At Essence we love putting together our house features. We love seeing how people live, how form and function combine, how trends and practices evolve.

From bookends to teddy bears – The Repair Café in Timaru sees a whole host of items through its doors.

“It’s really the same principle as the Repair Shop,” says volunteer and trustee of the Sustainable South Canterbury Trust, Rhys Taylor, referring to the popular UK reality television series.

From the driveway the home of Janice and John Newell looks elegant with its schist stone and timber exterior. Tucked onto a central Rangiora section, the angular looking home has not a single window onto the street front. But looks can be deceptive. Step into the double width entry hall and the house opens out all around you – with its three bedrooms, two living rooms and large open plan kitchen dining area – it feels big.

The first time that musician Josh Keating (Ngāi Tahu) was up on stage for a musical performance was before he was born.

“I’m pretty sure I was at the NZ Gold Guitar Awards in Gore when I was in mum’s tummy,” laughs the now 19-year-old singer, song-writer and guitarist. “I’ve been going to those awards my whole life.”

The long, slow flight of harrier hawks circling overhead is a sight many of us love to see against our wide-open Canterbury skies.

When Michael and Brigitte Barker bought the Vicarage in Geraldine in 2017 – they knew that restoring a heritage building was a big undertaking. And they were under no illusion about their expertise in the area.

This is a love story. It’s a story about a man called Chris who set eyes on a woman named Julie many, many moons ago. At the time, he swore that he’d met the girl of his dreams. But the timing wasn’t right. Thirty years passed before the two met again by chance and, then and there amongst the chip packets and ice cream cones of a corner dairy, Chris declared his intention to marry Julie and whisk her away to Paris for their honeymoon. And that’s exactly what he did.

We caught up with Wongi Wilson, the awesome mural artist who has worked on pieces all over Canterbury, including the Triangle in Ashburton, Twizel and several in Christchurch. We wanted to find out a bit more about what goes into creating a mural and his approach to the art form.

When Selese Rowe and her partner, Michael, first spotted their two-storey house in Timaru – it was the bedrooms that were the deciding factor. Bringing together a blended family  – space was essential. But the location was a close runner up – near to school, the beach and the supermarket.

For many embarking on renovating an old home – there are a lot of unknowns. But for Martin and Anne Stewart who took on a church conversion in Totara Valley – there were also some daunting knowns – like earthquake damage, no running water and the very considerable challenge of transforming the church into a residential building.

On a late summer morning by the river in Kaiapoi, artist Mel Eaton is ready to get to work on the wall of the Cure Boating Club.  Local artist, Margot Korhonen, is already painting away – filling the wall with swirling purples and blues. But it’s not just a case of turning up with a few tins of paint and a brush.

It’s two o’clock in the afternoon and Lee Barrington, cook and owner of iconic Kaiapoi café Out The Gate, is tucking into a sausage sandwich. Is that breakfast, lunch or dinner?

Heritage homes are a little slice of history – yet all too often they’re neglected and destroyed for short-sighted financial gain. That’s probably why there aren’t that many of them around and it makes the sight of a perfectly preserved cottage in Kaiapoi even more striking. The Williams Street cottage has category 1 Heritage listing and continues in use as a private residence to this day.

When Karin and Dale Mackay moved into their two-storey, four-bedroom house in Fernside in 2021 – it was showing its age. The mint green exterior hadn’t aged well whilst inside there were pink bathroom suites and a blue laundry. The single glazed doors and windows were old and draughty and the lack of any insulation meant it was pretty cold.

As business origin stories go, Tracy and Joachim van Oostrum the couple behind LOVE IN A JEWEL, have a pretty good one. Long before they started their keepsake jewellery design business it was jewellery that brought them together.

Not much phases Olivia Waldron. At just 25 years old, the bubbly South Cantabrian has already completed a degree, travelled the world, started her career, joined the emergency response team at work, become a group fitness instructor and, most recently, become a qualified firefighter with the St Andrew’s Volunteer Fire Brigade.

When Rebecca Smith first moved into her two-storey, brick house in Timaru 10 years ago, it was “one blank and beige canvas to stamp my mark on.” Embracing her love of all things retro she soon transformed it into a swirling carnival of colours, patterns and textures.

It all started with a 1967 Mustang for Michelle Cahill, who won the Best Dressed title at last year’s Caroline Bay Rock & Hop.

For Danny Bisschop, a chance encounter at the traffic lights as a boy sparked his life-long love of cars. “I was sitting in my parents’ car when I was about 10 years old,” recalls Danny, now 70. “I saw a 1933 Ford Coupe pull up at the lights and that was it! From that point on I’ve been crazy about hot rods.”

On a late summer morning looking out over a garden with rambling roses, vigorous vines and established trees – it’s hard to imagine that seven years ago this was a bare paddock. But that’s exactly what it was says homeowner Sue Heazlewood.

Volunteer fire fighter, Assina Dalglish, has attended her fair share of significant call outs in the past three years, including the Loburn and Swannanoa fires in January as well as car accidents, natural disasters and medical events.

Many of us work from home at some point, whether it’s a day a week or full-time. We might spread out on the corner of the kitchen table or take our laptop to the spare bedroom. But architectural designer, Josh Newlove, has created a home office that ticks all the boxes – great views of Mt Peel, close to the house, but far enough away to avoid disturbances.

Turn off the highway to Waikuku Beach and there’s an instant holiday vibe in the air. Perhaps it’s the sea air and the picnicking families. Or the fish and chips and the beautiful views over the lagoon.

There’s nothing like home baking to lift the spirits. One popular group shares with us how they spread a little happiness by delivering home baked goods to those who might be having a tough day. 

The road to Mesopotamia Station is a lonely one. But five days a week you will spot the postie, Matt Searles, travelling this route along with his trusty camera and capturing some stunning images of rural NZ.