My favourite room

After a stint in Sydney, An Organised Life founder Beck Wadworth had a clean slate to redecorate her new home – starting with the lounge

Minimalist inspo from a stationery queen

Thanks to a career devoted to helping others stay on top of their busy lives, Beck Wadworth was more than prepared for her move back to Auckland after six years in Sydney. The founder of stationery brand An Organised Life now rents a home in Parnell, Auckland, where she lives with her long-term boyfriend, graphic designer Jason Domancie. The couple are gradually redecorating, starting with a luxurious yet functional lounge, which is not only a place to relax and gather with friends but An Organised Life personified.

Tell us about your new home. When we moved back from Sydney, I wanted to find somewhere we could both live and work from. The An Organised Life warehouse is still based in Australia, so it’s just myself working on the brand in New Zealand. The Parnell property is perfect and it has wooden floors and white walls – my favourite!

How have you designed your living room? My general rule is to keep the space two-thirds light and one-third dark. I wanted white and off-white furniture and opted for a St Clements occasional chair with

modern black edging – this became a statement feature in the space. To break up the white, I added in wooden details and neutral tones through the coffee table, gold vase and tray, artwork and picture frames. The circular mirror complements the corner of the room nicely (a great Kmart find!) and I broke up the shelving with a mixture of differently sized vases and candles. I love to finish off a room with greenery too – it’s the one ‘colour’ I add.

What are your favourite pieces? The photo above the fireplace – Jason has a great eye when it comes to photography and he took some incredible photos when we escaped to Italy and Paris this year. We decided we wanted to frame a bunch of his images because they brought back special memories and are unique to us. I bought the frames from Country Road.

Do you have any tips on how to keep your living area orderly? 1) Less is more! 2) If you don’t need it, get rid of it. 3) Give everything a place and get creative with storage solutions to keep the room tidy. 4) Stay on top of cleaning and tidying so that your home, furniture and homeware stay in good condition for longer.

You also work in fashion and contribute to Vogue Australia. Do you follow fashion trends as well as interiors? I love keeping up to date with both, but I never stray far from my core style, which is minimal, understated and chic. I love a neutral colour palette and prefer to play with textures and fabrics.

What’s next on your interiors list? I really want to work on our home office area – watch this space! •

When it comes to homeware, do you save orsplurge? That’s an interesting question. To be honest, it’s all about thelook and feel to me. Furniture wise, we are happy to invest in quality pieces that last. However, the majority of the smaller pieces in our home to date are not expensive at all and still create the same luxe feel we want. I think it’s all about getting creative, and staying true to your styleand theme.

What are your favourite scents at the moment?I’m obsessed with candles! I light one everysingle morning and usually it’s the Lumira ‘Tonic of Gin’ or ‘Tuscan Fig’ (depending on howI’m feeling). However, I also have Diptyque andJo Malone London candles floating about.yhg