Reader round up: renovations, revamps and sweet

24 Feb 2022

Our readers have been renovating up a storm by painting it black, creating creative workshops and finding some sweet inspiration.

Currant affairs

When your French pastry treat matches your front door, surely it’s going to be a satisfying day.

Eastbourne resident Suzanne was perusing the pastries at Tartines, one of her favourite local cafes when she found a tasty looking number that perfectly matched the Resene Blackcurrant of her front door!

Suzanne lives in one of a group of 1970s townhouses in the Wellington seaside suburb, which are all painted in Resene Merino on the exterior, with different doors and time colours.

“I love Resene Blackcurrant because it really suits the design of the house and the letterbox door.”

Suzanne gets plenty of comments from passersby who share her love of the colour. It’s almost as tasty as the treats at Tartines, which she recommends for friendly staff, delicious French food and “possibly the best brunch eggs in Wellington”

 Nero Hero

When Anna decided to give her 9-year-old son’s Wellington bedroom a makeover she went bold with Resene Nero at his suggestion.

“He chose the colour and totally loves it. We love how it makes all the colours really stand out from his art and books - and, of course, the giant map, too.”

The family paint project, which included some help from Anna’s dad, also included painting the trims, ceiling and wardrobe a contrasting neutral in Resene Eighth Thorndon Cream.

“I believe kids' rooms should be flexible enough to handle changing interests over the ages, and they should actually get a say in how it looks.

“This kid is pretty organised: so great storage was important, as well as lots of floor space to play. We both liked the concept of darker walls, although he was driven more by his love of the All Blacks versus my design thinking,” says Anna, who runs her own content and branding business Words, by Ralph.

“Black walls sound dramatic, but the room is actually so sunny with plenty of natural light. My main goals for the room were that it was welcoming and playful but also encouraged good sleeping.”

Upcycled colour

Auckland photographer and writer Véronique clearly has an eye for colour in her garden - as well as an eye for a great upcycling opportunity.

Veronique found two pedestal stands for tables discarded in a skip, along with a large 1m x 2m slap of laminated wood. Spotting a match made in heaven Veronique upcycled the slap into two tabletops which she attached to the pedestals.

She’s painted one in bright pink Resene Smitten, and the other in bold purple Resene Studio to sit amongst the other bright colours of her home exterior, plant pots and stunning flowers.

 Coastal colours bring a workshop together

“If we go to the Coast to walk on the Sand, there might be a Seachange that will leave us Breathless.” In one of the more unique ways of choosing paint colours, keen Geraldine crafter Irenie Sparks opted for four she could put into a single sentence!

The workshop underway.

In reality, Irenie wanted the colour palette of her craft workshop to be a unifying factor that pulled an otherwise mixed space of recycled and repurposed items together. The answer was walls in Resene Sand, with a painted floor in Resene Breathless. Different furniture and fittings around the space are painted in Resene Coast and Resene Seachange.

“The treasured eclectic wall items now look like a collection. I wanted the walls to be restful and inspire creativity while the floor needed to be durable and easily cleaned.

“It is a lovely creative original space – and so different from the house décor,” Irenie says. Having already committed to Resene Coast and Resene Seachange, Irenie sought help finding other colours that would pull the look together.

“The lovely staff at the local Timaru Resene ColorShop were extremely helpful. Keeping with the sea theme, it was easy to choose Resene Sand which really is a wonderful contrast to Resene Coast.

“The floor colour took some time. The staff were so helpful in showing me the range that complemented the other colours without making too much of a statement.”

Irenie uses her workshop for her main hobby which is hand-made bookbinding, but she also spends time repurposing fabric into tote bags and mats, or sketching and painting.

Elsewhere in her home Irenie has also featured some of her other favourite colours with Resene Purple Rain (“The name made me choose it!”) on vintage suitcases and Resene Aubergine picture frames

Precious metal

After years of ‘chickening out’, when Andrea Dennis Lowther, finally got brave enough to tackle repainting her entranceway she went all in with a fantastic metallic finish in Resene Bedrock - with a little help from dad, and the expert team at the Pukekohe Resene ColorShop.

“I chose the metallic as I loved the shimmer it gave. And it’s very similar to the original wall colours so it wasn’t going to be a huge fright, when my husband came home from a week away with our kids,” Andrea says. The result got the tick of approval from her husband who asked her to press on with the rest of the area.

“I only did one side to see if everyone liked it and I was only meant to do one wall into our entrance, which accidentally extended to three smaller walls and half the hallway.”

Andrea says staff at Resene Pukekohe were a big help. “I had lots of questions and they answered them so well. I can’t wait to start the next project.”

 Bathroom transformation

 Everyone loves a happy renovation story. Jan showed what a difference Resene paint can make when she transformed her bathroom with Resene Half Fuscous Grey on the top half of the wall and Resene Double Black White on the bottom half of the wall. “I love the depth of Resene Half Fuscous Grey,” says Jan. “Such a stunning colour and now my son wants it in his bedroom.”

 Next on the renovation list in her Dunedin villa is the exterior, painted with Resene of course.

Published: 24 Feb 2022