My favourite room: Lucy Slight

In a butter-yellow art deco house built in the 1940s, Your Home and Garden Magazine features director Lucy Slight and her radio broadcaster husband Clint Roberts live with their two British Shorthair cats, Ziggy and Bowie. The couple bought the home in New Lynn, Auckland, almost three years ago and knew it was ‘meant to be’ as soon as they walked through the door. 

The lounge, where they spend most of their time, is Lucy’s favourite room and she loves finding eclectic pieces for it at op-shops and online stores, and weekends are spent perusing wholesale plant nurseries for tropical specimens. 

How would you describe your interior style? I would call the style bohemian with a retro edge, paying homage to the era of the home. While we haven’t done many renovations yet, I would never take away the beautiful original features which include the art deco windows and doors and the tiled fireplace.

How important are plants in your home? Greenery adds so much life to our living spaces. We get lovely light coming through in the afternoon so the monstera and the bird of paradise, which sit close to the windows, are thriving. I love watching new shoots spring up into big, beautiful leaves.

If someone reading this story is thinking about redecorating their living room, what would be your advice to them? Find a style that suits the era of the house as well as your taste. I love that we have nods to art deco and mid-century styling mixed with more modern elements – but this wouldn’t necessarily work in a modern home. Choose a few key colours to bring through the room to make the styling cohesive.

How have you decorated your living room? The only things we had when we moved in were the couch and coffee table, so it’s been really fun building up this room over time and creating an interior style unique to our home. Buying second-hand pieces of furniture and decor has helped the styling remain in keeping with the character of the house. 

What’s your favourite thing to do in the room? Snuggling up on the couch to watch Netflix with my husband and our two cats. We all have our favourite spots – I take the corner with the ottoman, Clint squeezes in next to me, Ziggy takes the couch arm closest to me and Bowie sits like a queen on the chair with the sheepskin. 

 

What are your favourite homewares pieces in the lounge and where did you find them? My favourite is the fireplace screen which I bought for $75 on Trade Me. I came across it during a search for ‘mid-century furniture’ while watching The Block NZ one night; the auction was closing in 10 minutes so I impulsively placed a bid. Next thing I knew, it was mine! I also love the John and Yoko poster, which we bought for $15 from a record store in Wellington; once we got home we put it in a black frame from Spotlight. 

Are there any homeware stores or markets you frequent in particular? Scouring our local Hospice Shop is such a fun way to find unique pieces. Every time we go in to donate things, we always end up leaving with something new. Trade Aid is another gem for unique furnishings that fit this aesthetic. Our black and white rug is from there – however, it’s currently sporting a stubborn butter paneer stain so it might be time to start looking for another! 

Tell us about the colouring in the home. The wooden floorboards throughout the house are all original rimu and we feel so lucky to have them. The walls were painted by the previous owner and, while I don’t mind the shade, we’re slowly starting to work our way through the house, painting everything off-white. We’ve just painted our spare room in Resene ‘Rice Cake’ so will likely bring that all the way through the house. 

When it comes to homeware, do you save or splurge? We definitely try to save where we can, but will splurge if we really love something. The cactus print on the far wall was a present we bought for ourselves from Shut The Front Door the first Christmas we moved in. It was definitely a splurge at the time considering we’d just taken on a big mortgage! But in my opinion, there’s nothing quite like the feeling of finding a unique piece from a second-hand store for a bargain price. 

Do you change the decor in this room often? No, never, we just keep adding more plants! 

Interview by Jessica-Belle Greer. Photography by Helen Bankers. Images and story courtesy of Your Home and Garden Magazine. 

This article originally appeared on Homes to Love.