Tiffany Jeans – the creator of Curio Noir has made home for her family where everything has an aesthetic reason for being.
When house hunting, there is often a moment when you realise how perfectly a house will become a home. For Tiffany Jeans this was the moment she turned around in the kitchen of a workman’s cottage in Auckland’s Arch Hill
and looked back down the hallway. Instead of seeing the front door, as is the norm in this type of house, the hallway ended at the master bedroom. This was exactly what Tiffany and her husband Andy had been hoping to find – a creative space with a non-traditional layout in which to raise their family, and also to use as a base for Tiffany’s luxe lifestyle brand, Curio Noir.
The first thing they did after moving in was paint all the surfaces a crisp white to freshen the place up. Then they did the floors in a high-gloss white too. “Over the next few years we’ll make some big changes, inside and out, but we enjoyed doing minor work like this in the meantime,” Tiffany says.
“We feel like we need to live in a space to decide what our whole family really needs – we’re in no hurry.”
Their daughter Dita’s birth was a bit more pressing though. She truly made their house a home when she arrived a few weeks after they moved in – and was delivered in the lounge. She will join Lilith (11) and Carmelo (6) rambling around in the native bush and walkway in the back garden when she’s a bit bigger. In the meantime, she is happy in her peaceful room that she shares with her brother, which has touches of pale blue and vermillion – Dita’s middle name.
In fact, every bedroom thoughtfully reflects the person living in it. The children each have a Martino Gamper Arnold Circus stool in their room, so they can start life with a piece to take into their future. Meanwhile, the master bedroom features Tiffany’s Miss Crabb wedding dress artfully displayed on the wall.
The wedding also sparked another major project. Curio Noir was born out of Tiffany’s creative desire to make a special curio for her wedding guests – a small skull candle wrapped in tulle. This in turn inspired the Lilith Candle, the first product made and stocked by Curio Noir – Tiffany’s business which produces beautiful candles, made in hand-blown glass vases and delicately perfumed with scents such as Vetyver Bouquet, Gardenia’s Shadow and Tubereuse.
The slow, considered approach that’s a hallmark of Curio Noir is also evident throughout the home – and, especially, the office it’s based in. The space is not cluttered at all. Everything in it, from the taxidermy bird to the photos of the children, are object placed, rather than thrown together. It makes for a quiet, peaceful work space.
This restful feeling extends through the home – largely owing to pieces having been bought because they were exactly right for the space, and no room having anything more in it than exactly what is needed. Yet, because each piece is individually pleasing to the eye, none of the rooms feel stark. It just feels like every object has enough space of its own to exist harmoniously with everything around it.
With Tiffany and Andy’s philosophy of owning simple, well-made, but beautiful objects, both their home and their creative venture feel wonderfully cohesive – with the scent of Tiffany’s candles pervading the whole house and tying everything together. Yet, each room has a different note, a different mood. As with everything Tiffany does, this was a decision that was beautifully considered.
LIVING (Top Picture) The large painting was a gift from artist Pamela Tinning. It has been perfectly placed above the couch from BoConcept. The white paint used on the walls is Resene Black White, matched with Resene White on the floors throughout the house. A black-and-white Goldie print hangs alongside works by local artists Andrew Barber and Richard Orjis. Baby Dita’s wooden toys are from Nature Baby.
Words Anya Brighouse
Photography Evie Mackay
