On a windy Wellington day, the yellow front door of Fran and Ben Storey’s Houghton Bay home is a vivid beacon amid a grey landscape. Beyond it lies a collector’s heaven: here a vintage wooden oar, there a quirky artwork… The only constant is colour.
Until recently, Fran ran a homeware styling business which mixed pre-loved items with more contemporary pieces.
“Clients would get a group of friends together and I’d take along products that I’d help them style,” says Fran, who moved to New Zealand from the UK with husband Ben in 2003.
But when this started to impact on her fulltime role as a health researcher, the former nurse put her hobby on hold. Not surprisingly, many of those demonstration pieces have ended up in her hilltop home. “I’ve always loved interior design and collecting homeware,” says Fran.
CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY
If Fran isn’t Wellington’s biggest Christmas fan, then she must come close. The build-up starts around September, when the expat gets out her boxes of decorations, including treasured ornaments inherited from her English grandparents. She usually has two trees – one with every kitschy ornament she can find, the other more tastefully dressed.
“There’s no limit to where I can go with festive decorations,” laughs Fran, who as well as having fun with traditional decor also loves to get creative with everyday objects, such as the old medical lightbox she decorates with washi tape in the shape of a Christmas tree.
“It’s all about having fun and thinking of different uses for objects,” she says.
Bu hikaye Your Home and Garden dergisinin December 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Giriş Yap
Bu hikaye Your Home and Garden dergisinin December 2019 sayısından alınmıştır.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Giriş Yap
Banana & cinnamon upside-down cake
SERVES 10
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
Help from friends and family and treasured heirlooms added heart and character to this bungalow's makeover
RUG UP
Walk this way if you're looking to add warmth, character and personality to your home
FAMILY TREES
Creating a child-friendly backyard was a priority for an Auckland couple
CONJURING UP...MORE BATHROOM STORAGE
We asked the experts for their reno-free tricks to stash our bathroom stuff
AIR IT OUT
Laundry trends you'll love, plus washing hacks for all sorts of spaces
INSPECTOR GADGET
Did someone say soy milk latte? Coming right up, as we test the Breville Barista Touch Impress
The fine art of apologising
Why saying sorry is an act of courage and not a sign of weakness
Go with the flow
Flow Studio’s Staci Coble shapes her clay using the gentle currents of the ocean as her muse
Magic of mushrooms
Follow gardening editor Mary Lovell-Smith’s fun guide and conjure up your own edible delights