Antoinette (Ants) and Mike Smith launched the RPM clothing label 17 years ago and have just opened a new concept store in Devonport Rd. They live in Mt Maunganui with their three daughters, a Cairn-Maltese terrier cross named Stella and a garage full of sporting equipment beginning with the letter
"S". Ants gives us a peek inside.
We built the house seven years ago, when Devon was born. We used to live in the house at the front of the section, an original Mount bach. We lived there for about seven years as well, so we've been in the same place for quite a while now. I used to worry about all the sand being walked into the place - you could be rough as guts with the bach - but you know, it's a house, mate, it's a roof over your head.
The whole family's into surfing and in winter we all go snowboarding and skiing. We've got all the toys in the garage ... skateboards, skis, surfboards, you name it.
I don't really have a decorating style. I definitely don't follow trends. I like mixing old and new, but there's still that casual beach thing going on as well. The kitchen, lounge and dining area is all open-plan. Everything ends up in here. The kids have a toy room, but they're forever dragging everything out.
The husband was horrified when I came back from Auckland with Stella - another girl. But she's cool; she comes to work with us every day.
The big painting in the kitchen is by Laurie Steer. He's a local artist [and a] good mate of ours. He did it for us years ago when we were in the old house. We were out one night and I hit him up to paint something - he pretty much came around the next day, so he must have done it that night. It's called Idol Of Desire. It's massive - I'm not into little trinkety stuff. When I first got it I thought "oh my God, what is this?", but now I love it. I think I gave him a T-shirt or a sweatshirt for it.
