My Place: Steven Chambers

Steven Chambers lives in Tauranga with his teenage children, Torbin and India, and partner Clair. Steven is a director with Stufkens+ Chambers Architects and runs the Laundromat Art Project Space. Clair is an early childhood teacher in Te Puke.
Steven Chambers sees his living space as a living, breathing thing; an eclectic mix of retro, craft, design and art. We take a peek inside.
It's hard to live in a house with so many windows when you are an art-lover with a hankering for wall space. I crave walls. That's what I love about this living room - plenty of space for our art collection.
This home is such a contrast from my industrial offices/gallery and the contemporary architecture that I create for my clients, but I like that.
We continually add items with stories to tell. It's a living, breathing thing; an eclectic mix of retro, craft, design and art. The notion of discovering something with patina appeals, rather than brand spanking new.
I love our collection of old furniture. Scouring second-hand shops and Trade Me usually comes up trumps. We have recently scored three old 1950s hospital bedside trolleys from the Sallies, a great 1960s settee/daybed off the web, and a mellow 1960s oak sideboard from the Red Cross. But my favourite pick of all would have to be an iconic 1953 Grant Featherston armchair that Clair inherited. One of those classic "beautiful to look at, but don't dare sit in it" numbers.
The white table was a purchase from Freedom furniture about 15 years ago. It's a bit of a rip-off of a 60s design, but for $300 back then, and recently graduated from varsity, I could justify supporting the Chinese manufacturing industry.
We couldn't imagine living in an environment without a sense of creativity around us. I wouldn't normally hang out in a space with so much timber, but for some reason I find it relaxing. I think it reminds me of my days living in old villas in Wellington. This is the perfect space to collapse into at the end of the day. It is my "Sunday Jazz" room. Ah, Sundays ... listening to jazz, reading books, flicking through mags, drinking coffee. If there was only one thing I would change it would be to spend more time in it.