Editor’s Picks: Colours inspired by our surroundings

08 Jan 2020

One year ago today, I had just completed the road trip of a lifetime. My partner and I had driven from Christchurch out to Queenstown, over to Milford Sound, down to Invercargill, through The Catlins, around the Otago Peninsula and back up through Dunedin, Oamaru, Timaru and the Banks Peninsula before returning to Christchurch to fly back to ‘the Big Smoke’.

Thinking back on it now, it’s the astonishing array of colours that exist in the South Island’s natural landscape – and how diverse those colours can be even after only covering a short distance – that stands out in my mind. Sprawling fields of lupines, the ethereal glacial glow of Lake Pukaki, the rolling terracotta mountains of Central Otago, the rusty iron sediment on the lakeshore of Glenorchy and the straw-coloured grasses that line the Tautuku River are enough to make anyone wax poetic. But there wasn’t a single stretch of that breathtaking 1400+km journey that wouldn’t have inspired a stunning colour palette.

When we get distracted, it can be easy to forget about the unparalleled beauty that surrounds us, but the view from your window is the perfect starting point for an interior decorating scheme. Or, even better, an exquisitely captured image of a landscape. Photographer Emma Willetts snapped this epic one of the Godley River in Canterbury, the rich colours of which can be used to create a calming yet visually compelling bedroom.

To get the look, start with walls in soft and mossy Resene Earthstone and a floor painted in lighter Resene Half Titania as your base, then build up luxurious bedding with a duck egg blue linen duvet and pillowcases and cushions in mustard, saffron and pewter. Marble décor accents help to bring the rocky colours out of the artwork and into the room in a quite literal way, but incorporating a few small items painted in Resene Moroccan Spice and Resene Guru is what will really nail the scheme and make the space feel complete and cohesive.

Mood board

Paint: Resene Half Titania, Resene Earthstone, Resene Moroccan Spice, Resene Guru

1. Home Republic Modena 2 Drawer Bedside Table in Teal from Adairs?
2. Compound Tallboy Dresser from Citta?
3. Godley River Veins Photographic Print by Emma Willetts from endemicworld?
4. Cialda Washed Waffle Duvet Cover in Duck Egg from Citta?
5. Washed Woven Cushion Cover in Pumpkin from Citta?
6. Montpellier Cushion in Ochre from Furtex?
7. Cotton Velvet Cushion Cover in Graphite Tint from Citta?
8. Grove Marble Dishes from Citta?
9. Millor Vessels in Antique Blue from Freedom Furniture

Published: 08 Jan 2020