Martinborough Mini Trip

And a happy New Year to everyone! We hope that a joyful festive season was had by all.

We recently visited the Wairarapa region to attend the wedding of our friends, Hamish and Alice.  Roughly an hour from central Wellington, the region is well equipped for a relaxing weekend sojourn.  Beautiful rolling hills frame a landscape which shares vineyards, olive groves, farmland, and a number of hamlets and towns.  The region invites good weather during the summer period, and on this count it did not let us down during our brief stay.

Bucolic beauty among the hills close to the town of Martinborough.

The wedding reception was held at the Brackenridge Country Retreat, which is but a short drive from Martinborough.  It hosts a function centre, a spa retreat, and a number cottages and studios within its expansive grounds.  This view is sweeping south to some cottages and the hills beyond

We stayed in one in one of these nicely appointed and restful studios.

Bridal transport posing in front of the function centre.

The function centre, which housed the reception, opened to a lush and inviting lawn.  Forgive me, but as Charlotte comes from an architectural family I feel duty bound to borrow oft-used industry lexicon that this design allowed for 'good indoor-outdoor flow.' 

We have always wanted to call into the award-winning Clareville Bakery, just outside of Carterton township.  And we did just that the morning after the wedding.  The Bakery resides in one of the oldest buildings in the region, as the above photo reveals.  Great interior details includes rolling pin-shaped door handles and AGEE jar pendant lights.

En route home we purchased some roadside summer fruit. An almost ritual practice on such journeys.

Words by Craig Greaves and photographs by Charlotte Minty.

The Brooklyn Deli showcases its Gingerbread

Stirred by the cleverly constructed gingerbread car in a window display for the US store Anthropologie, we want to retain our gingerbread-esque focus while shifting our gaze locally. Very local in fact. The popular Brooklyn Deli in Wellington is but a short walk from our house.  With its welcoming rustic interior coupled with a wonderfully diverse menu and friendly staff, the eatery is a fixed feature of our weekly routine.  Of added attraction is the eye-catching and mouth-watering display of gingerbread available for sale.  Created by the skilled hands of Brooklyn Deli owners and Austrian expatriates Herwig and Theresa Maingast, their gingerbread range has become a wholesale product under the Hansel and Gretel name.

Inspiration behind the gingerbread can be traced back to the ancestral home of Theresa  - Lake Mondsee ("Moon Lake") not far from the famous Austrian city of Salzburg.  On entry to the Brooklyn Deli, patrons are greeted by a large photo (see above) of the picturesque lake, its surrounds famous for hosting a number of scenes in the movie " The Sound of Music."  Baking prowess runs strong in Theresa's family.  Her grandmother was well known within the Lake Mondsee community as a baker of considerable repute and Theresa today remains faithful to her grandmother's original gingerbread recipe.  Indeed, the Brooklyn Deli menu includes a number of culinary treats from the owners home country.

One of the design challenges for the interior was covering a rather large and bland wall.  With her design background, Theresa rose to the challenge and the result is a striking sliced timber feature wall.

Photographs by Charlotte Minty and words by Craig Greaves.

Line Table Lamp from Douglas and Bec

I have been ordering lots of lovely items for my clients this week and one of them was this elegant Line Table Lamp from Douglas and Bec. This piece with its white timber base, brass rod and white tinted hand blown glass globe is going to sit beautifully on a client's desk.

Photograph via Douglas and Bec.

The Sunday Bench

I love a good bench and have admired many beautiful timber ones from clever furniture makers, who were usually inconveniently located overseas. However a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a new project by Alana Broadhead of Fancy New Zealand Design blog being launched and it had a great name - The Sunday Kind. How cool I thought. Then bam! there it was, their launch product - a fantastic timber bench called the Sunday Bench. It's a beauty and it's very much on my list. What a great bench - lovely simple lines, the timber (available in blonde (my preferred choice) and black), the straight legs with rounded feet and the great many functions that this useful piece of furniture can be as Alana says so herself - "I love to change up my space every so often for a fresh look. So I wanted to create a flexible piece of furniture that could be used in multiple rooms and in multiple ways." And these photos, styled by Alana, beautifully demonstrate some of the options - in the entrance, up at the dining table and at the end of the bed. How about the bathroom, in an office and in a kid's bedroom? You are only limited by your imagination. If you like it as much as I do, you have a chance to win one with Homestyle magazine here. Nice!

Photographs by Melanie Jenkins via Homestyle and via The Sunday Kind

Studio Apartment above Garage

This studio apartment located in Auckland was recently featured in Remodelista  and it is a great example of well designed small-space living. Designed by Karin Montgomery Spath, this stylish loft was created above the garage for her clients to reside while their main house was undergoing extensive renovations. Since completion, this loft has become the house's guest quarters. Read how Karin approached this project and her small space ideas here.

Photographs by Matthew Williams

Friday Giveaway - Wool/Possum Interior Throw

What a great way to finish off the week - a giveaway! This gorgeous wool throw has been generously offered to me by New Zealand company, Inter-Weave.
For the last 30 years, Inter-Weave have been designing and manufacturing commercial and domestic interior furnishings fabrics.  I have seen a recent and very cool collaboration with menswear brand, Barkers.
They have branched out with an in-house range called Wuru (Maori for 'wool') - 100% New Zealand designed and woven throws using a blend of New Zealand wool and possum. These throws are luxurious and elegant.
I can assure you that they feel gorgeous and are perfect for the huddling-under-on-the-sofa-sessions for our up-coming winter. This design is called Grid-Locked and while it looks great at the end of my bed, this is for someone out there to win and enjoy.
So please go to my Facebook page here, like the page, and tell me on the competition post where you will put this throw in your house should you win. This give away is open to New Zealand and Australia residents. I will draw the winner next Friday 29th June. Good luck!

This competition is now closed and we have a winner! Congratulations to Kate Rose.



Photographs by Charlotte Minty.

SHOWcase 2015

 Trelise Cooper and ES Design

This weekend, I had a very interesting evening on Saturday night. Several days ago via email, I was asked to be at a particular bus stop in the city at a certain time. I didn't have many details apart from the email, which came from a source called SHOWcase and the various sponsors that were attached. I recognised many well known brands and Wellington businesses. Intrigued.
When I arrived at the allocated location, there were several buses waiting with their windows blocked out - we were off to a mystery site for a special event. By the end of the evening, I learnt that SHOWcase 2015 was Wellington's new premier design show and that they "believe Design is something you feel and fashion is the way we live."
So there I was along with over a hundred people exploring SHOWcase in a isolated building in Shelley Bay, looking at a series of conceptual exhibits with a focus on designer collaboration and creative community. This event was followed by a fashion runway experience by Zambesi. What a great way to spend Saturday night! This is the first time SHOWcase was exposed and it was a memorable evening.  I look forward to seeing how this event expands in the future. It's a true celebration of professionals who bring the standard of art, design and fashion in Wellington and it can only get better.

Skandi

Empire of Genius and HMS Design.

Ziggurat

Highnoontea and Freedom Furniture

Mandatory and Bo Concept

Zambesi show in action

Photographs by Charlotte Minty.