Resene Powder Blue Paint finishes tend to be exposed to higher wear and tear in houses that have children and pets. Choose Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen for a durable paint finish on walls. On ceilings, opt for Resene SpaceCote Flat, which can be easily wiped clean. For an extra luxe look in the master bedroom, choose Resene SpaceCote Flat, a matte finish, to emphasise the depth of the colour. different shades of white. In the end, I just kept coming back to Resene Half Bianca. It was just that little bit softer and less stark. “I wasn’t looking for a huge, bold colour on the interior. I wanted it to be timeless. I’ve always been a fan of those blue-charcoal shades, so once I chose that as an accent, everything else flowed from there.” In the end, Michael loved the finished colour scheme too. “It lets the architecture speak for itself. “I really think Emma has accessorised the space fantastically, too. The neutral background lets you play with things like drapes and cushions to change it how you like,” he says. Outside, the colour choice was easier, with Emma and Henry deciding to keep the Resene Foggy Grey they had painted the exterior of the original home after they moved in. It is trimmed with Resene Half Alabaster. The exterior was the one place Emma and Henry had to compromise their original vision. “We did want a garage and we just couldn’t make it work. To put a new garage in would have meant ruining the whole bungalow look of the front of the property. And we would have had to sacrifice at least one of the bay windows out the front, which were one of the things that made me want to buy this house in the first place.” Even though the garage didn’t pan out, Emma is thrilled with the finished result. “I remember when the builders finally did the clean-up and I walked in. Even though we had been here every day it was the first Resene Cinder. “It took a while to settle on the colour for that because I wanted to get it just right,” she says. “The island is the big feature in an otherwise white room. I knew I wanted it almost black but not too black, with a touch of blue but not too blue. It was so hard to find that colour, but Resene Cinder was just right. It’s a bluey-charcoal. That’s exactly the colour I wanted,” she says. The shade also beautifully picks up the grey and charcoal of the polished concrete floors, and Emma has carried the same deep colour through to other parts of the house such as the tiling in the laundry and the clawfoot bath. She has expanded the palette to include paler smoky grey-blues in the children’s bedrooms, which sit in the original part of the house. The bedroom the two toddler-aged boys share has been painted in Resene Powder Blue, while the baby’s nursery is in Resene Half Periglacial Blue. For the master bedroom, the couple opted for the subtle neutral tone of Resene Double White Pointer. Choosing a neutral shade to use on the rest of the house interior, including the ceilings and trims, was Emma’s other biggest colour challenge. While Michael is a big fan of crisp Resene Black White, Emma held out for something a little softer. “I lived with a number of swatches on the wall of the rental we were in while we were building. That included Resene Black White and about 12 other Above: A window seat painted in Resene Powder Blue with Resene Half Bianca trim provides extra storage in the boys’ bedroom. Above right: The deep charcoal blue of the clawfoot bath picks up Emma’s colour palette from the rest of the home. Her main neutral colour choice of Resene Half Bianca is also used on the bathroom walls. Opposite top: Resene Half Bianca on the walls offers a serene space in a guest bedroom when paired with tonal layers of cream and grey. Opposite bottom: The living room side of the double- gable roofline extends to this outdoor room, which is Emma’s favourite part of the finished home. The exterior is painted in Resene Foggy Grey with Resene Half Alabaster trim and the interior is Resene Half Bianca. Resene Half Periglacial Blue Resene Half Bianca Resene Cinder Resene Double White Pointer Resene Black White Resene Foggy Grey Resene Half Alabaster “I wanted a timeless bungalow look and feel, but with a lot of storage.” 23 22 feature house