This Sunday we are joined by the hugely successful NZ design blogger and shop owner, Alana Broadhead. As a fellow Kiwi trying to promote our talented creatives, it's an honour to have Alana join us to discuss design culture and her favourite products available to shop now. We love her philosophical approach to interiors and how it can alter and define the way we live our lives.
What do customers love most about visiting the Sunday Home Store?
People are often pleasantly surprised to find a store like ours - with such a contemporary curation - in Waihi Beach, a very small holiday destination. People come for the amazing beach(es!), but then discover that we have some seriously good shops and modern eateries here.
Customers love the clean, light aesthetic of our space, but even more important for us is the feel of it. Being called Sunday, that’s the vibe we want you to feel when you visit us. Candles lit, good music playing, and an uncluttered but definitely unpretentious atmosphere.
Being an established design blogger, I constantly (obsessively!) have my hawkish eye out for inspiring new brands and products, so there are always fresh new goodies arriving in-store and online. We also have some very cool limited editions, exclusives (that you can’t get anywhere else), and special Sunday collaborations with other designers.
Why the name Sunday?
Sunday to me is a feeling - good strong coffee in a handmade ceramic mug; long, lazy mornings; fresh clean linen. It's that patch of sunlight that streams through your bedroom window at that particular time each day; the way you feel after a swim in the ocean. Sunday is setting the table 'just because'; lighting a candle; loving your space. Sunday is totally relaxed, it's stylish simplicity. And Sunday is about designing a home - and a lifestyle - that inspires you.
What inspires your interiors style?
Soft Minimalism is where it’s at for me. Soft Minimalism is not like the traditional minimalism that was austere and pretentious.
Soft Minimal spaces are clean and light, but still laid-back, warm and liveable. The modern Scandinavian style is very much a Soft Minimalist vibe, and I also love the coastal contemporary interior design that is coming out of Australia – very open and bright.
Why does Soft Minimalism appeal so much?
Mainly because I just love a simple, clean and contemporary look! But also because Soft Minimalism is a bit more than an
aesthetic – it’s sort of a philosophy, too.
We live such hectic lives, and Soft Minimalism is an antidote to all that overwhelm. Soft Minimalism asks you to de-clutter
your home (and your lifestyle), embrace organisation, and create a space that is a sanctuary. This doesn’t mean stripping
it of personality though.
Soft Minimalism as a style also demands you to buy less, but better. So it’s a move away from mass-produced, low-cost and
‘fast fashion’ and promotes the idea of supporting local, handmade, better for the planet, better for you.
Soft Minimalism is also about elevating the everyday. As an example: You don’t need four teapots gathering dust in the cupboard, just have one that you absolutely love, that’s beautiful quality. Keep it out on an open shelf because it’s gorgeous. And don’t only use it for ‘special occasions’ – make everyday a special occasion. Make your life a special occasion!
Has your style evolved through creating Sunday Home Store?
My style has evolved a lot over the past 5 years actually through curating my design blog. It’s definitely simpler and much more sophisticated (still very laid-back though!), and I am much fussier about what excites me, because I’m exposed to so much ‘same-same’ stuff. In creating Sunday, I now value even more than I did before pieces that are both totally on-trend (that word makes me cringe a little!) yet timeless. Contemporary, yet classic – because Good Design Doesn’t Date. And I also better appreciate, in a much deeper sense, products that are made with care by small businesses, as opposed to in some factory in China.
Can you tell us about some of your favourite products?
Green is the new black – loving Renee Boyd’s sage green speckled mug and sage green bowls; Paige Jarman’s sage green (with blush pink) tumblers; forest green linen cushions, and the iconic Scandinavian salt & pepper grinders from MENU in the Deep Greens colourway.
New book The Forest Cantina – HOME, from inspiring Wellington mum and ‘home cook’ Unna Burch. Unna crowd-funded and self-published so she could have complete creative control, and the result is a truly stunning hardback book, with embossed cover and two ribbon markers, beautiful to look at and hold, with 228 pages of inspiring recipes and lifestyle photography. I’m so inspired by products like this – when you buy one you are really giving yourself a gorgeous gift that will give you years of enjoyment, but you’re also directly supporting and high-fiving someone who has had the lady-balls to live her passion – very inspiring!
Soft Sand tableware from Claybird Ceramics – the plates have a high rim which somehow make every meal look like a restaurant meal, and they’re the best clean white colour with a perfect speckle, created by using sand from Waihi Beach.
New modern baby brand from Sweden, Walnut & Walrus – super cute, contemporary onesies. We are the only ones in New Zealand who have this brand, and the husband and wife who design it are the coolest, loveliest people.
Matte Black kitchen knives by iconic Scandinavian brand Stelton – because I believe good design can elevate the everyday and put more joy into ordinary routines. And I’d rather chop me potatoes with a sexy matte black knife.
Mustard! Obsessed with this colour at the moment. Mustard blanket with tassels, mustard linen cushions, mustard cotton wash cloths which are beautiful for your face, or in the kitchen…
What colours/trends do you see emerging this season?
Green is definitely the new black (see above!) Pink is still big, but you gotta get the right pink – soft and dusty is where it’s at. Beige, sand, taupe and camel shades are the new neutrals. You can legitimately paint your bedroom beige now and it would be awesome.
We’ve moved away from heavy patterns and bold colours, and interiors are being informed much more by colours from nature, natural materials (rattan is back, baby!) and organic textures. Less a trend and more a movement - buying less, but better. Simplifying your life and your spaces, editing and editing until what you have left is just what you love. As William Morris said: “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful".
Where are most of your products sourced from?
A huge amount of our collection is actually designed and made in New Zealand, and I literally have my eye out everyday (for the blog and for Sunday) for new inspiring New Zealand makers. We also have products from New Zealand designers and makers who are currently living overseas (Melbourne, New York, Sweden). But we also have some very inspiring Australian design, and quite a few Scandinavian brands because those Danes know good design!
What does your work space look like? Is your home similar?
There are a few things I can’t do without in my work space. One is my desk – a blonde timber trestle desk that we sell at Sunday.
I have a mood board that I change out all the time, it’s a ‘visual diary’ of the colours, graphics, words and ideas I’m vibing on at the moment. I have a lot on my plate, so to keep me from overwhelm, I like my work space to be completely clutter-free and well-organised. Besides, it gives me an excuse to buy good-looking boxes and designer storage. Am I the only one who think storage is sexy? I also believe inspiring ideas deserve inspiring stationery, and I only use one brand of black ink pens… no bic biros for me.
And finally, what is your favourite part of living in New Zealand?
As a design blogger and the owner of a design store, I have to say the strength of our contemporary design scene. This little country punches well above its weight on the international design stage. Every week there is a world-class new brand, or designer, or destination to discover. I feel so lucky that it has become my job to hunt out and share the best new design coming out of New Zealand – both through my online magazine, The New (thenew.nz, which has been running for over 6 years and showcases everything from eateries, architecture, graphic design and packaging, through to interiors, homeware and furniture) and now through Sunday Homestore.
To shop Alana's beautiful store please visit Sunday Homestore. For a huge variety of inspiration you can visit thenew.nz or follow their on Instagram here.