Off the wall: This 111-year-old villa gets a modern update with hand-painted wallpaper and zesty lime green

Behind Ben and Helen Masters stately 1910 villa, painted in a restrained Resene Quarter Foggy Grey, lies a secret. Walking through the Resene Black front door lies a riot of patterns and colour with brightly painted walls and hand-painted wallpapers that make you gasp in delight.

Ben, who has a background in interior design and his winemaker wife Helen launched Paperhands in 2007; a business that specialises in making handmade screen-printed wallpapers that are coloured using Resene paint. Their range includes the Classic Mason Handcrafted Wallpaper collection sold through selected Resene ColorShops. “Ten years ago, we were looking at wallpapers for our own house and discovered there was no one in New Zealand making handmade wallpapers,” says Ben. “We felt like wallpaper was making a comeback, so we thought we’d have a go.

“We started making wallpapers and we just kept on going.”   

Ben and Helen have lived in Martinborough for twenty years and decided to move in 2015. They relocated their workshop from Hawke's Bay and now live happily just out of town with their two teenagers Harvey and Stella. The couple began their renovation with the villa’s exterior; painting the weatherboards in Resene Quarter Foggy Grey with a crisp Resene Black White on the fretwork. “We wanted to keep the colour palette simple on the exterior,” says Ben. “It was important that the colours worked with the era of the villa.

“But inside, we were happy to mix things up with more modern interior colours.”

The open plan living and dining area are striking in Resene Lucky Break; a deep lime green, with a bright Resene White Pointer trim. “It was important to us to have strong colours on the walls to anchor the space and we wanted a warmer green for the foundation colour in the living room,” says Ben. “It’s about making the most of each space. The home has high stud ceilings and the green walls bring depth to the room.

“We chose Resene Lucky Break partly in response to the house; it’s an older house so I didn’t want to use any primary colours in it and using white would make it feel too empty, but it was also us just having a bit of fun and making a statement.”

With lots of windows, French doors and sash windows, the couple chose interior colours to complement the villa’s abundance of light. A cosy fireplace sits opposite the Resene Lucky Break wall in the living room and is surrounded by a wall in Mason Cydon MC02 wallpaper from the Mason Handcrafted Wallpaper collection available from Resene ColorShops with muted colours in Resene Half Taupe Grey and Resene Double Stack.

The connecting corridor from the living area to the rest of the home uses a wallpaper from the popular Mason Collection; Mason Mayfair MM02, that features a customised colour palette of Resene Rangoon Green, Resene Lucky Break, Resene Double Stack and Resene Half Nocturnal. “It’s very easy to customise the wallpaper to suit the colour palette you’re working with,” says Ben, who uses Resene paint to screen print the Mason Collection wallpapers.

“I’ve always used Resene paint. We like the range of colours.”

The Mason Collection was first founded by William Mason, a New Zealand artist who, in the sixties, began a hand painted wallpaper business using Resene paints in the 1950s. Resene bought the business in the seventies and in 2015 Resene approached Ben and Helen to revive the collection.

“We chose eight of the original Mason patterns, made the printing screens and came up with a new range of modern colours,” says Ben. “We felt there was a shift with people wanting to express themselves more, be a little bit creative and put something different on the walls.

“Our Mason Collection was released around the same time we began renovating our villa, so it was a great way to see what the wallpaper looked like in a home.”

A standout wall in the villa is tucked away in the master bedroom. The wallpaper was created on the Paperhands’ warm up table and is an amalgamation of sixteen layers of different paint and designs. The warm up table is used to run test prints through the printing screens before Ben prints the final wallpaper design.

“The wallpaper has layers of prints and is really fun, it almost looks like an abstract painting,” says Ben, who used a collection of colours to create the wallpaper, including Resene Lucky Break, Resene Watercourse, Resene Bunting and Resene Fuel Yellow.

“Each warm up wallpaper is completely unique and that’s what we love about them; their distinctive patterns and colours in completely different orders. It’s part of their charm.”   

Mason Peacocks MP02 wallpaper finished in Resene Pure Pewter from the Mason Handcrafted Wallpaper collection available from Resene ColorShops, adds an elegant touch in the bathroom. The peacock pattern also reappears on the concrete pavers in the homemade conservatory. Ben used various shades of blue, including Resene Resolution Blue, Resene Bunting, Resene Orient and Resene Kumutoto to create a stylish finish on the pavers. “We put the concrete blocks on our table and screen printed the peacocks directly onto them,” says Ben. “We used Resene SpaceCote Flat, which has worn remarkably well.” 

“The great thing about using paint is if you don’t like it, it’s pretty easy to change,” says Ben, who is already eyeing up a kitchen renovation. “We love the house, it has a lot of gaps and things that aren’t straight, all the things that accompany an older home.

“They just don’t build houses like that anymore and we feel lucky to own a villa from that era.” 

Top tip: Wallpaper patterns in the Mason Handcrafted Wallpaper collection can be painted in a variety of Resene colours to suit your home. Wallpapers are a great way to add personality to your home and disguise damaged or uneven walls. When ordering wallpaper always ensure to order an extra roll in case patterns or colours change.

Read more about Paperhands here 
Take a look at the Mason Collection here 

Images Bonnie Beattie


Ben and Helen upped the saturation in their open plan living and dining area by painting the wall in eye-catching Resene Lucky Break. The trim in Resene White Pointer provides a clean finish and defines the wall. The doorway provides a peek into the hallway which features the Mason Mayfair MM02 from the
Mason Handcrafted Wallpaper collection coloured in Resene Rangoon Green, Resene Lucky Break, Resene Double Stack and Resene Half Nocturnal.


Ben is also a fine artist and his paintings shine on the Resene White Pointer wall in the living area. The handmade wallpaper is Mason Cydon MC02 from the Mason Handcrafted Wallpaper collection coloured in Resene Half Taupe Grey and Resene Double Stack.


Ben and Helen’s 1910 villa has an elegant exterior with weatherboards painted in Resene Quarter Foggy Grey with fretwork, stairs and window trims in a crisp Resene Black White. The front door is striking in Resene Black.


Ben’s favourite room of the house, the master bedroom, features a custom wallpaper born on designed with 16 layers of patterns and paint. He created the wallpaper using a variety of colours, including Resene Lucky Break, Resene Watercourse, Resene Resolution Blue, Resene Bunting, Resene Fuel Yellow and Resene Pioneer.


The bathroom features the fun yet elegant Mason Peacocks MP02 from the Mason Handcrafted Wallpaper collection
with a custom base and silvery Resene Pure Pewter. For a similar bold aqua look, try Resene Niagara.


The family’s homemade conservatory features brilliant blue concrete tiles printed with the same design from the Mason Peacocks MP02 wallpaper from the Mason Handcrafted Wallpaper collection. Ben and Helen chose a variety of blues to complement their lush plants and used Resene Resolution Blue, Resene Bunting, Resene Orient and Resene Kumutoto.


 
The villa and workshop are also home to the family vineyard and their extensive gardens. In
2019 Helen was named NZ Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller WINE magazine.  The house exterior is painted in Resene Quarter Foggy Grey with double sash windows painted in Resene Black White.

 

Published: 03 Jun 2021

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Resene Half Taupe Grey

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