KEY POINTS:
You don't usually hear of many commercial property lawyers turned furniture importers, but it seems Emma Davies is one of a kind.
"Most people do sort of go, 'what?' when they find out," says Davies, who works as a general manager at furniture manufacturer Ashton Grove and Italian design store Zanette.
Davies worked in the Ashton Grove Christchurch store before beginning to practise law for four years, but ended up coming back on board to help her ex-partner run and expand the business. Since launching 14 years ago, there are now four Ashton Grove stores in New Zealand and Australia.
"The designs are really simple, clean lines, sort of a provincial style of furniture, so you get that beautiful warmth of timber which works really well in modern homes as well as traditional."
Davies now also imports modern Italian furniture for the two Zanette showrooms in Auckland and Wellington.
"We've tried to go classic modern rather than really contemporary. It's stuff that they've been making since the 1970s, that isn't going to date - you can put them in any environment."
1 My 1963 baby blue Austin Mini
Complete with floor push button start. It literally runs on the smell of an oily rag, which is great with current petrol prices. Not so great when it's raining, though, as it dates back to the pre-demister era and you can't see a thing. I'm dying to see the new Mini vans that are currently showing on Auckland billboards.
2 Red Gum Parquet Top Pedestal Table
This is my favorite Ashton Grove piece at the moment - it's made from reclaimed Australian Red Gum, French Oak and Cherrywood. It looks great in a traditional setting but also works well with modern chairs. We currently have it in the Auckland showroom, with bright green plastic chairs round it.
3 Red Axminster Carpet by Feltex
As well as being virtually indestructible, it looks amazing. We have used it in the stairway at Ashton Grove/Zanette and I'm often asked if the space used to be a bordello! I have to explain that it's actually our carpet of choice and is brand new. We initially saw it at Chow resturant in Wellington and thought how amazing it looked, so used it as a statement in the stairway.
4 The Must sofa from Longhi's Loveluxe collection
I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it at the Milan Furniture Show. In fact, the whole range of furniture by Longhi is just amazing. I could spend hours looking through their catalogues as their imagery is so beautiful.
5 Artworks by Sandy Rodgers
Sandy's paintings are based on New Zealand history and, more particularly, Maori history. I did a BA (Hons) in history and specialised in New Zealand history so this work really appeals to me, but also because they're so striking. Sandy's works are often map-based, although her last exhibition had a postage stamp theme and the images were based on Maori mythology with titles such as "The Flying Taniwha".
6 Gold
Whether in clothing or homeware, I love anything gold. We have lots of gold in the Zanette showrooms.
7 The Ciclada Lamp by Celda Iluminacion, designed by Miguel Herranz
I love bright colours and this lamp is really fun.
8 Anything in black high gloss
Particularly ornate mirror frames, candlestick holders, etc. Celda from Valencia, one of the suppliers we discovered in Milan, does an amazing range of black, high-gloss furniture. My favourite is their black billiard table.
9 Venus Chairs by Origlia Spa in Italy
I love the bright colours and beautiful shape of these chairs. They can be used inside or out (they're UV resistant) and are surprisingly comfortable for a plastic chair.
10 My Asics running shoes
These are not the prettiest sports shoes on the market but are so well designed that I live in them. I've tried so many different types of sports shoes and since I bought my first pair of Asics about five years ago, I haven't looked back.
