Stepping out with sophistication

With outdoor living spaces becoming a practical and visual extension of our interiors, it’s understandable that many of us want the look of the outside to match the inside.

Having a mellow and sophisticated interior of soft creams and restful tones just wouldn’t look right if you stepped into a courtyard or onto a deck full of bold colours and rustic finishes.

Some of the most popular interior colour and design styles are finding their way to our home exteriors, as we aim for seamless transitions between inside and out. These include the use of warmer neutrals like Resene Triple White Pointer or Resene Cararra.

As with any outdoor space or exterior colour scheme, think about the landscape your home sits in or the colours in your garden to find inspiration – whether it’s beachy blues like Resene Duck Egg Blue or vibrant sunset shades like corals or leafy greens.

Gardens and outdoor spaces are full of natural texture so to make this wall blend more seamlessly, it has been given a limewash effect using Resene FX Paint Effects Medium. To accentuate the textural look even more, you could use the basecoat, in this case Resene Triple White Pointer, with Resene Resitex or Resene Sandtex for a textured, gritty effect.

How to create the limewash effect

Before using Resene FX Paint Effects Medium remember to prepare your exterior wall or walls by making sure that the surface or surfaces are in good condition, free of dirt, dust and any other loose material. Always apply your Resene FX Paint Effects Medium to a small trial area first to determine your desired effect. This can also serve as a useful example of what you would like your final look to be if you’re hiring a painting professional for this. Different effects can be created using a brush, natural sponge or clean rag.

To create the subtle limewash effect on the wall, we started with two coats of Resene Triple White Pointer. Once dry, we applied Resene FX Paint Effects Medium mixed with Resene Cararra – you can either apply this with a rag, a large sea sponge or a large paintbrush. The lighter colour is applied over the slightly darker colour rather than the other way around when you’re creating this kind of finish, and the key to making it look great is by working up multiple thin layers rather than trying to get it all done in one go. It’s easy to ramp up the look by applying subsequent layers of Resene FX Paint Effects Medium mixed with Resene Cararra or scale it back by using another rag to buff on small amounts of Resene Triple White Pointer where the effect has gone on too strong.

You will need:

• Round plastic plant pots of approx 10cm high for a small planter, and 21cm high for a large planter
• For a small planter (13 x 13 x 12cm high): 16 x 1mm x 15cm in length x 3cm-wide pieces of outdoor treated pine
• For a large planter (22 x 22 x 23cm high): 20 x 1mm x 26cm in length x 3cm-wide pieces of outdoor treated pine
• Super glue or similar
• Resene testpot paints in your choice of colour, we used Resene Thor, Resene Duck Egg Blue, Resene Cararra and Resene Inside Back
• Resene testpot brush

Step-by-step instructions:

1. Give your plastic pots two coats of paint in one of the colour to be used on the timber.

2. Paint your pieces of pine in your desired colours.

3. Glue the wooden pieces to the painted plastic pot, alternating colours as you work your way around the pot. Leave a small space in between each piece of wood.

Project by Vanessa Nouwens. Photography by Bryce Carleton. May 2022