Creative couple

Aydie and Steve have been busy working on their kitchen, which is still a work in progress. Steve chose the brick style Resene Anaglypta wallpaper for three of the walls, and Aydie has painted it in several different layers of Resene paint to look like sun-kissed stone walls.

The base colour is Resene Joss. Next Aydie painted out some of the individual 'stones'. Some were a half and half mixture of Resene Joss and Resene White, and some also had Resene New Orleans added to that mix to look a bit more golden. Aydie then added even more white to the basecoat, and skimmed it over the whole paper with a fairly dry brush to make the stones really stand out, and to give the impression of lime leaching through the brickwork in places.

As the next part of the project they will be adding rustic architraving, coving and skirting to complete the look.

Steve also created a unique light-fitting. It is a rough-sawn macrocarpa beam hung from the original tongue and groove ceiling from chains, with vintage style copper lights and large Edison bulbs.

The pantry and bathroom doorways will have barn-style doors hung from barn sliders, a floating wooden floor is being installed and subway tiles are planned behind the stove-top, and Steve is a spray-painter by trade, so when they discovered an old tongue and groove ceiling under badly-done plaster-work, they had it all stripped off, and Steve got out his spray-gun to create a gorgeous smooth finish in Resene White.

They have had so many favourable comments on their creative project so far, and are looking forward to getting it finished in time for their housewarming and an upcoming 50th birthday party. Hope springs eternal.