Calming colours, lots of gathering spaces and great flow. That was the prescription that Emma and Dane Winter gave their interior designer for the renovation of their 1960s home overlooking Waitematā Harbour at Te Atatū South, Auckland.
Tick, tick and tick is the pass mark the couple handed out to
“The great thing about getting Toni on board is she knows us so well,” says Emma, founder and creative director of boutique footwear brand La Tribe.
“She’s familiar with our super busy lifestyle, running our own businesses and raising three young children. We wanted her to create something that contrasted sharply with our everyday lives, a family home that’s serene and clutter-free, but it also had to be a place that’s welcoming and relaxed,” she says.
La Tribe, launched by the couple in 2015, continues to expand into new international markets and Dane also runs their other business, distributing the popular Brazilian Havaianas jandal in New Zealand.
A tour of the two-storey, five-bedroom home reveals Toni has fulfilled their brief to perfection — a simple interior for a complicated life. Downstairs, the open-plan living space is contemporary and convivial, designed to handle both big and small gatherings.
When the couple throw open the expansive glass doors to the backyard and pool, the communal space more than doubles, with additional dining and lounge areas, as well as space poolside for relaxing and reclining.
“We love being by the water,” says Emma. “Both Dane and I were born and raised in Mt Maunganui, so a big part of the attraction of this home is that it’s by the sea. For us, being near the water makes us feel relaxed.
Dane’s a surfer and the beach is a big part of our lives. His dad had one of the first surf shops in New Zealand and he had a lathe out the back, where he made leather sandals. Dane’s got shoes in his DNA! And his mum crocheted bikinis for the shop,” she adds.
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Advertise with NZME.There is a bohemian reference in both Emma’s footwear designs and her home. Style-wise, the couple gravitate toward the 70s era. “All our favourite music is from the 70s,” she says.
It filters through into their home decor via the earthy tones which, when combined with layers of texture and mixed materials, ensure the spaces feel warm and comfortable. Emma worked closely with Toni to achieve the right vibe.
“I didn’t want a lot of colour. I prefer a limited palette and rooms with less visual noise but I still wanted the decor to be interesting. This meant we were more reliant on tactile textures and the juxtaposition of forms and furnishings to give the spaces the right energy.”
Having Toni’s expertise and input was invaluable, she says. “She was good for me. I would flip flop a lot on my ideas. Toni was good at getting me to stay on course. I have so much respect for what she did.
“I was in awe of Toni,” says Emma. “I’m quite evolved in my style and taste and I have a clear idea of what I like. Communicating that to Toni was an interesting process. She was good at getting me to articulate my ideas clearly and concisely. When I showed her an image of a kitchen that I loved, for example, she would ask: “What do you see there that appeals to you?”
“Sometimes we saw completely different details when we looked at the same image. Not only did it help her get a better idea of what I wanted, it helped me crystalise what I was drawn to.”
Emma wanted the interior to be pared-back and simple. She felt the house had good bones and great views and there was no need to gild the lily. Toni turned to contrast, texture and key pieces that had some audacity to them to create interest. The placement of a Sigurd Ressell Falcon high back leather chair and foot stool in the living room is a case in point.
“She taught me the importance of combining pieces that feel somewhat disparate. The juxtaposition of the sofa with the cool modern chair makes the room come together in a way that’s much more interesting and layered,” says Emma.
“Adding something with a little edge creates some tension. It makes each piece sing because the contrast allows you to fully appreciate their unique qualities. The chair is an original — I’ve wanted one for a very long time and my husband bought it for me as a gift.”
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Advertise with NZME.The architecture of the house dictated the jumping-off point for the design and decor of the renovation. Very little structural alterations were required. The biggest job was opening up the kitchen to the living room by removing a wall. Once that wall was gone, the house floorplan came together easily. “Getting the flow was quite important to us. It makes a house feel relaxed,” says Emma.
For her, the other essential design element was comfort. “I like a comfortable sofa you can flop into and a dining table for social gatherings. I also wanted a kitchen with a large island where I can serve meals to our children. But most of all I wanted our home to have a sense of welcome, of hospitality. I don’t believe in beauty for beauty’s sake.
“It was important to create a home that’s somewhere that our friends and family want to hang out. That’s indispensable. I want people to get a sense of joy and share good times when they’re here.”
Toni has created a home that supports the family’s lifestyle, pulling the interior decor puzzle together effortlessly. “She really got the essence right, capturing the mood we wanted and bringing it alive,” says Emma.
Toni understood Emma’s deep desire for simplicity, right down to scrapping plans for shelving in the living room. “Toni asked me what I’d like in terms of open shelving, and I said none!” laughs Emma. “With my lifestyle right now, it suits me best not to have any shelving that will need dusting.”
From the outside, the house is all sharp angles, dark timber detailing and black joinery, with its cladding of rich rust-coloured brick. Inside, it feels airy and tranquil, due to the couple’s decision to create a light-filled family home decorated in a minimal but carefully considered style.
There is plenty of room for Nyla, 5, Kalani, 2, and Kye, 1, to romp around. “Kye was a surprise pregnancy,” says Emma. “But it’s been amazing having him arrive as a much-loved new addition to our family. We call the boys our Irish twins!”
Having three children adds another layer of richness to her busy life. Almost from day one, La Tribe found a loyal following and continues to grow, striking a chord with style-conscious consumers in the lucrative Australian market and recently expanding into Canada.
“It’s constant noise,” says Emma. “I wake up to the kids, go to work, come home, have the kids again, then when they go to bed it’s my husband and me. There is very little time to myself right now. The shower is the only place where I don’t have to answer to anyone! That’s why I have a bench seat in there, so I can sit down. The joiner wanted to know why I needed a bench seat in the shower and I said once you have three kids under five you’ll understand.”
Lots of timber throughout the home was another priority for Emma. “Wood seems to go with the era of the house and I really like the Japanese aesthetic, where they use a lot of timber in interiors.” The floors are engineered oak — except in the television room where she opted for the comfort of carpet — and the kitchen cabinetry is walnut.
The linen-coloured Resident sofa in the main living area is garnished with a Noa wool blanket in muted hues, made by the couple’s friends Whakaawa and Josh Te Kani. “Dane bought it for my 40th birthday,” says Emma. “It’s beautiful and it’s very special to me.”
A curved wall in the entranceway is one of the original architectural features and is finished in plaster, custom colour-matched to the walls in Aalto one-quarter ‘Illusion’, adding another layer of texture to the home’s tone-on-tone materiality.
More texture is brought to the mix with seagrass rugs — another Emma favourite — dotted strategically throughout the house. “I love incorporating a bit of high/low into my home decor,” she says. “The seagrass matting is really good value for money. I love the look and it has a lovely, natural fragrance, too.”
When it came to drilling down on the design details with Toni, Emma continually referenced a couple of well-thumbed books, one on the work of her favourite interior designer Axel Vervoordt, from Belgium, and the other featuring houses by iconic American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Even with Toni’s expert advice, there were times when Emma obsessed over whether she had made the right decision.
“I insisted that Dane and I go over three times to see how the paint looked on the walls at different times of the day and night. We would pack the kids into the car and drive over late at night to check it out. My lovely husband is so patient with me.”
The couple has achieved all they wanted and now the goal is to enjoy it with friends and family.
“Do you know what, I’m happiest when I’m with my family,” adds Emma. “As long as I’ve got Dane and the kids, I could live anywhere.”
