Ed’s letter: Naomi Larkin celebrates some key successes.
This issue gives cause for optimism. And for celebration. Even in these tough times, and with uncertainty lurking around every corner, we have been able to go up a whole section in the magazine. That’s 16 extra pages of NZ House & Garden this month, which makes it just shy of 200 pages: a bumper issue. This good fortune has not happened for some years and it signals both increasing support from our advertisers who see the value of partnering their brands with ours, and also that more and more people are buying the magazine so our circulation is growing. This comes on the back of our annual NZ House & Garden Tours having sold out even with extra days added. And we’ll be rolling out some new projects later in the year, all designed to give you even more of your favourite magazine.
Our house line-up seems to also be about going large: it includes a number of homes that were not just revamped but were completely overhauled. Our Home of the Month and cover house is an incredible Christchurch renovation that is a modern twist on classic English decor (page 32). Interior designer Jessica Close was asked by her aunt and uncle to refurbish the earthquake rebuild they had bought. The house was gutted and Jessica used her experience honed in the UK along with her impeccable eye to create this amazing transformation. A garden designed by landscape architect Rob Watson completes the picture.
Janice and David Adamson showed their mettle by taking on a former workshop in Auckland’s city fringe, savaging the interiors (think cutting out a floor) and turning it into an unexpected wow space (page 74). Our overseas home for the Kiwis Living Abroad series is the London house of New Zealander Steve Kirk and his French wife Karine Kong (page 66). The couple bought the terraced house in West London and lived in it for nearly five years before completely changing it “from the ground floor to the attic”. The result is quite poetic in terms of colour and light and artfully combines “Gallic grace and no-nonsense Antipodean common sense”.
A garden I have always loved has finally made our pages with this issue. On the site of an old tennis court in Napier, it’s a lush, seamless blend of New Zealand natives, classic European plantings and a touch of the tropical. Owner Jan Chalmers has perfected the work put in by her mother and aunt before her and developed what is now a flourishing hilltop oasis (page 118).
Kitchens are often one of the first spaces homeowners renovate so we understand it’s important to keep abreast of innovations. Deputy editor Sharon Newey’s feature (page 143) is a comprehensive round-up of what’s trending and she finds minimalism has been taken over by a love of organic shapes, textured surfaces, stone and timber.
Finally, you can’t go past delicious pasta and Olivia Galletly has whipped up some classic Italian dishes to try that do justice to that nation’s cuisine (page 160). Buon appetito.