Tuawera Coastal Home

The Opportunity: Situated high on a coastal hillside with sweeping views of Pegasus Bay, the clients site offered a rare chance to design a bespoke home that embraced its dramatic seaside setting. Rather than settling for a typical cookie-cutter new build, the couple — who had just relocated from nearby Redcliffs — wanted something that: felt like home from day one (rich in texture, warmth and soul); maximised its outlook to the beach and sea; and seamlessly blended lived-in character with smart, functional spaces. This brief came to life in the designs by Abbie Herniman of The Home Maker Interiors and provided an exciting platform for Modern Age Kitchens & Joinery to craft joinery that wasn’t just functional but grounded in material depth, organic colour and exquisite detailing. The Challenge:  With essentially a blank canvas, the key challenges were: 1. Balancing New Build Clean Lines with Personality: New builds often risk feeling sterile — too “white walls and blank slate.” For this project, the design had to be deeply personal and textured right from the start. That meant thoughtful material choices and interior elements that spoke of warmth and craft, not just architectural precision. 2. Integrating High-Performance Joinery Within an Open Plan. With an open-plan kitchen, dining and living layout designed to frame the ocean vista, the joinery needed to: visually anchor the space without interrupting sightlines; harmonise with natural materials like oak timber and stone; balance practical storage with elegant aesthetics; and complement high-end finishes like the Laminam Ultra Pietra Grey benchtops. The Result:  The result is a thoughtfully layered coastal home where bespoke kitchen and living joinery by Modern Age Kitchens & Joinery plays a central role in shaping both function and feeling. The kitchen, designed as the heart of the home, features walnut-stained American white oak cabinetry that wraps the main space and adjoining scullery, delivering a rich, tactile warmth that responds beautifully to natural light and coastal tones. Custom bench and island joinery pairs seamlessly with Laminam Ultra Pietra Grey surfaces, creating depth and sophistication without overwhelming the relaxed seaside palette. Carefully considered storage and open shelving strike a balance between practicality and visual restraint, while the absence of upper cabinetry allows uninterrupted views and daylight to take centre stage.  Abbie Herniman, whose exceptional design sensibility and collaborative approach ensured the interiors and joinery worked in harmony was second to none. Her design eye was immaculate in curating a material palette of oak, walnut stains and tactile finishes that gives the home a sense of character and warmth from day one — a rare and rewarding outcome in a brand-new build.