Our Place: Living with four men

We go 'heart to heart' with Rebecca Beale, who lives with husband, Jimmy, and sons Charlie, Max and Archie in the Mount.

I have been collecting hearts for some time now. One rainy winter afternoon, when I was pregnant with Archie, a girlfriend came over to drink tea and we dug out my growing collection and decided to hang them up on the wall.

It was very nostalgic and took us ages as we chatted and laughed about each one.

The collection was about half the size it is now. I have always loved the image of the love heart, ever since I was a young girl.

There's something very warm and life-affirming about it. Living in a house with four men, I like the femininity the hearts bring to the house.

Many of the hearts come from different spots in New Zealand.

Whenever I go away somewhere I'm always on the lookout for something new and my friends often buy me hearts for my birthday or Christmas.

A few weeks ago, we went on a family camping trip and I picked up a beautiful, blue embroidered heart. Each one carries special memories for me.

The white one at the top with "you have captured my heart" was given to me by my neighbour after I had my third son, Archie. We had a bit of a journey to have him and she could see how smitten I was when he was born.

This room has become a bit of a gallery. As the children have grown older, I have been able to reinstate all my precious things on shelves and bookcases without the worry of inquisitive fingers smashing them on the floor.

Our living area is very open-plan and this corner of our house feels peaceful. We try to eat together as a family on the weekends.

It's harder during the week as my husband works long hours, so usually the dining table is covered in pens, pencils, tape and stickers from the boys and their friends' efforts at art. I'm addicted to buying hearts now.

I wonder how many walls I will cover before the men of the house ask me to stop?