From the editor - April 2010

Now in my (admittedly fond) opinion, Ben is a great kid, but he also has standard-issue teenage boy traits: he is undomesticated and prone to leaving Coke cans lying around. He doesn’t give a toss about what he looks like. If you had to imagine someone least likely to read NZ House & Garden, it would be Ben.

But the photograph of his room – 2.5m square, overlooking the carpark, with an iron bed, desk and a New Zealand flag on the wall – summed up to me perfectly the essence of NZ House & Garden. Because I reckon that, if someone like my Ben thinks it’s important to decorate his room with a flag, make the bed neatly and send pictures to us, it is safe to assume that the nesting instinct – the desire to build a space that is yours and expresses your personality – is a universal one.

And that universal homemaking desire is, of course, exactly what makes this magazine tick. It is what motivates our homeowners to paint, polish and furnish their houses to perfection. It is what makes you, our readers, flick slowly through the pages to glean ideas for your own home.

Homemaking is a very human, very positive force that helps build families and – I don’t think this is overstating it – binds our communities. It runs through every page of this magazine and it makes me feel good about my new job.

This is my first issue as editor and I have no plans to meddle with the essence of the magazine. Every issue will be a rich mix of Kiwi homes: opulent houses such as the one on page 22; simple beach-hugging baches like page 32’s gem; clever family homes like the one on page 72… and so on. We’ll mix it up, keep it colourful, celebrate the diversity of lifestyles in our little country.

We’ll also be fussy. We’ll bring you all sorts of homes, but only the best of each sort. We’ll use great writers and photographers and aim to produce home features that impress and inspire you.