Julie Eynon studied jewellery design in Australia in the 80s. In 2007 - two children and a 20-year career in IT later - she cleared out the garage of her Otumoetai home and converted it in to a studio, where she now works full-time making jewellery.
Home is upstairs, work is
downstairs. It's my creative space. I can put some music on and just hammer away. I spend pretty much from 8.30 in the morning till dusk down here.
People come and go, friends bring me coffee or we go out for coffee. You do have to intersperse your day with other things, otherwise it can drive you a bit nuts. Sometimes I just need to go upstairs and sit in the sun for a little while.
I did a jewellery course in Sydney in the 80s, then I went off and did other silly things like get married and have children. Then I needed to make some decent money, so I re-trained in IT. Three years ago I realised I was sick of sitting behind a computer and decided I was going to do the thing I had always want to do.
There's only one source of light - the French doors I put in that I got off Trade Me - so I painted it all white to brighten it up. Plus it's a nice canvas for almost anything.
I bought the chair from Dolce Vita. I just fell in love when I saw it and had to have it. I had to layby it, and then make lots of jewellery to get it home.
A friend made the workbench for me. I have a little guard that goes over the machine to keep the dust down, but it pretty much needs a good clean-up and vacuum in here every week.
Bella, my black lab, keeps me company downstairs. She's 11. She would have been in the photo but she's had an operation and she's got one of those Elizabethan collars on. Elizabethan collar? That's a bit rich, isn't it? - it's a bucket.
