Labour of love

Thinking outside the square has won Tessa Gabites and Carl Taylor this month’s Resene Colour Home competition. They’ve also wowed their friends and family with the innovative design they applied to the master bedroom in their Christchurch home.

Left: Resene ‘Oilskin’ made the perfect feature paint with its mixture of brown and green tones. Right: Tessa’s inspired design became a work of art with the addition of sculptural detail.

Keen to go beyond the typical feature wall, Tessa devised a box theme, with a large square in Resene ‘Oilskin’ on the main wall, and a smaller square above the fireplace.

It was all about teamwork, with Tessa’s mum Judy rolling on the background colour of Resene ‘Sisal’ and Carl taking on measuring duties – using builders’ chalk to get the proportions right.

Tessa attributes the fantastic results to this technique: “The trick was to use the chalk string, stand back and make sure the lines for the squares were level.”

Above the rimu mantlepiece, Tessa hung two small white torsos, which she bought at Riccarton Markets to add to her collection.

The final touch was the canvas art, painted in the same two colours as the walls. She found just the right font on the internet and printed each letter for the word ‘love’ onto A4 paper, which she then cut out and traced around to make her stencils.

A year on from that fl urry of weekend painting, Tessa is just as delighted with the result. “I still walk into that room and get a nice warm feeling because of how good it looks. It’s a great feeling to look at something like that and know that you’ve done it and it looks awesome.”

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Colour Home Awards
View more projects from the finalists and winners of the Resene/Your Home and Garden Colour Home Awards competition.

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