2008 December finalist

From the Resene/Your Home and Garden Colour Home Awards Competition - Dec 2008 finalist

The decor of this delightful little Art Deco cottage in Napier needed some attention when Brett and Kerry Forman bought it.

The decor of this delightful little Art Deco cottage in Napier needed some attention when Brett and Kerry Forman bought it. After a carefully considered paint job, it now shines inside and out. In homage to Napier’s Art Deco history, Kerry chose different Resene colours for each room and decorated the house with Art Deco accessories and furniture.

Kichen and lounge
Left: Main lounge, kitchen, dining room Resene Soapstone Kitchen cabinetry and green bedroom Resene Soft Apple Pink bedroom Resene Cosmos. Kerry used Art Deco-inspired green teamed with cream on her kitchen cabinetry. Right: The soft glow of the pink bedroom is visible from the lounge.

Kerry and room colour details.
Left: Kerry Forman. Left: Kerry was worried when the first coat of pink paint went up in the bedroom. “But with the furniture in place and a bright pink feather cushion on the bed, it’s beautiful,” she says. Right: The soft green bedroom looks gorgeous teamed with vintage furniture. Kerry’s furniture and objects fit the Art Deco theme of the holiday home.

“I researched colours and accessories by looking at Art Deco books from the library and by walking around town looking at the colours of the Art Deco buildings. The Napier Municipal Theatre gave me the inspiration to use Deco pink, blue and green in the bedrooms; I love that combination. The green was my favourite, so I decided to use that on the cabinetry in the kitchen, contrasting it with cream. The hard part was getting just the right colour, but after poring over the Resene colour charts, I got there.”

Now known as ‘Deco by the Sea’, the pretty pastels perfectly suit this holiday rental.

Resene tip

If you are planning something out of the ordinary, but aren’t sure what colours to choose, try Resene’s EzyPaint virtual painting software. You can paint a gallery image or scan, path and paint pictures of your own home. This is a great way to narrow down your colour choices before buying Resene testpots and trying out the colours in your home. Resene EzyPaint is free to download or you can buy a copy from Resene.

When developing a colour scheme, collect pictures of rooms that you find appealing. Experiment to determine your final selection and the appropriate accent colours. And once you think you have the colours just right, try them out using Resene testpots or a Resene testpatch.