A cool, calm and eclectic Wellington apartment brims with one man’s curious collections.

At home with cool, calm and eclectic Wellington retailer Martin Brown

Martin Brown finds beauty in objects that many of us overlook. It is no surprise, then, that the store owner walked into a rundown Wellington apartment and saw its potential. Martin owns Brown & Co, an eclectic store in central Wellington with new and vintage collectables, art and objet. Three years ago, he was renting an apartment near a strip club and commuting to his Kāpiti bach (NZ House & Garden June 2015) a few days a week when he decided to find his own innercity dwelling. Not long after the 2016 earthquakes struck Wellington, he attended an open home at an apartment a stone’s throw from Cuba Street.

“The owners had left it pretty filthy, plus it didn’t have a lift,” he says. “The carpets were stained. Most people opened the door and didn’t step inside.”

However, Martin realised the apartment had good bones. It sits in a building four storeys high, with windows on both sides and sweeping views over city buildings. “It was after the quakes so the banks weren’t lending. I put in a ridiculous offer and I was really surprised but it was accepted.”

Today it is hard to believe that the light-filled apartment reminiscent of something you might find in Greenwich Village was once in such a bad state. Now Martin’s home for three nights a week, it is filled with art, furniture, books and objects that he has been collecting for more than 15 years.

He didn’t have to do too much to get it looking so good. First, he ripped out the carpet and painted the floors white, ensuring the bumps, cracks and dents in the floor were retained to look as original as possible. The kitchen cupboards were bright pink, so he painted them black. The stainless steel kitchen benches and all the appliances looked good and they worked, so he kept them.

The store he owns on Wellington’s Wakefield Street is painted a dark blue, so he wanted a contrast. In his apartment, the walls in Resene Half

‘I GO FOR DRIVES UP THE KĀPITI COAST AND STOP IN ALL THESE OP SHOPS ALONG THE WAY’

Black White showcase his art collection, which includes works by Ans Westra, Damien Hirst, Russ Klein and Bill Hammond.

He curates his apartment to give pops of colour among the monochrome: in the kitchen, oranges and lemons are displayed in separate bowls to give bursts of orange and yellow. Wellington artist Aaron Frater turned orange barrier mesh strung up around buildings after the quakes into a number of sculptures, and Martin owns three – a house, a dog and a tree; they’re pops of bright orange throughout the home. Colourful Jeff Koons posters are framed in the bedroom.

“I wanted an apartment that was light and brighter than the store, and I also wanted a look that is a lot more playful than my Kāpiti home,’’ he says.

But Martin doesn’t give any artist or any object special treatment. He loves playful objects and interiors, and over the years has found things by ferreting through second-hand stores and searching online. “I go for drives up the Kāpiti Coast and stop in all these op shops along the way,’’ he says.

Some of the objects dotted around the apartment are nostalgic, harking back to when he was a teenager in the 1980s. As soon as he arrives home from the store each night, he puts on a record, ideally from the vinyl collection he is trying to replicate from the 1980s. A vintage ride-on duck in the living area came from a 1980s-era McDonald’s playground.

“I had two younger sisters and I spent a lot of time in the McDonald’s playground, which they never wanted to leave. When I saw this for sale, I had to have it,’’ he says.

Martin’s objects often have a story. The framed photograph above the spare bed shows the cassette collection of a friend’s partner who died of cancer; the mini telephones under display cases were carried around by US phone salesmen in the 1950s.

Throughout the apartment and in his store, Martin displays objects in glass cases and domes, such as a number of miniature chairs. “Everything looks fantastic under glass,’’ he says. “I love miniature chairs. You might not be able to afford the

Philippe Starck Louis Ghost chair but you can buy a miniature one and put it under glass.’’

His round dining table is made of smoked glass, which he loves, with original Eames chairs around it. He collects Billy Apple pop art and objects: “I’m a big Billy Apple fan,” he says.

An original partner in the menswear store Crane Brothers, Martin set up his own store eight years ago, originally selling mid-century furniture and taxidermy. Over time, though, the shop has evolved. “It is now a cornucopia of interesting things I would find on buying trips to Europe and the US.’’

He believes that good design doesn’t have to be expensive and abides by that philosophy in his apartment. While many of his objects and artworks are covetable, a stack of art books in the spare bedroom sits on a white metal Ikea cabinet, which also holds some of his 100 pairs of sneakers. So do the white metal side cabinets in his bedroom, which were also bought flat-packed from Ikea.

Martin points to a cheap baseball he bought from a sporting store. “Put it under glass and it looks like a collectable,’’ he says with a smile.

THIS PAGE Martin Brown’s apartment living room is a treasure trove; on the wall are two large artworks by John Reynolds; Martin loves the Euphorbia trigona plant as it’s sculptural and easy care; the figurine with red hair and moustache is Nigel by Mark Raynor and is one of Martin’s favourite pieces; the black plane is by Scandinavian company Playsam. OPPOSITE An old ride-on duck from a McDonald’s playground sits in front of a king palm that Martin almost killed by failing to water it.

THIS PAGE Tracey Emin’s But Yea hangs on the wall; on the bench, a vintage wooden hippo sits next to a miniature chair display; beneath, an Arnold Circus stool sits next to a vintage darkroom timer; the mesh artwork by Aaron Frater is called Mesh Dog. OPPOSITE Mid-century furniture includes a Scandinavian couch, original Eames fibreglass chairs with Eiffel bases and a smoked glass dining table; the large black artwork Door by Tom Mackie leans against the wall next to Damien Hirst’s Zinc Sulfate.

THIS PAGE A You Hit Like A Girl baseball bat makes visitors rethink gender prejudices, says Martin; mirrored wardrobes let him check out the sneakers he will wear each day. OPPOSITE (clockwise from top left) In the spare room, a series of photos of Samoan life were taken by Wellington photographer Sean Aickin and an Eames LCW chair sits by a metal locker from Ikea. In the foreground, a Damien Hirst plate titled Beautiful, Amore, Gasp is one of Martin’s favourite pieces; a collage by Russell Kleyn and Gina Kiel adds colour on the back wall. The mid-century Danish rosewood dresser is from Mr Mod, the Chrome Ball Stacked lamp is by George Kovacs, wooden animals are by US designer David Weeks and some of Martin’s miniature chairs are under glass domes; a bright green Billy Apple exhibition poster leans against the wall.

THESE PAGES Martin reads his art books under the large Anglepoise lamp; his vintage Barcelona chairs sit in front of the window with works by Ruth Thomas-Edmond hung low behind; the shelving houses his Austrian-made Pro-ject turntable and expanding record collection along with a vintage Michelin Man, Dick Frizzell’s tuna cans under glass domes, a Judy Darragh trophy and Billy Apple’s Millers Coffee; Jonathan by Sam Taylor-Wood hangs on the right.

THIS PAGE (from top) Martin painted the kitchen cabinets Resene All Black; the runner is from Collected in Auckland. Martin starts each day with a coffee using his E61 Rocket Espresso machine from L’affare.