Style Insider: A Greytown couple’s new home is designed to fit their precious pieces.

A new build in Greytown that redefines the idea of downsizing for these gatherers and collectors

Sometimes, you just need to design your new house around your furniture. Or so serial renovators Julie and Merv Saunders decided when the time came to downsize and build a new home in Greytown. Years of collecting beautiful and unusual objects, such as Chinese ancestor portraits carved out of sandstone or a Ralph Lauren chair, still in its original packaging and a snip on the internet, could not be denied. “It’s the only way you can get your stuff in,” says Julie. “It’s either that or get rid of it all and start over. We love our pieces, we’ve collected them for ever and ever.”

While you can never go wrong plumping for comfort and convenience, this couple values character too. “We wanted the house to have some soul,” says Julie, “so it’s not all plastic and pendant lights and island benches.” So the shuttered exterior was inspired by images of old French houses from Pinterest, and the interior was designed around some very special pieces: their sets of antique doors, a housekeeper’s cabinet that stands on the landing and an apothecary cabinet that now has a new life as their kitchen bench. “There are a few Trade Me finds around the house,” says Julie, “as there would be when it comes to me. That’s what I do, that’s my thing, is finding stuff.”

The mantelpiece is an old railway sleeper they dug out from the garden and the bathroom vanities range from an old wooden desk to a repurposed marble and iron table. (Marine varnish, notes Merv, is the secret to using wood in the bathroom.) Strong but soft blues and greys and a warm beige are the colour palette. The garden was already full of beautiful established trees, so they planted hydrangeas, hellebores and roses and added masses of fragrance to attract bees. “Fragrance was the first thing,” says Julie. “I love to smell something before I see it.”

‘That’s what I do, that’s my thing, is finding stuff’

THIS PAGE (clockwise from top left) Antique Indian doors lead to the guest bedroom; an antique child’s kimono hangs above stacked Oriental chests. The apothecary cabinet and old luggage racks in the kitchen came from Country Trader; the faux window above the sink is an old window frame and mirror. The dining table was bought at auction, the chairs are from David Shaw and the console was in Julie and Merv’s former shop Chambers on Main – Julie had sold it but regretted it so much she bought it back again; the wall was designed to fit the artwork from Grand Illusions. The Ralph Lauren chair was found on Trade Me and the original Tiffany lamp “weighs a ton”. OPPOSITE (from left) Julie and Merv Saunders. Antique French doors lead to the living area.