Colour that grows on you

Painting the bedroom was problematic.  They had to find a colour that would work with colourful stained glass leadlights, amber glass skylights and lemon tiles (with pink flowers) around the fireplace and hearth.

The solution simply had to be neutral so out with the Resene The Range Whites & Neutrals fandeck.  Their first choice was Resene Parchment.  The bedroom opens out onto the front verandah which is Resene Double Tana so Resene Parchment would flow on well.  They’ve found darker ceilings can work very well with the high stud in an old villa, so opted for Resene Triple Parchment, with door and window trim in Resene Quarter Parchment.

They would probably have done something a little bolder in the bedroom if it had not been for the glass and tile colour restraints.  But now that it’s painted it’s very calming and restful – and accommodating of all the room’s quirky features.

Having painted their bedroom in neutral colours this left the Snelgroves free to do something a little more daring in the bathroom.  Jane Swinard, a friend who is also an experienced Colourist and Interior Stylist provided a colour suggestion that took them way outside their comfort zone.  Jane sent them drawdowns of several shades of Resene lilacs and mauves and said she thought Resene Nobel would flow on well from the Resene Parchment bedroom. 

Resene Nobel was more murky and more subtle than the other lilacs and mauves and they really didn’t like the colour at first.  But the more they looked at that A4 sheet of Resene Nobel pinned to their bathroom wall the more it grew on them. Earlier they’d shown a smaller card sample of Resene Nobel to an artist friend who said in horror:  "Surely you’re not going to paint your beautiful bathroom that awful colour?"

But now the job was done, including trims and ceiling in Resene Villa White, everyone loves it.  Through the bathroom windows are changing views of pink blossom, green leaves, huge white perfumed flowers and large purple dahlias.  Resene Nobel frames all of these to perfection.

The bathroom tiles are cream instead of the standard white so instead of lavender and lace they have an old lavender and antique lace colour scheme.  The misty grey tile grout reflects the wall colour beautifully. The late sun shining into the bathroom creates a wonderful lighting effect on the walls. 

Their verandah is their favourite room.  They fell in love with it when they first saw their house all those years ago.  It’s such a relaxing place to be and they eat their lunch there most days. The house has a backdrop of mature native trees including the biggest Pohutukawa in the South Island.

They wanted the house to blend comfortably into the landscape while giving a light, warm and welcoming feeling and chose Resene Double Tana on walls and Resene Double Pearl Lusta on trim. The roof and spouting are Resene Karaka. Because the window frames are rather chunky they wanted a dark colour on the sashes so the frames wouldn’t look even bigger. Finding the right shade was not so easy. Resene Flint was the right tone but too light so they opted for a double strength version, which was just right. When the Pohutukawa is out in flower in summer the red looks stunning against the soft green tones of the house.

Bedroom	Front verandah	Ceilings	Door and window trim	Roof, spouting
Resene Parchment	Resene Double Tana	Resene Triple Parchment	Resene Quarter Parchment	Resene Karaka
Bathroom	Trims, ceiling	Verandah walls	Verandah trim	Window frames
Resene Nobel	Resene Villa White	Resene Double Tana	Resene Double Pearl Lustre	Resen Flint

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