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A burst of bold colour has given this art deco home a new lease on life

Home » Uncategorized » A burst of bold colour has given this art deco home a new lease on life

22 March 2021

Reading Time: 6 minutes

When a busy Wellington couple revamped this art deco home in Ngaio, they used colour to create the perfect backdrop for sophisticated yet inviting family living.

It’s easy to raise the tempo of an interior with a few bold colours – just ask the savvy designers of this Wellington house. What’s more challenging is pulling together a major top-to-toe renovation when it involves the juggling act of integrating the old with the new.

When netball umpire Ann Hay and her lawyer husband Matt decided it was time to give their beautiful 1940s home a makeover, they knew they needed help to successfully pull it off.

Ann Hay stands next to art deco staircase and orange front door
From the welcoming bright-orange front door with its frostedglass cabbage tree to the sunny-yellow kitchen – previously the darkest room in the house – the Hays’ home zings with interest and energy. IMAGE VIA HELEN BANKERS

“I wanted something interesting and unique that would also age well over time. We wanted the house to feel fresh and new but in keeping with the era in which it was built,” says Ann. For expert advice, she called in Wellington interior designers Katie Peck and Nikki Burnet, the talented duo at the helm of Esdesign, to work alongside her.

Art deco staircase
IMAGE VIA HELEN BANKERS

Ann had very specific ideas. “She knows what she likes,” says Katie. “She kept repeating what she wanted and I saw a recurring theme. We started with the kitchen and worked out the rest of the home’s decor from there.”

Kitchen bench with herringbone tile splash back
IMAGE VIA HELEN BANKERS

Katie was rapt with Ann’s colour confidence. “It was so nice to have someone who wanted to step outside the white kitchen box. It’s been really fun to work with someone who wanted to play with colour and texture.

Kitchen with yellow painted walls
IMAGE VIA HELEN BANKERS

A lot of people are not brave enough to do this. As designers, it means we can explore a lot more options. Having these options is a challenge, especially when there are lots of different elements involved in the renovation, but it’s a challenge we welcome.”

View through doors into dining room with vintage furniture
IMAGE VIA HELEN BANKERS

“I’m not afraid of colour,” says Ann. “I knew I didn’t want white walls. I also knew that I wanted to use colour to transform the kitchen because it was the darkest room in the house. I hated it. On a beautiful sunny day I’d be stuck in this horrible dark kitchen, closed off from the rest of the house.”

Initially, Ann wanted to inject some much-needed warmth into the kitchen with yellow tiles she’d sourced. However, there weren’t enough to complete the job and no more were available.

As an alternative, Katie suggested yellow painted walls with white tiles. Ann was on board immediately, though Matt took some convincing. “When he first saw the yellow walls he nearly died,” says Ann. “But that was before everything else was added, and now he’s happy with how it’s turned out.”

Living room with blue walls, grey couch and colourful cushions
IMAGE VIA HELEN BANKERS

The yellow proved to be a springboard to other hues, with Katie and Nikki scoping out a warm and cool colour story for the entire home, which features saffron, coastal blues, charcoal, and orange – with tiles and wallpaper adding pattern and texture to the mix. The result is a study in cool and calming blues, with pops of sunny yellow giving the decor warmth and personality.

Piano with blue lamp and small white vase with flowers
IMAGE VIA HELEN BANKERS

“I wanted it to be a bit funky, with a deco/retro theme,” says Ann. “It’s a play on what we already had here, and we’ve given it a contemporary edge.” Ann laughs when she remembers how it started out as a much smaller project.

Initially, the couple just wanted to update their en suite and wardrobe and replace some doors downstairs. “We had these glass doors that led to the back garden that kept blowing shut when it was windy,” says Ann. “Matt then decided we should look at the structure of the entire house, and it kind of snowballed from there.”

Staircase landing with blue line pattern wallpaper
Cool and curious, the coastal hues in the stairwell, laundry and bathroom are enlivened by the frenetic retro patterns in the tiles and wallpaper, which fit the era of the 1940s home.
IMAGE VIA HELEN BANKERS

The couple and their children, Sarah, 16, James, 13, and Olivia, 10, lived nearby in a rented house during the six-month renovation. They moved out in July 2019 and returned home just before Christmas. “It was just as well we had somewhere else to live, as every room in the home was gutted expect for the girls’ bedrooms,” says Ann.

Blue patterned tile bathroom
IMAGE VIA HELEN BANKERS

The home’s fresh new look is understated and casually sophisticated. The interior feels light, airy and open, without seeming contrived. The key to its success is the way the different elements have been cohesively woven together.

Laundry sink with small hexagon tile splash back
IMAGE VIA HELEN BANKERS

“The house has so much character, we really wanted to embrace its style and create a personal story for the family living in it now,” says Katie. “It’s extremely satisfying completing a complex project like this one.”

Ngaio house exterior
IMAGE VIA HELEN BANKERS

For Ann, the revamp is everything she dreamed it would be, and then some. “I love nothing more than sitting at the bar with a cup of coffee and enjoying my bright and sunny kitchen. It has become the beating heart of this home,” she says. “Now that we’ve opened it up and created space for the whole family, it’s where everyone wants to be.”

Swipe the style

Maker iO drum pendant, $569 from Homage
Maker iO drum pendant, $569 from Homage
Amber Antoinette Coup glasses, $59.90 for set of four from Redcurrent
Amber Antoinette Coup glasses, $59.90 for set of four from Redcurrent
Puebla cushion, $119 from Crave Home
Puebla cushion, $119 from Crave Home
Cinemon Global cast iron teapot, $89.99 from Farmers
Cinemon Global cast iron teapot, $89.99 from Farmers
Kaihere sideboard, $1999, from The Axe
Kaihere sideboard, $1999, from The Axe

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