New York, eat your heart out

4A/38 Douglas Street. Photo / Michelle Hyslop

THE SUMMIT BUILDING, PONSONBY

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SIZE: 83sq m.

PRICE INDICATION: Interest expected above $500,000.

INSPECT: Sat/Sun 11am-11.30am. Auction June 29.

ON THE WEB: customresidential.co.nz/CR542

SCHOOL ZONES: Ponsonby Intermediate, AGGs, Western Springs College.

CONTACT: Robyn Ellson, ph 021 800 891.

Charlotte Bellis admits she's a bit of a homes magazine junkie. "I always buy them at the supermarket and I tune out by watching home renovation shows," she says.

The 60 Minutes presenter says her father was in the property game when she was growing up and his passion for it was infectious. So when she found this high-stud, top-floor character conversion in Ponsonby's Summit Building, she swooned. "I'm a big fan of texture and the bricks sold me" she says of the exposed brick walls which pepper her two-bedroom apartment.

"I like the character and how handy the location is. Plus, I think natural light is really important and this place gets heaps of it. It's got two skylights and is so sunny."

Her homes magazine addiction certainly has its upsides. She has renewed the decor, upgraded the kitchen and overhauled the bathroom into a covetable space. "I consider it my main hobby outside work!" she laughs.

Entering her apartment, three things strike you simultaneously: the high stud, lovely light and the character combination of textural brick above glossy native wood floorboards. Charlotte used trades people for most of the work but happily sanded the floors herself.

The living space with dining area opens out to a little breakfast deck and features a blackboard wall Charlotte painted. Her sleek reinvention of the formerly aubergine kitchen saw it re-sprayed white, with a splashback of subway-style tiles. She laughs at how excited she was when she discovered post-apartment purchase that her blinds opened automatically once you tug their cord.

Image 1 of 8: 4A/38 Douglas Street. Photo / Michelle Hyslop

A double-brick wall also accents this level's bedroom. Upstairs, a roomy loft-style bedroom looks out over the living area through rusticated timber supports, painted white. Charlotte painted the wall behind the bed the inky grey of Resene Armadillo and hung a pair of Tom Dixon pendant lights.

She's integrated veined granite into the walk-in shower in the renovated bathroom, which has a capacious vanity and replicates the kitchen's white subway tiles.

Charlotte's already having withdrawal symptoms from this place -- she's lent it to her Mum and is staying offsite with her boyfriend while it's marketed. "I've felt really comfortable living here."