How Kiwi Live: how Anthony balances colourful art with minimalist furniture

Minimalist yet characterful and cosy. Minimalist because of the clean lines and brushed concrete floors. Character because of the art. And just cosy because it's a place we can come and relax.

An oasis. Home means to me a place I can come, close the door and shut the noise off. It’s a sanctuary and I've created that with a really private back garden with beautiful ferns, the spa - I’ve got my little buddha out there. It’s the yin to the yang because when I walk out that door, I'm in business mode, and I'm on. When I close that door, it's so peaceful, so quiet here. It's a place where I can plug in and recharge.

We like to entertain probably once a month because we’re so busy [laughs]. We've got this three-metre long kitchen bench so what I do is create a little cheese platter on it. We have the cheese platter and drinks on arrival while we all relax around the bench. Then we go into the indoor outdoor room and have a welcome drink for an hour or so. And then when the meal is ready, we put all the food on the kitchen bench. We live around the corner from Edgware Village, so we like to go and use the local shops like Peter Timbs. They've got a wonderful thing called the butcher's kitchen where they do all these amazing prepped vegetables. You just pop them in the oven and they come out crispy and delicious. And they do gorgeous homemade desserts. Everybody helps themselves, then we go over to the dining table for the main meal.

I think I'm most proud of bringing colour into the minimalist house through art because that just brings so much joy. Before I was always black and grey and white, and it was just minimalist and that was the calm element. But now I've learned you can add colour through art in your house. But if I put too much on the walls I instantly know I've gone too far because I no longer feel calm, so I’ll strip it back.

The outdoor area is life transforming. If anybody's reading this and thinking, should I invest and put louvres outside? Yes. Before in the summer, it was a sun trap and it just got too hot. We'd have a few nice chairs out there but it’d get too hot and we couldn’t use it. Then in winter when it’s wet and raining we couldn’t use it. But all of a sudden you get your louvres out there, in the summer when the sun is bearing down in the house, you can tweak those louvres to make the sun work for you. In the winter, what I love is that you close the louvres, you turn the fires on, you open all the windows [and] all the sliding doors, and then you put down that gauze so you're protected from the wind. It becomes a usable space and it’s doubled our living area.

I have a bit of a morning routine and that’s to get up and walk the dogs [Jack Russells Freddy and Mia]. And when I come back, I work out from home because the dogs like to be part of it. Mostly I put the car out onto the drive and I use the big double car garage as my gym space, but also in the winter months I’ve been using my living area. I like to do yoga by the big sliding doors and it's really nice because I put the outdoor lights on [early in the morning].

We end the day on the sofa. It’s a real ritual, it’ll be Joe, me, the two dogs on our laps and a cup of tea and we'll watch a TV drama or series or something. We'll only watch an hour and it's [our] one hour together as a family. Then we'll put the phones in the kitchen on charge, go to bed and it’s lights out.

We've been doing this now for about six months. At first the ritual was to see what I'm doing the next day, what my calendar looks like. But now I just switch off as soon as I get onto that sofa. The phone goes on charge, and at 5 o’clock in the morning my alarm goes off on my watch.

St Albans is very popular with families because of the school zones. If you are thinking of buying and if you're able to, buy in good school zones because it will look after you for years to come. When I moved here [from England], because I’ve got family here, my cousin advised me to buy in a number of areas and St Albans was one of them.

So that's how I found this property and I fell in love with it. We’re across the road from a park. We've got shops, coffee shops, restaurants, we've got Edgeware village, we've got Merivale across the road. It's right in the heart of everything. Plus, we can walk into town, see a film and scooter back.

As a real estate agent I get to see the most exquisite homes and they don't have to be big and bold. Some of the most exquisite homes I've seen are just simple but practical and really well built. What I would really love is a lap pool. As you now know, I start every morning with a work out. I want to be able to get up in the morning and do my laps in my lap pool. And a little bit of grass for the dogs.

The spa. It's not something that we do every morning or every night but I’d say three to four times a week we’ll jump in that spa before we jump on that sofa. It's a way to unwind together. And if you're reading this, invest in a spa! It's so good for your muscles, it's amazing.

Coming from the UK, I wanted to make an effort and meet like-minded people, so I took the leap and joined BNI (Business Networking International). It was a fantastic decision! One of the most inspiring connections I made was with the talented artist Nathan Ingram.

I wanted to share Nathan's incredible journey with my friends and family, so I organised a gathering at home one summer night. Nathan gave a talk about how he started in the art industry and where he draws his inspiration from - his son. The atmosphere was filled with positive vibes, laughter, and meaningful conversations. Our home was the perfect backdrop for this gathering, and it felt wonderful to create a space where art and community could come together. It was such a happy memory of what I had visualised when I wanted to [live in] New Zealand.