Feature article
How Kiwi Live: Hana & Finnley
How this radio DJ and sexual-wellbeing facilitator turned their studio mezzanine rental into their dream home.
Last updated: 19 August 2024
Some of us will spend our whole lives looking for our dream home. But when asked what their dream home looks like, Hana and Finnley say they’ve already created it. Trade Me Property chatted to them to find out what makes their space so special and how they like to enjoy it.
All photos by Jenny Siaosi from Siaosi Photography
Flatting and living communally
Finnley: I think that the unpredictability of sharing space is kind of crucial to keep your perception of home fresh with ideas of how to interact with your environment and be open to collaboration in terms of people's aesthetics, character and preferences. I think it’s really healthy. There’s this whakataukī - nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou ka ora ai te iwi. It pretty much means that with my basket and your basket, we experience a greater proportion of wealth and kai (food).
Favourite part of the home
Hana: My moon. It was in my mum's room growing up. She painted her whole room pale yellow and pink. She'd made her headboard, curtains, and all of her duvet covers. It was the most calming room ever, and it had a little bay window.
I also hold sentimental value for this lamp. Purely because it was the first fabric lampshade I'd ever made. It's made out of thai silk from an outfit my friend wore to a Thai wedding. She wanted someone to value the fabric that she cherished and so I used it for this. But also, I get annoyed at the kink in it because we had a friend whack their hand back and it has never quite come right again. A lot of the things in the room are pretty janky.
Finnley: I think for me it's the quiet. We're really lucky that we're pretty removed from the roads and we've got the trees here. And I’m very thankful for the plants inside too. I'm not a plant mum but I do water when necessary as Hana recommends. It's mostly Hana’s mahi on that front and I'm very appreciative of that. 90% came from a single leaf propagation.
Something else special about being here is all the peculiar angles. They're not necessarily supposed to be functional or serve a purpose but you can move your perception and your relationship with each nook of the house and fill it as you please. It can be challenging sometimes. You're like, why is that wall like that? And why does the roof come down there? I can't even stand here. But we find a way to utilise the space and I think that's really fun. I think when things are too distinguished it just exists as it is and you don't have as much capacity to move things around and switch it up.
The meaning of home
Finnley: Home to me is somewhere gentle and warm. A place to share and explore things about yourself that you enjoy doing. Nature would be ideal but that’s not always possible. Just a place to be yourself and unwind.
Hana: It’s a place of - for us here - community, comfort, connection, and a lot of aroha. A place for self-expression where you're tucked into a real comfort bubble of things that are special to you that can be on display. But I think it’s mainly about community. Having a space where we're based with so many other humans where it's nice to interact and have a home-cooked meal.
Entertaining
Finnley: There's a lot of stuff in here now so the capacity is definitely compromised, but it's super cosy and makes for a lovely intimate chilled setting when people need to have a little kōrero (talk) with one another or just chill. We often get ready to party here or it's been an after-party spot a few times. We've got this table which you can move. We just shift it, push the couches back, turn the disco ball on, speakers up and we're away.
Hana: Lots of friends will just pop round to sit and have a kōrero, kai or just play some games. It kind of feels like a 70s conversation pit. It's great because we can make it a larger space so that we can have events like quiz nights, which we’ve done.
Starting the morning
Finnley: I’d say I probably start the morning with a general curiosity for the day and a few prompts to Hana that perhaps it's time to get up but also with full respect that perhaps she doesn't want to get up. Because we've got the skylights in here that's always a bit of a guiding force, at least for me when I wake up. I’m kind of like, oh what’s happening out there? I get up, put my bathrobe on and the most mellow record, maybe some sort of nature sounds and that’s the prompt for us to stir and then straight into the coffee.
Hana: I wake up and I love bed. I'm not someone who's like, what have I got planned today? My brain is still when I'm in bed. And I love that, so I just wait for my coffee.
Ending the day
Hana: Usually I'll come home and Finlay will be by his music gear listening to music. He'll always pause it as soon as I walk in, which is quite funny because he’s aware that the energy of my day might not match the music he’s playing. It’s quite lovely and considerate but to be honest, I don’t care. And then we're either in the main flat catching up with everyone and cooking; or we’re on this couch watching some Netflix or playing cards.
Finnley: And then there’s always a good hour of wind down time in bed just up there, disconnected. When we had the bed downstairs it was actually really hard to disconnect from the rest of the space because everything's right there. You could distract yourself with all these little activities. So it was really nice moving it up and being like, alright life, we're up there, we're done.
Your dream home
Hana: My dream home is kind of what we've created. I want the next place to have those same feelings that when you get home you just go, aahhh. You feel like you're in your little haven and you can unfold from the day. Nothing big. I don't want to live in a big house unless there's lots of people to fill it. I like the fact that when you live in smaller spaces you're more connected to those around you. The one thing that I would add to this place is probably a little bit of sun in the garden.
Finnley: By the ocean for sure. I was fortunate enough to grow up by the ocean and that was a big thing for me. We don't often get it here unless a southerly swell is absolutely roaring but hearing it at night, that is huge for me. Moana sounds are very good for the soul.
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