1 day Ago By No Author
Beige-zing – blonde wood and honeyed hues rule in two of this year’s Home of the Year contenders.If award-worthy homes are any kind of guide to the latest interior design trends, fashion conscious householders should be thinking very much along light brown lines this year.Whether for floors, walls, stairs, cabinetry or furniture, shades of beige, pale honey and ash blonde dominate in many of the latest leading architectural projects.
Two local examples are finalists in this year’s Home magazine Home of the Year Awards, which are due to be announced any day now.First up is ‘Sandtrap’, a beige brick-built home at the northern tip of Omaha Beach, overlooking Whangateau Harbour.Its square shape is softened by curved corners and a two-store front entranceway with twin tower-like round-edged walls, making it “evocative of sandcastles”, according to Ponsonby-based architect Lloyd Hartley.
Inside, those rounded corners are echoed in the blonde wood kitchen units and breakfast bar, as well as in the fitted shelves and cupboards in the sitting area.The wooden floors are the same shade that, in turn, tone in with exposed brick walls and soft furnishings.Or, as the designers put it: “Softened formal strategies and material selections create resonant sequencing and ease of comfort throughout the home.
”A few kilometres further north is the 60×6 house at Mangawhai Heads, so-called because, guess what, it measures 60 metres long by six metres wide.Inside the long, black-stained cedar-clad home, honey-coloured wood abounds, from the fawn floor planking to the tall, flush fitted kitchen cupboards and drawers. Some of the internal walls are also timber-lined, with occasional vertically slatted panels to break up the plain brown and add interest.
The house, which is part of The Sanctuary gated community off Cove Road, was designed by Auckland city architect Jose Gutierrez.Both homes are among 22 finalists in this year’s Home of the Year Awards..
