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This family renovated their Christchurch home to hero their Japanese heritage

A revamped ’70s home by the sea is a celebration of personal style while remaining true to its retro roots
Christchurch Homeowner Liz in her kitchen after the renovationPhotography: Sarah Rowlands

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Meet and greet: Liz and Nick Yuki (teacher), their children Ripley, 10, and Rome, eight, and their Staffy bulldog, Umi, and Chihuahuas, Rocket and Tank.

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The property: Renovated five-bedroom 1973 home in Southshore, Christchurch.

Liz, Nick and their kids and pups outside their Christchurch home

With its rolling dunes and sweeping sea views, Southshore offers nature at its best and is only a 15-minute drive to downtown Christchurch. So when Liz and Nick Yuki began house hunting, the beachside suburb was a no-brainer. “When you move to Southshore, you don’t want to leave,” Liz says.

Liz and Nick met as snowboard instructors in Nick’s native California, and after years of following the snow seasons, finally settled in Liz’s hometown of Christchurch.

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“Originally, we bought a little two-bedroom house round the corner. Once our family grew, we needed a bit more space, and in 2018 we bought this house from its original builder and designer.”

“We did what’s called ‘the Southshore shuffle’,” Liz says when describing how they came to own their dream family home.

Once they bought this home, they immediately felt at home. Liz and Nick felt drawn to the 1973 two-storey, dwelling’s aesthetic, location and spacious 1500sqm double section. It backs onto the sand dunes and has a secret gateway that leads directly down to the beach.

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The picture of the masked girl was taken by Liz of her daughter Ripley. The patterned dining chair is one of Liz’s grandma’s old bridge chairs, which she reupholstered in a Marimekko fabric.

With its modernist feel, the home isn’t short of personality. Liz and Nick made a point to celebrate the original character with the upgrade. “It was a classic 1970s house, with a dark brown metal bathtub, gold-toned taps and louvre doors.” But being so close to the beach, the home needed to withstand the elements. So, the couple replaced the timber cladding with an aluminium alternative.

Upstairs, the deck takes in the seaside vista. The couple’s builder extended the original deck, added a balustrade and built an external staircase to access the backyard.

Liz used fabric from Spotlight to re-cover the mid-century chair. The wooden pendants are from Lighthouse.
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“Our living areas are upstairs where there’s more natural light, while the bedrooms are downstairs where it’s dark and cool.”

Through the large windows upstairs, the couple take in views of the sand dunes, watch people walking to the beach, or supervise the kids on the trampoline in the backyard.

Once divided by double doors, this living area includes a new kitchen, which blends with the dining area and lounge in a reconfigured space.

Art and knick-knacks make every corner colourful. Above the sideboard is a photograph of Southshore by Dice Sales.
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“The kitchen was originally the second living room, tucked into the back corner of the house. We popped out the large windows that overlooked the property and opened the living area onto the deck. Now, the kitchen gets the morning sun and a view out to the lawn – we wanted to make it more of our living space.”

A light, beachy feel was the brief for the new kitchen, defined by a palette of black, white and whitened-birch plywood joinery, similar to the colours of the surrounding sand dunes. Paired with the large windows, it’s airy and uplifting, and colourful elements such as the tiki light from Radikal Neon enhance the space.

The feature wall is Resene Norway and the rice paper doors on the wardrobe are by Harvey Woodcraft, an homage to Nick’s Japanese heritage. The bed linen comes from Foxtrot Home.

A favourite spot of Liz’s is at the coffee machine, where she and Nick installed tall, narrow windows. “I purposely put the machine there so I could make coffee while I look out to the sand dunes or snow on the Port Hills. It’s gorgeous.”

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Shelves above the coffee machine display the couple’s mementoes from their travels in Japan.

Above the kitchen is a mezzanine space which can only be accessed by a ladder on the wall. It’s a great getaway for the kids, as only daredevil parents who are up to navigating the steps can enter.

In the adjoining lounge, a vintage chair from a friend has been reupholstered by Liz with fabric from Spotlight. It’s little touches like this, that make the house a home.

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Leading from here is the powder room, where Miss Lolo wallpaper lines the walls in the 1sqm x 2sqm area. “We wanted it to be a dark, lush little space, with cedar on the ceiling, black tiles and wallpaper.”

Colour and pattern amplify the laundry, complete with pink cabinetry and hand-painted green and white tiles, a DIY by Liz and a few helping hands. “The laundry is my favourite part of the home. I wanted it to be colourful and functional, instead of an all-white laundry with no storage.”

Pastels and bold patterns merge in the laundry with pink Dulux Hidden Valley on the cabinetry and hand-painted tiles.
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Liz is a dab hand at DIY. She built the bedheads, two downstairs decks, the chicken coop, the outdoor shower and the torii (a Japanese gate often found at the entrance of a Shinto shrine) in the veggie patch.

The couple’s creativity has defined this family home, with a Japanese sensibility combined with a focus on DIY and slow living, in the best possible way.

Home truths

What areas of your renovation did you save on? I did a lot myself including building the downstairs decks, outdoor furniture and painting.

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Any splurges? The Marbello engineered concrete kitchen benchtop, Michel Cesar bathroom vanity and the laundry.

Best lessons learned? I checked with the plumber to see if our outdoor shower could indeed be hotter (because he swore it couldn’t). I’m glad I fought for that.

Would you do it again? Yes. I love dreaming and making.

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Any renovation or DIY disasters? No, I enjoy the progress, chaos, problem-solving and ideas.

What’s one thing you would change about your home if you could? We would have redone the roof when all the scaffolding was up.

Most memorable experience you’ve had in your home (good or bad)? Lockdown with just the four of us, our dog Umi and chickens was bliss.


Shop Liz and Nick’s Christchurch renovation style

Clockwise from top left: KOO Home Traditional Rosier Floor Rug, $22, at Spotlight; Collage Photo Frames Set of 10, $39.99, at Space General; LEGO Boy Storage Head, $49.99, at LEGO; Blair Buffet, $549.99, at Mocka.
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See more images of the Christchurch renovation below

A dog sitting on the mat in the Christchurch home entryway after the renovation

The family celebrates being part of their seaside community as evidenced by the Southshore sign above the door, which is an old bus blind from a friend who used to drive buses. The tongue-and-groove cladding as well as the gold pendant light are both original features of the ’70s home. The rug was a gift from Liz’s dad.

Shelves adorned with snow globes from Japan

A snow globe collection is displayed on shelves in the hall.

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An upholstered chair sits in the corner of the living room under photo frames after the house renovation in Christchurch

The exterior of the Christchurch home after the house renovation

Adding an external staircase and extending the existing deck has maximised access to the coastal views. The cladding is from Vulcan Ullrich Aluminium.

The porch of the house renovation in Christchurch

The outdoor shower that the homeowners added to the house during the renovation in Christchurch

The couple also repurposed slate from the old upstairs fireplace for the outdoor shower ­– a much-welcome addition to the seaside home.

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A Japanese style archway in the back yard

Liz made the torii gate, which is a nod to Nick and their children’s Japanese heritage.

A woman tending to her planter box in the back yard

A friend built the table, the chairs and the bench seat for the outdoor dining area and then the glasshouse at the back of the veggie garden was inherited from the previous owners.


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