Fiona goes bold and bountiful

Hand on heart, we can honestly say there are few people in this world who would paint their house purple. Fiona Sheffield is one of the rare ones; her Auckland bungalow is hard to miss. And if you get the chance to step beyond the Resene Jalapeno (red) sunburst motif front door, you’ll see that the purple exterior is joined by baby blue (like the Resene Havelock Blue above), yellow, lime green, pink and more.

Not only are the walls awash with bold colour, but Fiona has followed in the footsteps of her collector parents by filling it with some of their treasures as well as many of her own. There’s retro prints, old leather tub chairs, Art Nouveau furniture, animal skins, old mirrors, tapestry cushions. Each room is an exercise in delight and discovery.

Fiona’s part of Auckland is fairly ethnically diverse so, apart the house being mistaken for a brothel, she doesn’t feel it’s out of place here. The exterior scheme began with the front fence, built to contain Fiona’s miniature schnauzer dogs.

A combination of Resene Deep Koamaru (blue-violet) for the main boards of the fence was trimmed with Resene Troubadour (purple) and the gate picked out in Resene Jalapeno (red). On the house, they reversed the colours – Resene Troubadour for the weatherboards with gables and baseboards in Resene Deep Koamaru. The trims are in Resene Vista White and a touch of Resene Jalapeno on the window sashes.

Inside, the lime green Resene Limerick hallway was Fiona’s starting point. “Every other colour works around that,” explains Fiona. “The green bounces the light. I get up in the morning and wake up without need for any stimulants. I call them, my wake-up colours.”

Tip: When choosing bold wall colours, paint a big piece of cardboard in two coats and prop it up in the room to get a much better idea of how the colour will look. Order Resene testpots online. 

“Your house is your lifestyle,” Fiona explains. “You’ve got to feel comfortable coming home to it. When it’s grey and dark outside, it’s always beautiful and warm inside my home. Everything just pops! And the best thing with paint is, you can’t make a mistake. You can always change your mind. ”

The main living room is sky blue Resene Havelock Blue, the sitting area next to the kitchen is a combination of bold clear blue Resene Endeavour and bright yellow Resene Broom.

The only quieter colours in the house are the elegant midnight blue Resene Midnight Express in the bathroom (a great background colour for Fiona’s mirror collection) and the pale grey-blue Resene Oxygen in the study.

Did you know… that Resene tinters are highly concentrated automotive-grade tinters that are also VOC free? The tinters are exclusive to Resene, giving a unique depth and complexity of colour.

Published: 11 May 2015

Do you have a home full of wonderful Resene paint and colour? Send us some snaps by emailing [email protected].

A restful spot

sitting room, blue room, blue paint, blue living room

One of the sitting areas, beside the dining area and kitchen, is painted in Resene Endeavour.

Blue living

blue living room, blue lounge, blue paint, sky blue

The main living room is sky blue Resene Havelock Blue, the sitting area next to the kitchen is a combination of bold clear blue Resene Endeavour and bright yellow Resene Broom.

pictures

Photography by Mark Heaslip

A shot of lime

green wall, lime paint, green hallway, entranceway

The interiors began with the hallway, painted in lime green Resene Limerick, which bounces the light, says Fiona. All other interior colours flowed from there. 

Waking up to colour

yellow kitchen, blue and yellow paint, blue dining room, blue fridge, bright kitchen

Fiona’s kitchen has been given a facelift rather than a refit, using the cheery yellow Resene Broom (one of Fiona’s ‘wake-up’ colours). The blue is Resene Endeavour.

Girly girl

pink bedroom, pink paint, bedroom

Fiona’s very girly bedroom is a saturated pink called Resene Hopbush. 

Dark and intimate

navy bathroom, inky blue paint, mirror wall, blue bathroom, deep blue

The deep inky blue of Resene Midnight Express is the perfect backdrop for a collection of mirrors in the bathroom.

Yes, it's purple

purple house, purple exterior, blue exterior, painted weatherboards, bright house

Fiona’s purple house uses Resene Troubadour for the weatherboards with gables and baseboards in Resene Deep Koamaru. The trims are in Resene Vista White and a touch of Resene Jalapeno on the window sashes. 

The queen of colour

purple house, purple exterior, painted weatherboards, bright house, back porch

Fiona in the back porch with one of her miniature schnauzers Ramsey. The colours are Resene Troubadour for the weatherboards, Resene Deep Koamaru baseboards, Resene Vista White trims and Resene Jalapeno (red). 

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Resene Havelock Blue

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Resene Midnight Express

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Resene Vista White

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Resene Deep Koamaru

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