Becoming household names after winning The Block NZ in 2014, Alex & Corban Walls established A&C Homestore never knowing what it would become. Over 8 years, A&C Homestore opened 4 stores across the country and a beautiful online store, filled with carefully curated ranges of homewares and furniture, inspiring content and in-store interior styling services.

In 2023, with two kids under 5 in tow, Alex decided it was time to pass on the torch, to prioritise spending time with her family. Now, Alex is working on some exciting projects including purchasing a rental property with husband Corban that they have created into a beautiful home for some very lucky tenants. In the bedrooms and office space, Alex has opted for the Solution Dyed Nylon carpet from our Reside Locale range, in Fifth Ave colourway Duke, available exclusively at Flooring Xtra - a hard wearing, cost-effective yet incredibly luxurious solution, perfect for a rental property.

Read on to find out more about her journey.

01 - What was your journey from establishing A&C Homestore, to now working on your current projects?

A&C Homestore was like raising a baby into a fully grown teenager. It started with conception where I thought I had a good plan on how and what A&C Homestore would become, originally planning for it to be an online store only, to work alongside my plans for starting a family.

However, I have a huge passion for interiors, business retail, and helping people build comfortable and loved homes not houses. That passion meant that I gave it my all, I never stopped saying ‘yes’ to all the opportunities that came my way. Along the way, my baby was nurtured by amazing staff with exceptional ideas and passion. A&C Homestore grew into a nationwide brand that our customers loved to come to for styling inspiration, advice, or seasonal and lifestyle shopping.

Owning and running the business exceeded all original expectations I had for it. It became a large business to run, a lot more than I could handle on my own. While my own babies Austen & Goldie were my priority, I no longer felt I could be a good enough ‘parent’ to both business and my family. So at the end of the day, there was no question that my family needed to come first, and I have found a wonderful new family to take the reigns, and continue growing A&C Homestore without me.

It was a very hard decision, one that took me a couple years to make, but I am now so happy, as it has meant I could slow down and enjoy my children at home without the pressure of owning a business.

Now, Corban is working full time on renovating a property that we own, and I get to enjoy putting my interior design skills to use on this project (part time).

02 - What was your vision for the renovation for the rental property?

It originally had a very run down bungalow at the front, and also a minor dwelling towards the back of the property. The vision was to restore these homes to become beautiful clean and tidy homes to rent out. We got started on the first house, and while working on it, we couldn’t help but go a bit above and beyond a normal rental property. I decided I would challenge myself to be as creative as possible with as minimal budget as I could (within reason). With Corban dedicating himself to working on it full time, it did mean we could afford to be a bit more creative.

03 - What was important for your carpet choice?

Durability and Affordability. As this is a rental property, we can’t control spills being tidied up properly. So we wanted to make sure we placed a carpet that would stand the test of time with busy families. The Reside Locale range was attractive not only for it’s cost, but also being a good quality Solution Dyed Nylon carpet that has great reputation for durability. We chose Reside Locale Fifth Ave in colour Duke, the highest pile height in the range and a light greige tone that compliments our original timber flooring perfectly.

04 - For those embarking on a renovation, what are your top tips?

To save money, I recommend getting in and completing as much of the work as you can yourself. Things like the demolition work, painting, fencing, landscaping. All of these trades can save some pretty good money if you prepare yourself to work hard.

And of course have a good plan! Create yourself a moodboard and gather samples that travels around with you in your car. When I’m renovating, I bring all the swatches for paint, tiles, carpets, flooring and fabrics with me in a container in my boot, so whenever I find myself out making decisions for the house, I have everything with me to match up with. This helps create a consistent story of colour, texture and finishings throughout the home.

05 - What’s next in store for you and do you have any future projects in the pipeline?

We have just completed the first house, but now we have the minor dwelling at the back of the property that now looks like a poor old shed in comparison. So our next move is to work on moving this house into the middle of the section, and then renovating this also. It’s quite exciting seeing the transformation happen. Stay tuned!

Credits

Who: Alex & Corban
Staging Sourced From: Slow Store & A&C Homestore
Where: Birkenhead, Auckland
Photographer: Olivia Pitcher