Smart Products for Small Spaces

We think it’s time to spill the tea about some of our favourite small-space furniture items. So go grab one yourself as we tuck in for more small-space tips!

Our style is obviously a mix of Scandi and minimalism which means we have to think strategically about what furniture and accents we’re going to use for each space. Can’t have any  ‘dead zones’! These are some of the most helpful and beautiful products we’ve come across, plus use most frequently, for said spaces. Here are our current recommendations for your apartment if you’re trying to resource products for a smaller space:

1. The Fable Occasional Chair from Cittá is a perfect example of our style. It's a clever oak design that holds its smart fabric with strength. It photographs well because the oak hugs the back of the chair as well as accents the fabric all around, remaining a feature from all angles. This chair is the Beyoncé of occasional chairs. It doesn't overwhelm a smaller space while also maintaining the sophistication and comfort you're looking for.

2. The Sketch Root Round Dining Table from Soren Liv is just a treat. We like to go for circular tables for particularly cosy dining spaces as it keeps the room looking open and allows flexibility of placement. We also acknowledge that some of our clients are young parents and need the lacquered finishing to keep their cleaning process quick and their tabletops spiffy. We recommend this dining table for the practicality and efficiency effect.

3. Loves a rug! No matter how cool your floors are everyone loves a good rug. We can't count the number of times we have added a rug for a part staging job, and had the client tell us afterwards "I can't believe I've never put a rug down before, it looks so much better!" The Elias Floor Rug from Freedom Furniture has all the texture and appeal that a dinner party turned to sleep over party could want! We love the wool and viscose blends of this fabric, and lug it everywhere we can for jobs because it’s our fave. It comes in different sizes and at affordable prices depending on the measurements of your space.

4. With its nifty size, dreamy appearance and supportive back one has to vouch for this piece. The Radial Dining Chair from Cittá is our go-to! She has classy legs and a lengthy seating frame. It's actually pretty light when you consider that it's made of sturdy oak too! It wears really well, and looks even better over time. Have I mentioned that she’s pretty yet?

Those are just a few of our favourite things in rotation currently and we thought we’d let you know what we’re into, what they’re called and where they’re from in case you’ve wondered about them in any of our posts or stories on Instagram. Please let us know if you have any enquires and remember that you get the benefit of a stylist’s discount at most places when you hire Nook Staging for consultancy! Have a groovy Monday and we’ll catch you on the gram tomorrow.

Winter, Hygge and How I Am Trying to Achieve it

I've been in a bit of a mid-winter rut for a few weeks. The cold weather has bought with it a feeling of sluggishness, and a lack of motivation for me. In order to combat this feeling, I have been looking into "Hygge" (pronounced hue-guh not hoo-gah!). Hygge is seemingly being mentioned everywhere at the moment. It is a Danish word which is used to acknowledge a feeling or moment at home or outside, ordinary or extraordinary as cosy, charming or special in some way.

There's apparently no English word which directly describes Hygge - but there are a few which can help us understand the general idea. Cosiness, happiness, a feeling of contentment, security, comfort and simpleness are all along the lines of the feeling of Hygge. 

Winters in Denmark are cold and dark, and yet the Danish continue to rank as some of the happiest people on earth - so I figure they must be onto something. 

I'm trying to approach my time at home with a feeling of Hygge as opposed to feeling guilty or lazy. I'm trying to relish the moment and acknowledge how good it feels to do things a little slower for a time. I am finding this is making it easier for me to then be productive and get things done afterwards!

So, how do we create a feeling of Hygge? It will be personal to each individual, as it is a "feeling" rather than an object or thing. I have found lighting beautiful candles when I am working, showering in the dark with a scented candle at night time, making a fragrant cup of tea with a teapot, having a great glass of red wine at night with dinner, walking my dog on a cold morning with lots of layers on, and sitting at my desk with a soft blanket over my knee are all bringing a feeling of contentment or cosiness for me this winter. Most of these things I would be doing anyway, but stopping to appreciate them seems to be doing the trick.

What are your favourite things to do to create Hygge? I'd love to know!

Megan

Why Home Stage? A Few Thoughts and Figures from Megan

It was while I was working as a property manager that I became passionate about presenting properties in their best possible condition. I saw time and time again that the properties that were well maintained and presented in their best condition rented quicker, for higher rent and to better tenants, or sold faster and for higher prices than those which were not. 

New Zealand continues to lag behind when it comes to getting in the right mindset with investment property. We tend to want to do everything ourselves, and with minimal money spent. While this is commendable in many ways, it also means many of us struggle to see an investment property as just that – an investment. Investments by nature do not cost nothing to upkeep. They tend to need some money spent on them in order to get a return. 

I have been doing some reading on overseas markets to get an understanding of the differences the NZ market has. I found some interesting statistics compiled by the National Association of Realtors in the USA, where home staging is almost a routine occurence. 32% of agents believed staging a property increased the dollar value a buyer was willing to offer for a home by 1-5%, and 16% believed it increased the dollar value by 6-10%. If we are looking at a standard apartment, even a 1% increase in value more than justifies the cost of staging.  There are also many other less quantifiable benefits for staging apartments. These include making the apartment stand out from other listings in the same building, which in turn could decrease the time taken to sell the property.  The same survey also found that 28% of agents believed buyers were more willing to overlook other property flaws if the listing was staged. 

So how can you use this information to your advantage? Well, obviously contacting Nook Staging to furnish or stage your property is a great start! There are also a few other tricks of the trade you might like to keep in mind:

• Remove as much clutter as possible. People need to be able to imagine living in the property, and it makes it tricky for them to do this if there are personal belongings filling up every square inch available. Remember that in apartments storage is at a premium, and therefore storage spaces need to be clear of clutter as well to make them look as large as possible.
• Make sure your apartment is presented in a clean condition, and smells good. I use diffusers and candles when staging to ensure the property smells good for the duration of time it is listed.
•  Have the property painted/carpeted with neutral colours throughout. 
• Don’t fill small apartments with heaps of bulky, large furniture. Glass is non-intrusive. Couches which have space underneath the base are less intrusive than those which sit directly onto the carpet. Mirrors are also a good way to make rooms feel larger.
•  Great art and plants elevate a property from being boring to amazing!
• Make the property as light as possible by having all curtains drawn, all lights on for viewings, and lamps in any dark patches. Consider changing bulbs for brighter daylight types if possible.
• Fresh flowers and small touches are the cherry on top which make a house feel like a home. 

I am happy to work with you to ensure your property is presented in the best possible condition for rental or sale. Be sure to send me an email if you wish to find out more about how Nook can help your apartment look sharper.

Megan

Abbey's Winter Edit

Hi guys, Abbey here!

Winter has always been my favourite season. Coats, boots, scarves….Layers upon layers. It’s all about the layers!!

At Nook, we have been creating warm and cosy rooms with a range of textures/fabrics which mimic the layering effect for interiors.

You can still use all your basic neutral pieces which translate across the seasons, but you can update the look for winter by adding the equivalent in homewares to a cosy sweater or scarf to build up texture and warmth in your home for the change of season!

My absolute favourite this winter are velvets, chunky knits and classic linens. A mixture of crisp, cosy and classic!

Fabrics can give such a tactile experience to a room. Velvet pieces often have beautiful dramatic shades and rich textures. Jewel colours create a glamorous luxe look which is perfect for creating a winter nest to relax in after being outside in the cold.

To keep the look feeling effortless, you can't go past linen. Neutral shades and washed pastels are stunning when layered with contrast or feature colours. I also love a traditional check wool throw, which works well with natural fabrics and wood furnishings creating a harmonious effect in the Scandi vein Nook is well known for.

All you need after that is a good book to curl up with!

Here's a few of my favourite pieces I have been loving working with over the cooler months:

Clockwise from top: Siesta Wool Throw from Citta, Gava Dish from Citta, Reflect Wool Embroidered Cushion from Citta, Space Works Book from Alex & Corban, Luna Wool Embroidered Cushion from Citta, Moss Stitch Wool Throw from Citta, Washed Velvet Square Stitch Throw from Citta, New Zealand Sheepskin from Thread Design.

Happy snuggling! 

Abbey x

First Homebuyer Series: Heidi & Dylan

Heidi and Dylan are the type of people I love to sponge knowledge from. They continually make clever and well thought out decisions when it comes to property (and everything else!), and when you add a tonne of hard work into the mix, the result is that they have both a home to add value to AND a tidy rental property. Talk about high achievers!

This week I talked to Heidi about their 3 bedroom home in Mangere Bridge, Auckland. Her and Dylan are at the tail end of a exciting renovation and I can't wait to see the end result.

I will also do a feature on their rental in the next few weeks - so stay tuned.

M: How long have you been living in your home? 

H: Five and a half years. 

M: What was your main purpose when buying it? 

H: We bought this as our first home with the view that we may not stay here forever. Our purpose has changed since buying it and we now have decided to stay here longer term. 

M: What immediately appealed to you about the place? 

H: It was an old do-up. It was a pretty villa under the poor paint job and tired decorating, so we were able to purchase at a good price and do the hard yards ourselves to make it into what we wanted it to be.

M: Tell us about what it was like when you first moved in:

 H: FREEZING, leaky, a horrid coloured yellow with mustard trims, lots of poorly built additions that needed attention. 

M: What have you done to the property since you bought it?

H: Basically everything!!!! 
In our first phase of renovations we
- Insulated the entire house, walls and all - this means re-gibbing and painting all the walls in every single room
- Added an ensuite
- Painted the exterior
- Re-did the toilet
- Got rid of the overgrown garden
- Built a small retaining wall to tidy up the driveway and planted a rose garden here

We then decided to stay put for the longer term so in the second phase we decided to extend the house, which involves
- A new laundry
- Open plan living/dining/kitchen in the extension
- New bathroom

M: Phew! That sounds like a lot of work! What was your best purchase? 

H: I love my Penny Stotter and my Ali Gulec prints! Also the solid wooden door which I've repurposed into my desk so I can work from home :)

M: Do you have a purchase you regretted?

H: Dining room chairs, I wish I'd spent more on getting some good quality ones from the beginning.

M: What do you love about the place? 

H: It's warm, highly practical, has great light and we've made it our own so it feels like home.

M: What don’t you love about it? 

H: Not a lot to be honest, I would have said the kitchen before the second round of renos as we're keen entertainers, so having the kitchen in a separate room was not conducive to good conversation while entertaining.

M: Describe your interior decorating style: 

H: Eccelectic? New and old, wood and metal, concrete and wood - all the opposites.

Investing in Practice - Jason Hoe from Argo Property

One of the great things about being in the property industry in Auckland is that it is small. Over the years, I have had the privilege of working with some very experienced and knowledgable people in different areas of expertise. One of those people is Jason Hoe, who I worked with when I was a property manager. Jason and I both studied a Bachelor of Property at the University of Auckland, and have gone into different areas within the industry - but have both focused on Auckland apartments.

Recently Jason started a consultancy company called Argo Property which helps people who are not knowledgable about the apartment industry make informed decisions when it comes to investing.

He recently shared with me a story about how he and his partner purchased and renovated an apartment earlier this year and achieved over $7,000 positive cash flow. There's details about some of the problems they faced and a complete breakdown of the numbers on his blog.

Having more of an interest in design and presenting properties for sale than being numbers-based, I find it helpful to see the costs and income drawn up for me - something Jason does very well! My only gripe is that he didn't use Nook Staging to furnish or home stage it for him, crucial error! (Haha).

Have a look by clicking here - it makes for some very interesting reading.

Megan