Rachelle and Chris Duffy are co-owners of Idiom boutique. After living overseas and then in Auckland, they moved back to Tauranga just over four years ago. They now live in Mt Maunganui with their new "baby", 3-month-old puppy, Gypsy. Rachelle takes us through their home.
There's lots of different flavours in
our house. I love antiques, that French country style. Chris is, well, not minimalistic, but quite particular. He's a graphic designer so he likes the whole engineering side of things. The chair he's sitting in is a Falcon, from Norwegian designer Sigurd Ressel - that's his ultimate style.
We both like that villa style - wooden floors, that sort of thing - but unfortunately there's not a lot of that in Tauranga. But you can't have everything, and this place is great: it's two storeys, there's a spa, it's only three streets back from the beach and the neighbours are amazing. We've got our own little community.
The chest next to Chris was an engagement present from my brother and sister and the two glass vases on top were from another sister. A lot of our stuff has sentimental value. There's a story behind most of it.
I got the shells when we were living in Scotland. I was homesick because I'd always lived near the beach. We've added bits and pieces from our travels. We lived in France for a while where we ran a chalet and had snails on the menu, so I kept some of those shells. Cleaned, of course.
My mum gave me the trunk they're on when I was 21, like a glory box. It's a shame that sort of thing - where your mum sets you off on married life - doesn't happen any more.
Chris wanted manly couches - something comfortable that you can relax and lounge around on, not ones that look good but are uncomfortable to sit on. If we did it again, I'm not sure we'd go for cream, though.
