call for colour

This project is a renovation of an old hill station originally built in 1890 left unrenovated for the last 15 years.

The new owners are a young family of five relocating from Melbourne. They wanted to transform the property into a beautiful, contemporary family home, reflective of their personality and lifestyle. It was important to have a balance of beautiful areas for entertaining as well as a practical and liveable place to raise three children.

The existing interiors were very dark with a lot of timber so the number one priority was to lighten up the spaces. The clients wanted a great injection of colour, to create a truly unique interior and to avoid plain white walls as much as possible.

Vibrant Resene colours were used to bring the house to life, in conjunction with a completely new soft furnishing scheme using layers of coloured, patterned and textured fabrics and new flooring to complete the customised scheme. Every single surface in the property was refinished, all floors, walls, ceiling and inbuilt cabinetry; the house had a total transformation.

When selecting colours, consideration was always given to the expansive gardens that could be seen through the windows and how these colours and light would affect the room. It was also carefully planned how the paint colours would relate to each other when looking from one room to the next.

It was decided to keep the entrance and sitting room more neutral, to be a calming space within the house and balance out the energy and colour of the other rooms. Combining the two tones of Resene Double Parchment (tawny taupe) and Resene Bianca (cream off-white) creates a sophisticated look that complements the artwork, textiles and Irish Georgian furniture in the space. The Bianca colour family is continued into the bedrooms in a lighter strength Resene Half Bianca (fleecy off-white) on the ceilings.

The sitting room needed to be a more sophisticated space, keeping the walls fairly neutral without using white. Resene Double Parchment was perfect to bring warmth to the room working beautifully with the soft blues and greens of the fabrics.

With three girls, pink was chosen for the children’s bedrooms. Resene Cosmos (pink orange) was selected because of its beautiful orange base, rather than purple. This soft colour is beautiful under lamp light and perfectly complementary to the pink toile textile used as curtains, bed heads and drapes for the 4-post beds.

The colour selection in the master bedroom was to emulate the beautiful colours of nature seen though the large windows. The sky was brought inside with the use of Resene Malibu (surf blue), which pairs perfectly with the existing green and white bedhead. Layers of green textiles add depth to the space along with a series of green fauna and flora sketches. The library continues the blue theme with Resene Nauti (chalky pastel blue).

This job was completed in an extremely short timeframe with just seven weeks from having access to the house to when the clients moved in. In order to meet this deadline two painting companies shared the project, one for upstairs and one for downstairs.

When the furniture was installed in the master bedroom, the bedside tables, pineapple lamp and shade all in white was too much. Using the Resene paints on hand a custom mixed green was created on the spot to paint the pineapple bases to break up the white and tie the room together.

In the guest bedroom, the original colour selected was Resene Feijoa (fresh green) but proved to be too strong. It was repainted in Resene Cooled Green (light green) on walls and ceiling for a more calming and reflective feel.

Resene SpaceCote Flat was used on all walls and ceilings throughout the home. The use of so much colour meant the walls had a big enough impact in a flat finish and did not need a higher sheen to make them pop.

This project won the Resene Total Colour Residential Interior Award. The judges said “feel relaxation wash over you as you view these living areas so tastefully decorated in soothing colours, a welcome respite from busy life. A changing symphony of colour against a very richly decorated and accessorised house, bolder choices add personality to key spaces. Colour flows seamlessly from wall to floor, ceiling to accessories, a match made in colour heaven.”

Interior designer: Coote&Co
Painting contractor: The Lady Painters, Gray’s Painting and Maintenance
Photographer: Lisa Cohen
Winner: Resene Total Colour Residential Interior Award
Project: Resene Total Colour Awards 2019
From the Resene News – issue 2/20