Sweet Moves

For this family, a shift south meant a near-new home with plenty of space and scope to make it their own

- Sharon Stephenson

This is a tale of two cities, two houses and the call of home. At least, it was for James Rolleston, who’d always wanted to move from Auckland back to his native Christchurch. And so in early 2018, James, his wife, Katy, and their sons, Freddy and Wilbur, sold the Mt Eden villa they’d spent five years renovating, filled a truck with furniture and headed south.

Wanting a change, they bought a one-yearold home in leafy Merivale. As with anyone transitioning from a 100-year-old villa to a contemporary home, there were adjustments to be made, mostly positive. “Thanks to the double glazing, this house is definitely warmer than our Auckland villa,” says Katy. “It’s also low-maintenance and easy to keep clean.”

The only downside was the proportions of their new home, which were much larger than the villa’s. Some of their existing furniture was too small for the space, meaning various pieces, such as the dining table and occasional chairs in the living room, had to be upsized.

MAKING IT HOME

The four-bedroom, the 335-square-metre house had plenty going for it but Katy and James wanted to maximize its potential. Plus, as an interior decorator, Katy had lots of ideas up her sleeve.

“Our style is fresh, white and open, so we did things like painting out the beige walls downstairs with crisp white paint and swapping brown kitchen cabinets for bright white ones, simply by changing the front panels,” she says.

The biggest change they made was ripping up the grey carpet and replacing it with engineered floorboards in natural oak which makes the entire ground floor feel lighter.