A house-and-land package in Auckland’s Castor Bay turned out to be perfect for this young family, who have added their personal flair to this new-build
Meet + Greet
Antony Ward, 37 (director of Fiveight Distribution), Paula Ward, 33 (stay-at-home mum), Jaxon, 5, and Sloane, 2, plus cats Aleh, Roko and Navy.
Budget
Total build cost (exluding landscaping) was around $650k
What compromises did you make in building this home?
Paula: We decided to leave the bathrooms as standard. We had already upgraded a lot of other fixtures and fittings and something had to give, so we thought the bathroom could be an upgrade project down the track.
High-end homeware or bargain buys?
A real mix. Our couch is high-end from Dawson & Co, but a lot of the other furniture is from Trade Me or the op-shop and I’ve been known to buy the odd mat, cushion or decor item from Kmart.
Best advice for spending money on a home?
Mix it up. Hunt on Trade Me for secondhand furniture and splash out on high-end fixtures and furnishings you’ve had your eye on.
What’s one thing you would change if you could?
We were limited on space with our height-to-boundary ratio, so we couldn’t really make the house much bigger, but a wider garage would have been nice. It’s also not ideal having our bedroom under the living area – when one of us wants to sleep in, the kids sound like baby elephants!
What part of the layout really works for your family?
Having the kids’ rooms downstairs and away from the living area. It means they’re not disturbed when we’re entertaining. Most memorable experience you’ve had in your home? Not long after moving in we had a good old house party for my 30th birthday – let’s just say we added some character to the new wooden floors!
Scroll down to see more of the Castor Bay home
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On a whim, Paula decided to get out the brushes and paint the kitchen ceiling dark green (Valspar ‘Cosmopolis’) – a crazy idea that worked.
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The couple fell in love with the Republic sideboard that lives in their dining area and it inspired a New York loft/industrial design for the space, which includes a faux brick wall and sliding barn door.
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Paula didn’t shy away from bold colour choices in the bedrooms and chose shades of dark grey for both the master bedroom (Wattyl ‘Midnight Seas’) and the kids’ rooms (Resene ‘Half Tuna’).
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The lights by the front door are by Tom Dixon from ECC. Paula’s grandmother’s Singer sewing table also takes pride of place. “I hauled it around with me for a long time, from flat to flat, knowing one day it would make a great entrance table,” she says.
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Floor plan.
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Shop the look: Moss bunny, $8.95, from Freedom. Tsonga baskets, from $65, from Indie Home Collective. Tolix replica bar stool, $139, from Cintesi. Plush button cushion, $49.90, from Wallace Cotton.
Words by: Debbie Harrison. Photography by: Jackie Meiring.
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