A clear vision
Audrey Fitzjohn attributes her love for pale interiors to her mother, Dominique. “White homes are my thing,” Audrey says. “They always have been. My mum is probably the inspiration behind this. Growing up, our home was always decorated in white tones, although I may be taking it a step further with the white floors in our home!”
When the French-born photographer and stylist and her Kiwi husband, Elliot, saw a tired 1913 bungalow for sale in Hamilton four years ago, they knew they could turn it into the home of their dreams. The house was originally built for Hamilton’s postmaster and, with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, an office, a separate lounge and an open-plan dining and kitchen, it instantly appealed. But the former rental needed some serious TLC.
“There was a lot of dark wood everywhere and there was even a wooden planter box over the bath,” Audrey says. “But I love its character, and our previous home was open plan, so it was nice to have a change.” Having written, styled and taken the photographs for two lifestyle books in France (with another on its way), Audrey knew exactly how to bring light and life back into the century-old house – it just needed a clear vision and a colour scheme of white, white and more white.
“We lived in the house during the makeover, tackling it room by room,” says Audrey. “We started with the main bathroom as it was crucial to have that nice clean space at the end of a day spent working hard on the house.”
Elliot did the renovation work himself as no major layout changes were required. “We only undertook cosmetic work as our previous house required a lot of structural changes, which we didn’t want to do again,” Audrey says.