works best for us here,” Ange says.
Outside, the couple removed hedges, adding fencing and porch tiles, planting cottage-style edging and installing shade sails. Although this is the longest they’ve ever stayed in one home, the Demchys suspect another move lies ahead – perhaps a country property close to town, maybe even something with a pool.
“We might have to get another kitten and go toy shopping to find it,” Ange says with a grin.
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