In Wellington a 1900s heritage home is full of light, life and love

Article by Your Home and Garden

A clever reconfiguration, embracing imperfections and lots of white paint transformed this historic Wellington house into a dream home for this busy family of seven

Who lives here?

Matt Christie (manager at IBM), Sarah Christie and kids Boston, 14, Baker, 12, Anabelle, 8, Bridie, 6, and Paddy, 3, plus Kybi the Labrador, Oreo the cat and Mr Bunny the giant rabbit.

Family-friendly style tips

Buy industrial-quality furniture and fittings where possible – it’s harder for kids to break!
Don’t be afraid to remove fitted storage such as wardrobes and cupboards. It creates space and helps you get rid of stuff you probably never use anyway.
Buy only those things you really love – or wait until you find something you do love.
Hard-wearing sisal carpet is child-resistant, lasts a long time and works well with wooden floors.
If you can, put doors on a slider to create more space when they are open.
Having fresh flowers, or even a branch from the garden, can help distract from a messy house and a large washing pile!

Renovation problems and solutions

Problem: We needed additional bedrooms upstairs so that each of the children could have their own room.
Solution: We relocated the bathroom to a part of the existing hallway. We then moved the walls in the massive room upstairs to create an additional bedroom and a smaller upstairs bathroom.
Problem: There were heritage features in the bedrooms, such as handbasins, which we needed to remove to create more space.
Solution: We removed the handbasins and also cleared an unused area, where an old chimney used to be, and put a set of bunks there.
Problem: We wanted to open up the living area downstairs to accommodate our large family.
Solution: We knocked down some walls, took out some built-in cupboards and doors, and removed an outside toilet. We then added windows and doors to link it all up.

Words by: Sharon Stephenson. Photography by: Nicola Edmonds.

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Despite having five children under 15, Sarah has the sort of relaxed attitude to interior design that has allowed her to renovate her Kelburn home in various shades of white, cream and beige.

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Downstairs, the first things to go were several walls, which allowed Sarah and Matt to reconfigure the space to incorporate a living room, dining area, kitchen and additional family room where slouchy, oversized sofas add to the relaxed vibe.

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Sarah opted for grey subway tiles for the kitchen splashback because they pick up on the colour of the building’s original sarking, which has been left exposed on the opposite wall.

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The two striking painted wooden artworks in the family room and dining room started life as headboards in China. They came from Redcurrent and are apparently meant to bring good luck.

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Sarah had a bit of a challenge getting the builders to install full-length windows in the kitchen and family room, but fortunately she won and the result is a light-filled space that provides sweeping views across Kelburn’s hills.

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The original chandelier was moved from the entrance to the dining room.

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The vintage French kitchen island, which Sarah bought in Martinborough, is the beating heart of this home and it’s not unusual to find 15 kids clustered around it after school.

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The built-in seating opposite the kitchen island provides extra seating for when the kids have their friends over and also provides excellent space for toy and book storage underneath.

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The wooden floors throughout the 270-square-metre home are the original matai boards, liberated from layers of manky carpet.

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“I love the vintage Scandinavian look, which combines a modern aesthetic with vintage items and fabrics such as raw linen,” says Sarah.

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Gorgeous old furniture and reclaimed pieces fill the house with character.

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Sarah and daughter Anabelle, 8, relax on the gorgeous linen covered ECC furniture couch she absolutely “had to have!”

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“I’m not a fan of perfect surfaces. Imperfections add character,” says Sarah.

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Designed by prominent architect William Gray Young in the 1900s, the two-storey home looks nothing like it did when Sarah and husband Matt first set eyes on it in 2014.

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Sarah is a fan of vintage scales and the proud owner of several; a large specimen, and one of her favourites, stands in the entrance hall.

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By reworking the bedroom configuration upstairs, the Christies achieved ample space for each child.

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Anabelle and Bridie enjoy spending time in their rooms, as does pet rabbit Mr Bunny.

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Not being a fan of built-in cupboards, mum Sarah loves scouring secondhand and vintage stores for freestanding storage.

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The open bathroom leading from the master bedroom – with a claw-foot bath and views over Kelburn Valley – is Sarah and Matt’s private haven.

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In a big family, bathrooms are important. The main upstairs bathroom is for the children.

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The entire space was doused in litres of Resene ‘Bianca’ for the walls and Resene ‘Alabaster’ for the trims, to create a light-filled, airy, welcoming feel.