Throughout the year, Our Homes TODAY unashamedly focuses mostly on things of beauty, in and outside the home. Sometimes the stories are quirky, sometimes strange (sorry about that!), hopefully interesting but almost always about beautiful things.
We figure that’s because beauty is inspirational and, in appreciation of that, there’s a yearning that the world will remain a beautiful place.
It seems natural to strive for perfection and in our individual homes, often the only environment we can control, there’s a huge fascination for creating special and personal environments.
It’s fun being creative – it’s harmless, it’s escapist, and it’s relaxing. But sometimes this focus goes a little overboard. Some would say it can border on the obsessive with priorities becoming somewhat skewed. Too much emphasis is placed on material possessions, and for some they become more important than people. Life’s not meant to be lived that way.
The activities we indulge in need to be fulfilling and sustaining and it’s the interactions we have with people that provide that – not possessions. So, there’s nothing like a holiday to confirm this is so.
Whether it’s camping, a trip to the family bach (or a friend’s bach), such temporary dwellings become the focal gathering point and it doesn’t matter what they look like. Judgment is suspended. The cushions on the lounge suite don’t have to match; there doesn’t even have to be cushions, or even a lounge suite!
Cleaning standards slip somewhat and precious time is spent pursuing experiences rather than having a tidy room. People come together to share food and celebrate life. In every likelihood baches will contain rickety, un-matched dining chairs, second hand tables, blankets and eiderdowns rich with the memories of cosy childhoods, faithfully waiting for their owners to return and breathe life back into the place.
Living spaces will be crammed with décor flotsam and jetsam from the house in town. Objects often occupy new positions in more humble abodes and take on proud new identities, not criticised for their sliding position on the style guide, but appreciated like old friends.
The most important aspect of these holiday homes is the environment and the quality of our stay. These lazy holiday experiences, enhanced by living simply, are enough to sustain us, at least for a good few months, into the New Year.
Architecture in the Wild
Award-winning architect Pip Cheshire and photographer Patrick Reynolds have collaborated to produce a new book titled Architecture Uncooked. The pair visited seven holiday houses around New Zealand – humble homes in stunning surroundings, selected for encapsulating the allure of living simply.
The book is full of classic, unadulterated images that capture the essence of Kiwi holidays. You’ll find no precious, glossy magazine images here, with interiors and exteriors primed within an inch of their lives. In Architecture Uncooked, the opposite is identified and revered.
While most of us have never seen these dwellings, there’s something very familiar about them. They crystallise the way hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders spend their holidays – living simply in humble surroundings, unaffected by glitz, glamour and status.
The images are reminiscent of the old New Zealand way of life, and one that’s fast disappearing, but luckily there are still people committed to living by its unpretentious code and it’s people like Cheshire and Reynolds who help keep the flame alive.
