THEN THERE WERE THREE

The arrival of their first baby had an Auckland couple on a frantic hunt to buy their first home

- Bronwyn Sell

SUN-KISSED SPACE

Homeowner Bridget Hewitt loves the way the living area in her Auckland home fills with light. "It's really beautiful in the morning. It's such a lovely thing to wake up to because the sun is always streaming in."

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MEET & GREET

Bridget Hewitt (brand manager), Kane Yee (investor and consultant) and baby Milo (17 months).

THE PROPERTY

A renovated three-bedroom 1950s stucco home in Birkenhead, Auckland.

Bridget Hewitt isn't usually the type to cut it fine on deadlines, so when she was 36 weeks pregnant with her first child and hadn't yet found a home, she was getting nervous.

"I was waking up in the middle of the night in a panic, and my partner had to talk me down, saving, 'It's going to be okay, it will happen, we will find our place."

Bridget and her partner Kane Yee were living in a studio apartment in Northcote Point, on Auckland's North Shore, which wasn't at all suitable for a baby.

LIVING ROOM

Bridget has received a bit of flak from friends for buying a cream sofa just as she was starting a family, but she was careful to choose one with a removable, machine-washable cover. In a modular L shape, it doubles as delineation between lounge and dining spaces.

When they found out she was pregnant, they immediately started looking for their first family home, but missed out on auction after auction at a "brutal" time for Auckland house hunters.

Style tip

A larger rug can make a smaller space feel bigger.

"I was so emotionally invested because I was trying to find a home for my new family and we were on such a time frame. Every time we lost it felt like such a blow," she says.