How Kiwi Live: Hana & Finnley

Finnley: I think that the unpredictability of sharing space is kind of crucial to keep your perception of home fresh with ideas of how to interact with your environment and be open to collaboration in terms of people's aesthetics, character and preferences. I think it’s really healthy. There’s this whakataukī - nā tō rourou, nā taku rourou
ka ora ai te iwi. It pretty much means that with my basket and your basket, we experience a greater proportion of wealth and kai (food).

Hana: My moon. It was in my mum's room growing up. She painted her whole room pale yellow and pink. She'd made her headboard, curtains, and all of her duvet covers. It was the most calming room ever, and it had a little bay window.

I also hold sentimental value for this lamp. Purely because it was the first fabric lampshade I'd ever made. It's made out of thai silk from an outfit my friend wore to a Thai wedding. She wanted someone to value the fabric that she cherished and so I used it for this. But also, I get annoyed at the kink in it because we had a friend whack their hand back and it has never quite come right again. A lot of the things in the room are pretty janky.

Finnley: Home to me is somewhere gentle and warm. A place to share and explore things about yourself that you enjoy doing. Nature would be ideal but that’s not always possible. Just a place to be yourself and unwind.

Hana: It’s a place of - for us here - community, comfort, connection, and a lot of aroha. A place for self-expression where you're tucked into a real comfort bubble of things that are special to you that can be on display. But I think it’s mainly about community. Having a space where we're based with so many other humans where it's nice to interact and have a home-cooked meal.

Finnley: There's a lot of stuff in here now so the capacity is definitely compromised, but it's super cosy and makes for a lovely intimate chilled setting when people need to have a little kōrero (talk) with one another or just chill. We often get ready to party here or it's been an after-party spot a few times. We've got this table which you can move. We just shift it, push the couches back, turn the disco ball on, speakers up and we're away.

Hana: Lots of friends will just pop round to sit and have a kōrero, kai or just play some games. It kind of feels like a 70s conversation pit. It's great because we can make it a larger space so that we can have events like quiz nights, which we’ve done.

Finnley: I’d say I probably start the morning with a general curiosity for the day and a few prompts to Hana that perhaps it's time to get up but also with full respect that perhaps she doesn't want to get up. Because we've got the skylights in here that's always a bit of a guiding force, at least for me when I wake up. I’m kind of like, oh what’s happening out there? I get up, put my bathrobe on and the most mellow record, maybe some sort of nature sounds and that’s the prompt for us to stir and then straight into the coffee.

Hana: I wake up and I love bed. I'm not someone who's like, what have I got planned today? My brain is still when I'm in bed. And I love that, so I just wait for my coffee.

Hana: Usually I'll come home and Finlay will be by his music gear listening to music. He'll always pause it as soon as I walk in, which is quite funny because he’s aware that the energy of my day might not match the music he’s playing. It’s quite lovely and considerate but to be honest, I don’t care. And then we're either in the main flat catching up with everyone and cooking; or we’re on this couch watching some Netflix or playing cards.

Finnley: And then there’s always a good hour of wind down time in bed just up there, disconnected. When we had the bed downstairs it was actually really hard to disconnect from the rest of the space because everything's right there. You could distract yourself with all these little activities. So it was really nice moving it up and being like, alright life, we're up there, we're done.

Hana: My dream home is kind of what we've created. I want the next place to have those same feelings that when you get home you just go, aahhh. You feel like you're in your little haven and you can unfold from the day. Nothing big. I don't want to live in a big house unless there's lots of people to fill it. I like the fact that when you live in smaller spaces you're more connected to those around you. The one thing that I would add to this place is probably a little bit of sun in the garden.

Finnley: By the ocean for sure. I was fortunate enough to grow up by the ocean and that was a big thing for me. We don't often get it here unless a southerly swell is absolutely roaring but hearing it at night, that is huge for me. Moana sounds are very good for the soul.