Photography: Sarah Rowlands
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Meet and greet: Tuscany Hamel (hair stylist) and her Persian cat, Plum.
The property: Three-bedroom, one-bathroom renovated 1970s townhouse in Redcliffs, Christchurch.
Young, creative and entrepreneurial, Tuscany Hamel has created a home that not only reflects her vibrant personality but also fires her creativity.
“I am a creative at heart, so I love things to be slightly abstract – I don’t need everything to make sense, and I don’t mind a bit of bold clashing. In fact, I need that bit of fun and liveliness to keep me inspired,” she says.
A hair stylist and the co-founder of hair product brand Hair Candy, Tuscany has channelled her creativity to turn a blank-canvas townhouse in Christchurch into a kaleidoscope of mood-boosting colour.
Sense of community
Focused and driven, Tuscany did the hard yards to achieve her first property in the coastal suburb she loves. She flatted, lived at home to save money, and finally teamed up with her brother Blue, who has been mainly living abroad and was happy to chip in as an investment.
“We bought it together, but it’s always been my space, and he’s let me do whatever with it,” she says.
“He’s not tied to New Zealand, but I had the heart behind it, of wanting a community and to create a home.”
With the living areas on the first floor and views of rooftops and even a sliver of ocean through a fringe of leafy trees. The home is a townhouse with the feel of an urban apartment – a comparison that sums up a large part of the property’s appeal.
“I wanted something that was a little bit more like an apartment setting, because I felt like, life-stage-wise, that was going to suit me better. I wanted something that was going to be easy to look after, almost like you can lock the door, walk away, and it’s fine,” says Tuscany.
This quasi-apartment setting also perfectly suits the style of interior Tuscany wanted to craft for herself.
“I feel like my style and the way I’ve decorated this house is very specific to the type of house I’m in,” she says, “But what I really find inspiring is a lot of the European girls I follow on Instagram, who live in apartments and channel a vibe of fun apartment living.”
She describes the charm of small-space living, of being challenged to make the most of every little corner of the home, which she has achieved by carving out multiple living and dining zones within a single compact space and by designing multi-purpose spaces, like the second living zone that doubles as a guest bedroom.
What she finds most interesting, she says, is the way apartment-style living seems to unleash a license to be creative, to shrug off seriousness and arbitrary design rules and embrace a youthful, vibrant aesthetic – which, for her, is most obviously expressed through colour.
Visual vitamins
Tuscany describes her decorating style as “colourful and bold” – and the bolder, the better.
“I love that colour brings so much joy and happiness,” she says. “I like to have a lot going on and a lot to look at.”
A mission of surprise and delight – “something interesting to look at in every corner” – and a colour palette dominated by upbeat shades, like visual vitamin shots, results in a home that’s a series of smiles.
Much of the colour comes from Tuscany’s extensive art collection. She grew up immersed in art, she says. Her creative parents (they’re both hair stylists, like Tuscany) have many artistically gifted friends and were passionate about filling their home with art.
“The way that Mum and Dad filled spaces at home has really inspired me to have art in every corner of the house.”
She has amassed an eclectic collection. In addition to what she calls “proper artworks”, which have often been gifted by friends and family. Tuscany has filled the walls with canvases she painted herself.
“When I first moved into the house, I needed things to fill the walls, so I’d do little paint nights with some friends, and I’d cover canvases and put them on the walls.”
These DIY abstracts have also been a great way of introducing more of Tuscany’s favourite colours: pink and orange, bold and happy hues that recur throughout the home. Even infiltrate her professional life, as the key brand colours of Hair Candy.
The friend network
While Tuscany is quite capable of filling spaces with her own creative works, her most beloved paintings are gifts from a talented friend, Eleanor Grimshaw, whose colourful canvases pop up throughout the house.
“I’m really blessed to have very creative friends who have actually contributed a lot of the things I’ve got in my home.”
Eleanor is not the only generous contributor in the friend group. Amongst her collection are key furnishings made by her friend Leisha Hulse. Leisha has just launched a business, Posey Home, creating bespoke bedheads and ottomans – and Tuscany has one of each.
“She’s just come home from the UK and her style is very quaint and English, with a lot of colour – we really bonded over our love for colourful homewares.”
Tuscany worked with Leisha to create a bedhead that is as much a work of art as a piece of furniture. “It’s so special, knowing that art and key features of your home are created by friends.”
Outer beauty
Even the outdoor space has benefited from her talented friend group. The townhouse has been an ideal first home for her, with her only gripe being the lack of connection with the outdoors. The home’s interior living spaces are all upstairs, and the featureless rectangle of lawn offered no enticement to venture downstairs.
On the bright side, it was fully fenced, flat and tidy, but she says, “It wasn’t a liveable space, it wasn’t somewhere you’d feel invited to spend time.”
The area stayed unused and mostly redundant for three years, until Tuscany was inspired to call on a friend, landscaper Neo L’Estrange. Neo helped her think about what she wanted from an outdoor space and how she could maximise the potential of her previously humble patch of turf.
“It was helpful having a good friend do it, because he spends so much time at the house and he knew the space really well.”
Having split the area into two living zones – for dining and conversation – Tuscany furnished it in her inimitable style. Finding bright and colourful pieces from within the largely neutral ranks of outdoor furnishings.
“It’s nice to have an extension of what the home is on the inside overflowing to the outside space, too. It doesn’t take away from the surrounding natural colours, I think, but it just adds a bit of life.”
It’s an appropriate description for every space Tuscany touches, really: vibrantly and unapologetically alive.
Tuscany’s tips for a colour-saturated home
- Get Arty: Organise ‘paint and sip’ nights with friends and do your own art. Art is subjective, it doesn’t need to appeal to everyone, so just give it a go. It’s a fun way to fill space on the walls and an easy way to add colour to an area.
- Add the fun: I wanted to keep the space white and reasonably basic, then add colour and fun pieces with furniture and art. That way, you can switch it up as your taste changes over time.
- Mix master: Don’t be afraid to be bold with colour. Not everyone would agree with this statement, but I don’t think things need to go together for it to work. It’s okay to clash colours, prints and patterns.
- Do it yourself: Back yourself and your own unique style. If you’re confident in what you like, that’s all that matters.
- Ever evolving: Don’t take decorating too seriously. As your style evolves, swap pieces in and out. It’s a fun way to refresh the space and reignite your inspiration.
Related articles:
- Rachel Soo Thow of The Lit List shows us around her personality-packed townhouse
- A maximalist home marries vibrant colour with mid-century style
- Pink and green make for a wicked combination in this kitchen transformation
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