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Priced out of much of the Wellington, New Zealand housing market, two professionals settled for a new-build townhouse.
The property wasn’t exactly what they were looking for, being, in interior designer Natalie Bradburn’s words, a ‘stock standard, off-the-shelf townhouse with no redeeming architectural features.’
She adds, ‘The interior was lined with bright white walls, dark grey polyester carpet, plastic timber floors, and had a totally dysfunctional kitchen.’
On the plus side, the property was centrally located, close to cafes, well-insulated, and would stand up in an earthquake. It was also one of the few in its complex with three storeys, creating a deep outlook over the city above the other units.
‘While it wasn’t what they pictured for themselves, they knew they could make it work,’ says Natalie.
Transforming the townhouse required a full interior revamp designed by Natalie Bradburn Studio in collaboration with ceramicist Lucy Coote, who has a knack for colour and space. Their vision: to facilitate the opposite feeling to the clients’ working lives in hospitals with a bespoke interior palette.
Practically, the tall clients (both over six foot) desired higher benchtops, a multipurpose guest room, a larger dining area, and for their bedroom to feel like a calm and intimate treehouse.
‘The brief was rooted in warm, layered interior references and a feeling that their small space could be enough, if just with enough attention and care,’ says Natalie.
The original floor plan contained three bedrooms and three bathrooms across the 85-square-metre floor plan. The clients opted to sacrifice some of these rooms in favour of fewer, more generous spaces.
Natalie explains, ‘The spaces were all tight, and the width of the living room was 2.7 metres wide — so not enough space for seating on either side. We removed the ground-floor toilet and ‘study’ (which was actually just a cupboard with a desk in it), and worked with an engineer to insert a new steel beam and open up those spaces into the living room. This is what is now the built-in sofa and library nook.
‘By doing this, we were able to gain another metre of space, and the room feels so much bigger because of it… and who really needs three toilets?’
A second sink was also removed in the en suite to allow more space for a wardrobe.
The clients were incredibly trusting of Natalie and Lucy’s colourful ideas for the interiors, capitalising on the ‘blank slate’ potential of the home.
‘At one meeting I asked them how they felt about a pink kitchen, and without hesitation they said they love it and would be open to anything… They did not waver in this approach,’ says Natalie.
The first and second floors inspire a sense of whimsy reminiscent of a treehouse, instilled through the custom mossy carpet laid in almost every space.
‘We wanted it to feel like as you ascend the staircase (which takes up a very decent amount of the floor plan) you would come across these warm and intimate nooks, explains Natalie. ‘The timber library nook with crushed golden velvet brings a warm depth to the space that makes it hard to recognise as a Paddington unit.’
The bedrooms are drenched in warm chartreuse hues, paired with both contrasting and complementary colours, and some custom pieces, which give each space a distinct visual identity.
Natalie also concealed or removed the ‘ugly bits’ of modern standardised housing by painting vents, alarms, and other fittings. ‘Using sheer curtains to filter the exterior views, where neighbouring units are standing in close proximity makes it feel as though you could be anywhere.’
Natalie hopes other homeowners in the complex take inspiration from the project to develop a strong sense of place.
‘So while in some ways it is very uniquely Wellington, it could also be anywhere and is a good example of the possibility of dense townhouses. It doesn’t have to be all white walls and grey carpet.
‘The move in and out rate of the complex is very high — the rubbish bins are always consumed with cardboard boxes of people coming and going…
‘I think housing has much more value when you can really connect people with a place and they feel as if it is their own.’
