With a rapidly expanding brood, this family snapped up a Hawke’s Bay home and set about transforming it into the perfect abode with the ideal mix of old and new
Who lives here?
Asha Payton (upholsterer and founder of Little and Fox), Joe Payton (Hawke’s Bay rugby player development manager), Otis, 6, Teddy, 5, Pepe and Fox, both 2, plus Biddi the dog.
Asha’s style secrets
- Create a home that has a connection to your family and its history by using furniture and special keepsakes handed down to you. Choose fabrics and designs that are unique to you, not the latest trend.
- Be environmentally conscious by not purchasing new if you can re-purpose something instead.
- I like white walls – they’re fresh, clean and a blank canvas for your changing design inspirations.
- Splash out on a unique piece of art that will start a conversation then mix with prints, photographs and paintings of all shapes and sizes.
Words by: Vic Bibby. Photography by: Helen Bankers.
1/23
Asha’s very first project, a beautiful turquoise floral chair, takes pride of place in the living room.
2/23
The house is filled with family treasures – the drop-leaf serving trolley and rug once belonged to Joe’s grandfather, and the red Chinese jar in the bookshelf was Asha’s grandmother’s.
3/23
The painting above the sofa is by Otis’ godmother, artist Robyn Fleet.
4/23
The leather safari chair was Asha’s best ever Trade Me find. Next to it stands Asha’s grandmother’s table, beneath a photo of Joe surfing at Te Awanga beach taken by Asha.
5/23
“I am a hunter and seeker. I love giving old pieces a second chance,” Asha says.
6/23
All the floral creations are by Chloe Clark of Peggy Lane.
7/23
The reinvented dining table (Joe put a new top of recycled timber onto some old legs) and its colourful cafe chairs fit perfectly with the instantly evocative sign picked up from a Rotorua fish and chip shop that was closing down.
8/23
As owner of the design and upholstery business Little and Fox, Asha has created many of the soft furnishings in the home.
9/23
Another of Asha’s grandmother’s tables looks elegantly at home in the upstairs hallway.
10/23
A chair found on Trade Me sits below a photograph of Asha’s grandfather’s Greytown home, where many happy family times were spent.
11/23
Metres of original copper piping was salvaged and repurposed to make the shower and tapware.
12/23
Recycled wood from the Hastings Showgrounds – stadium seating in another life – helped form the repurposed bathroom vanity.
13/23
Recently repainted in Resene Karen Walker colours, the house was already looking good when the family purchased it.
14/23
The kids’ bedrooms are furnished with a blend of new, vintage, re-purposed and handed-down pieces.
15/23
The mix of old and new, found and created, that has turned this house into a very special home.
16/23
17/23
Asha says a major influence on her style was her grandmother Maddie – who had a love of colour and beautiful fabric.
18/23
Joe’s homemade pizza oven is his favourite thing on the property.
19/23
The family – Teddy, Joe, Otis, Fox, Asha and Pepe, (pictured below with Biddi the dog) – love to make pizzas together on a Sunday afternoon.
20/23
The house was nicknamed “Le Cube” by the previous French owners.
21/23
Joe and Asha started searching for a bigger home when they discovered they were expecting twins.
22/23
The mass plantings of robust Alcantarea Imperialis and Aloe Spinosissima make for a subtropical-looking and easy-care garden.
23/23
The backyard is filled with fruit trees and a vege garden, where everyone lends a hand.
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