Friends of Viva: Jonny Scott and Pia Naera-Scott
A baby on the way meant this creative couple moved their renovation into high gear
Whether its fashion or photography, Pia Naera-Scott and Jonny Scott are used to doing everything together — but when it came to renovating their first home, a heavily pregnant Pia had to take a back seat.
“I couldn’t even help with painting,” she says. “Jonny did everything by himself.”
Having founded the fashion label Pia Boutique in 2009, the couple also collaborated on Jonny’s wedding photography. Jonny managed the label and photographed Pia’s designs, and Pia would act as Jonny’s assistant at weekends.
“It was just nuts,” says Pia, who now focuses on designing. Her upcoming summer collection features her trademark floaty, feminine style, in peach tones and bright prints, beachy florals and occasion wear. It’s an extension of the bold, girly aesthetic she created during her final year studying graphic design at university, when she experimented by making printed dresses.
Bedridden soon after for six months following surgery for rheumatoid arthritis, she was so bored she created Pia Boutique online. Next came her impressive showcase at the Miromoda show at Fashion Week, 2012, stores in Parnell and Newmarket, and now her sole bricks and mortar store on Ponsonby Road, where it’s hard not to get a little romantic thumbing through her clothes.
Jonny, meanwhile, has his hands full with Jonny Scott Photography, specialising in dreamy, ethereal shots, whether they’re in Auckland or far-flung locations. When the couple went to Europe in June, he shot nuptials in France, Mallorca and Los Angeles.
And now there’s Māia, 9 months, life is even more hectic for the couple, who share stay-at-home duties with their daughter.
“I’ve had to sacrifice sleep quite a lot,” laughs Pia, who often finds herself working nights and nap-times.
Despite the relentlessness of the last few years – and a year-long hiatus after Pia’s father died – the couple are finally feeling settled. But it wasn’t easy getting on the property ladder. They had missed out on several properties and were starting to think they’d never buy in Auckland when they met a broker who wrote them a detailed budget to stick to.
Time wasn’t exactly on their side however, with Pia having taken up maternity leave. So when they found a two-bedroom pre-fab home in Manukau’s Goodwood Heights, they pounced on it, along with several other house-hunters. When the leading buyer pulled out, the place was theirs.
“It had been rented for 30 years and had had no work done to it,” says Pia. “It was liveable but by no means nice. The kitchen was tiny, all yellow with brown trims and the carpet was cream. The outside was white with a green roof and red trims. It looked really old.”
For about two months, Jonny worked on the “DIY marae” as it affectionately became known, buying tools and up-skilling to knock down walls, open up the kitchen and dining space. Gone is the yellow, and in its place, a streamlined white room offset by stainless steel appliances, long drawers and marble-look bench tops. Plenty of bench space was a prerequisite in order to accommodate the couple’s much-loved pressure cooker and air fryer.
Jonny and Pia regularly entertain, with friends coming over about once a week. Pia loves baking bread in the oven — “it’s so easy but no one believes me!” — and is well-known for her chocolate pavlovas, while Jonny loves whipping up Japanese curries.
Lately, Pia has been picturing friends and their kids running around the large, fully-fenced lawn in barbecue season. Or walking through the Auckland Botanic Garden with Māia, something they’ve taken to doing on sunny weekends.
Māia has progressed from purées to being able to eat almost the same meals as her parents, but because Pia largely lets her feed herself, it usually leads to “very messy” outfits. That means changing the baby after almost every feed, and putting on a load of Māia’s washing, on average, every second day.
Pia says for that reason she loves her Fisher & Paykel FabricSmart washer and dryer, which is fast and quiet, ideal as it’s positioned nearby Māia’s room. During this year’s wet winter, the condenser dryer has been getting a lot of use.
The laundry also doubles as the office, and is the place you’ll most likely find Pia when Māia has nodded off to sleep. Likewise, it’s where Jonny has his desks and screens set up, and one day soon he hopes to transform it into a studio space.
“The house does feel like it’s finished which is cool,” says Pia. “It’s very contained which is great for Māia — I don’t have to worry about her crawling up stairs. We finally feel at home which is amazing because we never thought we’d be able to do it. It’s exciting.”