A trendy duo bring the colour from their wardrobe into their Hamilton home
meet & greet
Hannah Stechman (hairdresser and salon owner), and Nate Brown (plumber).
the property
A four-bedroom 1920s railway house in Hamilton.
If the clothes we wear act as a reflection of our true selves, then for trendsetting fashionistas, home is a natural extension of that mirror act. As a hairdresser, Hannah Stechman loves to keep up with trends, dress up, and push boundaries with her style, while her plumber boyfriend Nate Brown is into streetwear – when he’s not in tradie clothes. “So we love to have a house that reflects us,” Hannah says.
That house, an enchanting pink and green cottage as if magicked from a Grimm fairy tale, toys with colour and pattern the same way someone might dress up or down an outfit, swapping out cushions like sparkling rings. The result is modern style against an endearing, timeless villa backdrop, complete with wavy candelabras, checked throws and a bright green dining table.
Local colour
This is the second railway house that Hannah has owned and renovated, describing herself as a “huge lover of character houses”. For her, the smaller nature of the house and its convenient proximity to town ticked all the boxes. “They’re affordable and also protected through heritage rules in the district plan, which I love, as they cannot be altered too much, so the character will be retained into the future and the large sections can’t be subdivided.”
Hannah has always been drawn to “quirky, coloured cottages with big white windows” and personality to boot, but when she moved into this property three-and-a-half years ago, the house was four shades of dull grey, she says. “It made me feel sad – it didn’t even look like a cottage. There was so much potential.”
Resene Dingley, a fairy-tale forest green, won her heart during a quick dash to Mitre 10 before work one day, and became the main exterior colour. “The guy thought I was mad,” Hannah says. “I love to push boundaries with my personal style in bold-coloured outfits, so I decided that my house needs a cool outfit too.” She took a leap of faith with Resene Princess for a pop of pink on the front door, which perfectly complemented its existing red and green stained glass.
Reno work
The house needed a decent amount of renovation work, including a new kitchen, bathroom and laundry, alongside sanding floors and fitting lights and curtains.
Unfortunately, the bulk of the work fell during and after Covid lockdowns, creating added stress, material shortages and hidden costs. The pair were also renovating on one income because Hannah couldn’t work during lockdown. When they stripped back the living spaces, they discovered an abundance of rot, forcing them to fast-track a reroof alongside rebuilding walls and ceilings. “I was hoping for a few bits to be replaced, not the whole lot,” Hannah says. Yet there are no regrets, despite the added costs. “If I hadn’t discovered that, five years on my house would have started to actually fall apart.”
Keen to retain the home’s precious character features, they went about removing walls to open up the space, as well as adding larger windows and doors to increase light and flow. “Using a crisp white as a base, I picked my idea of the hero character things,” Hannah says. These were the wooden floors, doors and mantels than ran throughout. “I love the juxtaposition of a square-stopped ceiling and a rough-edged door frame. It keeps it a fun balance of perfection and 100-year-old charm.”
Despite the extensive work done on the property – including a salon set up in the garden for Hannah’s business – the quirky charm shines through abundantly. “The squeaky floorboard always keeps us humble, no matter how modern the house is,” she says with a laugh.
Better living
In the dining room, the green table is a vintage German beer fest table from The Sunday Society, a Hamilton store that imports and restores European furniture. Hannah stumbled upon stools from Cintesi and “managed to snap those up as a perfect match”.
The black kitchen comes alive with selective pops of colour, from a bright pink Smeg toaster to a cheeky ceramic banana, while in the lounge, Nate oversees the flourishing indoor forest, with a variety of species demanding his attention and vigilant watering can.
Hannah prefers to keep her base shades neutral and add colour via accessories, to give freedom to shuffle pieces around to her heart’s content. The space acts as a reflection of the fashion-loving couple, who accessorise the house as if it’s an extension of their wardrobe.
“My little knick-knacks and pops of colour alongside Nate’s plants and slightly more masculine energy fuse it all together,” Hannah says. “As much as I like to think I don’t follow trends, I probably am more influenced by trends than I like to admit. I get bored of things quickly, so I tend to buy key pieces I love and then mix and match the smaller things to keep it fresh.”
Pink curtains from Harvey Furnishings – a favourite purchase – tone in with the pink door and welcome visitors out to a covered patio area that was formerly just a space for weeds and the rubbish bin. Hannah wanted to create an “extension of the dining area that we can open up and use all year round,” she says. “My biggest goal was to maximise natural light into the house, so I thought painting all the trellises white would help create light. We spend most mornings in summer out there having our morning coffee in the sun.”
Print play
Scattered throughout the happy home are colourful prints from all walks of life, including pieces by local
artist friends. Hannah picked up a few artworks from Astrid Wilson’s iconic flower market series from boutique Ruby, which hang in a cheerful trio in her hallway. “I would love to have fresh flowers weekly, but it feels wasteful,” she says, “so incorporating other floral items seems to be my go-to.”
To top it off Nate painted the bathroom in PPG Smoky Quartz – a perfect pink moment to round off the house. “My intention was calm, feminine and a little ‘wow’ moment for guests and myself,” Hannah says. The couple swapped out an old claw-foot tub for a modern bath that better served the space, and treated themselves to a Made of Tomorrow mirror to pull together the old and new.
“It’s funny – I used to try really hard, read every home magazine and Pinterest all night, but with this house I’ve just picked things I like and not given it too much thought,” Hannah says. “I seem to know what I don’t like and it’s a non-negotiable. I would rather not have something until I’ve got the perfect thing.” She admits that the house is still a work in progress, but the stray few things on the eternal to-do list, such as architraves and skirting, “will probably never get done, if I’m honest”.
Although the house isn’t quite their dream home, the pair say it’s pretty close. “It has everything we need and the personality to boot,” Hannah says. “I don’t think I’ll renovate again – but I already said that once before, and I’ve done it again, plus a salon fit-out too.”
Words by: Caroline Moratti. Photography by: Babiche Martens.
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