Her Magazine is New Zealand’s only women’s business lifestyle magazine! Her Magazine highlights the achievements of successful and rising New Zealand businesswomen. Her Magazine encourages a healthy work/life balance.
Issue link: http://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/67815
fight or flight age 16 she left school to study in Wellington and continued on at Victoria University where she studied performance singing and completed her degree with First Class Honours. In 2001 she made the move to London where she studied for three years at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama (gaining her Masters). Then, after all the training was done she began freelancing. It was in London, where Majka made her home for seven years as an opera singer, that her insatiable appetite for design and aesthetic beauty was fostered. She adored strolling the chaotic streets of London, intoxicated by the giddy thrill of fantastical window displays, cutting edge art exhibitions and divine shop interiors, and she hungered after each and every design magazine, which fed her increasing addiction to interior design. "I'd always been interested in it but being exposed to the level and the capacity of what you could see in a city like London was overwhelming. It was hugely inspiring." "That period of my life [singing] is something that I loved to do and was good at, but it is something I sort of fell into," Majka explains. "Now, with what I'm doing I find there's no distinction between work and play because I am so passionate about it. I live and breathe it." She has since retired from the stage but has taken many valuable lessons from that period of her life. "Like training as an athlete it is a very high performance activity, and if you don't keep it up on a daily basis you lose it. You either have to dedicate your whole life to it or not at all. That's the kind of person I am." www.mintstylestudio.com Ten ways to fall in love with your home again COLOUR YOUR WORLD It's amazing how colour can drastically change the vibe of a room. Be bold and go for black, which works as a stunning backdrop for black and white artwork. BRING THE OUTSIDE IN A leafy, potted plant or a handpicked posy of flowers will bring vibrancy and life to any area of your home. FAMILY TIES Update an old family photograph by printing it on an unusual material such as ply wood, which looks especially good with sepia tones where the wood grain shows through. Enquire with your local signage company. THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX Get your imagination going and re-purpose an object, like turning a handwoven basket into a lampshade or an old bevelled mirror into a side table top. Shop and restaurant fit outs are often great inspiration. GET CREATIVE With winter nearly upon us it's the perfect time of year to take up a new craft that can then be displayed in your home, which then becomes a great conversation piece when friends come to visit. 68 | www.hermagazine.co.nz SANCTUARY Create a nook in your home you can retreat to, to unwind from the crazy world outside your front door. With a comfy armchair, a stack of magazines with a lamp propped on it and maybe a collection of eclectic art work on the wall, it needn't be fussy. STIMULATE THE SENSES Indulge in a beautiful scented candle to relax or energise. Try The Soy Company for all natural and New Zealand made. GROUP YOUR COLLECTIONS Don't tuck your personal mementos away, take them out of hiding. Gather like items together and arrange in a little vignette on a sideboard or a windowsill. These are the unique details that reflect your personality in your own home. ORGANISE It's amazing how differently you will feel towards the space in which you dwell once you've given it the blitz! KikkiK has some great books on organisation for your home. STYLE TRUMPS FASHION Never mind what the Jones' are flaunting next door, personal style is what makes a house a home and cannot be bought at any price. Let your personality shine through; remember, it's your home.