I’m writing this letter as afternoon sun streams through the west-facing window in my home office. I’ll down tools shortly to head out to the chirping cicadas in the garden, where my son Ted has taken to dining alfresco while I squeeze in a bit of weeding, which occasionally turns into a water fight. We relish the lingering daylight and this time spent together, and enjoying moments like these is something I want to continue as we settle back into the structure of the new year.
Rather than a complete rehash of our regular routine, though, I’m inventing ways to hit refresh. They’re not grand gestures — right now I’m all about the small- pleasures approach to making the most of everyday life at home. This issue, we’ve visited some inspiring people who’ve made it their mission to make their dwellings places that really nurture them too.
The owners of our Tauranga cover home, Matt Genefaas and Dan Craig of design brand Made of Tomorrow, set their sights on building a house that brings balance to their busy schedules. Read about the hoops they jumped through to get there.
For Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland interior designer and stylist Catherine Wilkinson, finding her dream house was a big achievement, but that was eclipsed by getting it ready for us to photograph just two weeks after she and her husband Lee welcomed their second child to the world! Catherine’s a super-stylist if ever there was one and the result of her reno is brilliant too — check it out.
Another of this issue’s projects with lifestyle at its heart is by Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland’s Rogan Nash Architects, for co-director Eva Nash’s own family. For an inside look at the lengths an architect will go to create her ultimate urban sanctuary, take a look at our story.
Of course, there’s much more than this to discover cover to cover. We love packing all the good stuff onto homestyle’s pages, and hope they give you lots of fresh ideas for your year ahead.
Editor Alice Lines
