Treasure at end of rainbow on College Hill

420/28 College Hill, Freemans Bay, Auckland. Photo / Supplied

Apartment 420/28 College Hill, Freemans Bay

ON OFFER: 115sq m freehold apartment (including balcony), with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and two car parks.

PRICE INDICATION: $650,000-plus. Body corp fees $8050 pa. Auction 12.30pm, Thursday, November 8.

ON THE WEB: rwcityapartments.co.nz/ CTA23047

CONTACT: Carla Pedersen, Ray White, ph 021 417 139.

Looking out at the graceful homes of Ponsonby's England St from her Perspective apartment always puts a smile on Daniella Norling's face.

"It's like stepping back in time and being in gorgeous old Ponsonby."

Ponsonby is where Daniella always gravitates to. Her interior design business, Trove Design, is in Jervois Rd and she's been privileged to enhance the interior of many a home in the area.

Daniella bought the fourth-level Perspective unit two-and-a-half years ago when she sold an apartment in the CBD to buy something larger. "I've always had Perspective in my radar. I like how they have designed the apartments so the inner spaces can be changed."

Her only concern was giving up a sea view. "But to me, what I look at now is almost more beautiful than the sea."

That's also why she has no louvres on the balcony. "I wanted to let the light in. I've got my garden and we eat out here. In the summer, basically it's an extension of the living room once you push all the doors back."

The interior is colourful, without being outrageous. "When I bought this, it was pretty much a white box and, being an interior designer, I am allergic to that. But I appreciated its form and functionality and I made it more practical and then I bought in colour and wallpaper. I wanted to come home every day and feel uplifted by the sense of colour. It gives a wonderful energy."

European wallpapers are Daniella's finishing touches, with the splendid Lorca floral design as a feature wall in the lounge; in the main bedroom there's a stunning Cole and Sons flamingo pattern. "I am totally besotted with it. It's terribly expensive but worth every single centimetre."

Daniella's apartment has the entry hallway, the main bedroom on the right, then one of the bathrooms. You move down to the living area, with designer kitchen and the stacking sliding doors to the balcony.

Behind the kitchen is a second bedroom with a bathroom. "In this bedroom I've put in a Tiltaway bed so I can also use it as a study, another sitting room or even put a table in it if I am having people for dinner."

People who know Daniella won't be surprised to learn she is selling the apartment - "a beautiful, community-minded place" - out of concern for her cherished poodles, Lulu and Cricket. She is looking for a home with a little garden.

"I want to give Lulu a garden. She is getting older and going blind and has only three legs; and Cricket needs somewhere to run around.

"It's amazing what you do for your dogs."