Our Life

How to make a Colourful Corkboard with Resene

We know Resene paints are great for transforming our walls, but their testpots are also perfect for craft projects. Penny Newton from Crafty Girl Life Hacks (and latitude’s own digital marketing guru) shows us how to give a corkboard a new lease of life and transform it into a colourful edition to your home.

Accentuate the Positive

Award-winning Mortgage Adviser and Owner of Loan Market Paramount , Nathan Miglani looks at the upsides of the current market.

Coming Full Circle – Preloved Clothing

Here’s a riddle and it’s no giggle. What is catastrophic when it’s fast and linear? Good when it’s slow and even better when it goes around in circles? It is the industry that puts clothes on our backs and pockets our cash with the seduction of what’s new, cheap and in fashion. Something has to change.

What Makes a Great Agent?

An experienced real estate professional can be invaluable in helping guide you through a property sale. Finding the perfect real estate agent is about finding a balance between knowledge, experience and communication. Local expert Keith MacDonald provides an insight.

Calming Your Mind

Practising bite-size mindfulness consistently can help you to slow down, calm your mind and body, be more present and be grateful for what you do have in life, not what you don’t have. Health is about mental fitness as well, not just physical fitness. Wellbeing expert Ella Sidey explains.

Craft a pretty spring wreath from bendy stems.

Put your herbs on display with this pretty (and easy-to-make) three-tier planter.

When a rare Mustang, based in Florida, catches the eye of an Auckland woman, she moves heaven and earth to park up the pony at home.

We throw out a mountain of electronics each year, but new recycling technology could help build a circular economy for more sustainable gadgets.

Cook up a feast for family and friends, decorating the table with these flax placemats.

Bringing the Past to Life at Akaroa

Aotearoa New Zealand’s histories/Te Takanga o te Wā – the new history curriculum for school students – is generating an upsurge of interest in Akaroa and the special place it holds in our past. Local guide and ecologist Marie Haley is thrilled to be sharing the peninsula’s unique stories with young people and suggests there is no better place for a New Zealand history tour than Akaroa.

The Magic of Auction with Keith MacDonald Harcourts Grenadier

While there are many facets to successfully selling a property, auction is a sale method sellers should consider, no matter the market. Real estate agent Keith MacDonald explains.

Achieving Greatness Together – Loan Market Paramount

From a hard-working solo maverick to leading the best team in the business, Nathan Miglani of Loan Market Paramount is an award-winning mortgage adviser raising the standard of customer care.

Keep Calm in a Cooling Market

It’s cooling off, and we’re not just talking about the weather, says Mortgage Adviser Nathan Miglani of Loan Market Paramount.

Keeping Canterbury Smiling – Peak Orthodontics

We talk to specialist orthodontist Dr John Perry from Peak Orthodontics about the importance of individualised treatment (be it with braces, clear aligners or a retainer) when it comes to achieving that perfect smile.

Breaking the Rules – The Wardrobe Stories

As owner-operator of clothing store Louis Who and the mastermind behind Waikuku’s Old School Collective , Lisa Willetts is a formidable force, passionate about slow fashion, a good frock and comfort.

A Place to Gather and Grow – Phillipstown Community Hub

Not long after Phillipstown School was closed seven years ago as part of the Christchurch schools’ post-earthquakes reorganisation, the school site reopened as a community hub. Today, Te Whare Whānau Whānui/Phillipstown Community Hub is a thriving place that offers a warm welcome and a host of activities and programmes.

Kid’s Reading Corner Aug/Sept

With so many great kids’ and young adult titles out there, it helps to have a recommendation from the experts. Here are this month’s top picks from Telling Tales: Scorpio Children’s Books .

Surprises come in many forms in the newest, electrifying chapter for Lexus.

A Sport Waikato initiative is helping females of all ages to feel comfortable about their bodies and encouraging them to be active.

Trees are significant hazards on their own, but pair them with fire and you’ve got a potential disaster. Michael Van de Elzen and FMG’s Montana Kerr share their top tips to mitigate risks.

An intermediate-level crochet project that is as pretty as it is practical.

Mushroom enthusiast Alice Nicholls explores the mindset of a mushroom in her master's thesis titled 'How to Become a Mushroom'.

Is it the Right Time to Buy?

Rising interest rates might have the market on edge, but there’s plenty of good news for property buyers says Nathan Miglani, Mortgage Adviser with Loan Market Paramount .

Food as Thy Medicine

New Zealand’s history with restrictive legislation of alcohol and cannabis has been both flourishing and failing over successive governments. In the 1970s, both commercial vines and medical cannabis plantings were making great footsteps. Sarah Perriam highlights how one of these industries reached $2 billion in export value by 2020 and the other is racing to catch up.

Bringing Heart to Recruitment – Trinity Employment

You can’t help but feel inspired hearing Cassandra Slumskie speak of bringing heart to the recruitment sector, and the success that’s followed. Driven by a need to serve businesses and candidates with values and ethics, her refreshing approach has not only seen Trinity Employment thrive, but make plenty of waves in the sector.

A New Vision in Surveying – Terravision

After 30 years of firmly establishing themselves in the Canterbury region and the South Island, one of Canterbury’s most well-known surveying companies is looking to the future.

We Teach the Future Together

When the world is in a state of constant disruption it is even more important to keep an eye on possible futures, for all businesses and communities as well as schools. Dr Cheryl Doig explains .

Timaru’s Young Entrepreneurs

A quiet revolution has been occurring in the South Canterbury town of Timaru. Despite Covid and the challenges of running a business, young entrepreneurs are moving into town and setting up shop.

Heroes are all Around us

Poor mental and emotional wellbeing affects the lives of many New Zealanders. Wellbeing advocate Nadine Hickman is on a mission to create positive change through her not-for-profit organisation, PEPTALK .

Kid’s Reading Corner June/July

With so many great kids’ and young adult titles out there, it helps to have a recommendation from the experts. Here are this month’s top picks from Telling Tales: Scorpio Children’s Books .

When Wisdom is Beautiful – Rhonda Stove’s 40+ Wise Women Project

On the surface Rhonda Stove’s 40+ Wise Women Project is both a brilliantly emotive marketing campaign and a creative way to attract business, yet it is also an ode to the collective power and beauty of mature womanhood. The project is ‘a celebration of all women aged 40 and above. A chance to tell us your story, share your insights, courage and beauty.’

Make Your Walls Talk with Resene

Colour, design and texture are guaranteed to add instant visual interest and depth to your interior. We chat to Brooke Calvert, Resene Colour Consultant, about where to start.

Ditching the Birds and the Bees

Raising and supporting kids is a minefield and when it comes to talking about sex we often wonder where to begin. Claire Millichamp from Side by Side Therap y offers some advice.