Marlborough Magazine

​Where is your home and who lives here?

We live in a semi-rural setting in Renwick,
surrounded by vineyards. The farmhouse was bought
22 years ago – the worst house in a great location.
Both our children, Sammy and Louis were raised here
but they have sadly now left the nest. Tui,
​the foxy poodle cross keeps us company.

What four words would you use to
​describe your home?

Relaxed, welcoming, functional and homely.

My 

HOME

Avril Heard-Woollcombe is one of Marlborough’s well- known interior designers. Inspired by materials, nature and individual products
and pieces, Avril shares her tricks to making her own space feel like home.

What do you love about the neighbourhood where you live?

​We love the hood we live in, a quiet rural setting with only occasional tractor/harvester noises to deal with. Great neighbours who will water your garden, feed the cat, neighbourhood watch and are always keen for a catch-up.

What piece would you never part with?

​The collection of art, sculptures and crafts that I have collected on our travels or from family and friends over the years.

What’s your favourite spot in the house?

Kitchen/dining as you can open all the French doors out to create a wonderful indoor/outdoor flow. The kitchen is the hub of the house in which we love to entertain family and friends.

What inspired this look?

The house was very dated and had no character at
all both in the interior and exterior areas.
The Axminster (patterned) carpet, lace net curtains,
holland blinds and patterned textured wallpapers
all had to go! Painting the bedrooms before we
moved in was a must and most of the house has
been repainted more than several times since. The
house needed to be lightened up, modernized, and a
flow created with the outside.

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Where do you shop for homewares?

Mostly from the wholesalers that I deal with for
my design business. They keep me updated with
the latest new products that will be soon released
into the marketplace. Where possible I source New Zealand-made.

What’s your decorating style?

Not a particular style but designs for the way we are
living at that stage in our lives. A practical design that
feels right for the space and décor that reflects our
personality. The use of natural products and textures
gives the space some warmth, interest, and soul.

When it comes to homeware, do you save or splurge?

Both. Generally, I like to co-ordinate the product
with the space but then I have been known to
impulse buy. Some of the furniture and homewares are bespoke and have been locally made which gives them even more meaning to us.

What’s your favourite room?

That’s a tricky one as I love our kitchen and dining space but also this flows out onto our alfresco

Entertaining area with the pizza oven. The pizza oven was sourced locally, in kit set form, from Morepork
in Havelock. Here in summer, we tend to have most
of our meals outdoors and entertain friends. We have created this rustic space with old cherry netting
poles, a large homemade table and benches, concrete, rough sawn timber paving and exterior lighting.

What should every home have?

A comfortable chill-out space where you and the
family can spread out your wings and relax.

Best money spent?

Good quality thermally-lined curtains and blinds
for retaining the heat, protecting your furniture and adding that final touch to a room. This goes hand in hand with a great log burner and heat transfer unit.

Best seat in the house?

Corner nook in the dining/living room. Perfect to sit
in the sun with a coffee, wine, read the paper and
direct instructions to the kitchen or pizza alfresco
staff (family).

What is one thing you would change about your home if you could?

On the to-do, need and want list is my very own semi-detached design and art studio. Here I would surround myself with inspiration, samples, products and not have to continually tidy up.