2008 January finalist

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

When you design and build a home all by yourself, spending three years on the project, you want it done right.

When you design and build a home all by yourself, spending three years on the project, you want it done right. When architectural designer Peter Maddick started building his home a few years ago, he wanted to try out different construction materials and methods, treating his home like a bach where “you feel freer to experiment,” he says. And experiment Peter has. All of the inside wall panels are MDF or plywood, painted in the garden in Resene colours, then put in place.

The lounge of Peter Maddick’s self-built and designed “bach” house. Left: The plywood-lined kitchen. Interior walls and ceilings Resene Sea Fog Fireplace wall Resene Pohutukawa Lounge Floor Resene Polystain.

Bottom right: Peter with two chairs he painted with a 15 year old can of Resene paint he found in the garage. Exterior colour Resene Quarter Mondo Left: Stair treads and garage floor Resene Raven Stair risers Resene Sorbus Stairwell wall Resene Hibiscus. Top Right: Bongo the cat.

One highly successful idea was painting the plywood floor of the garage in Resene Raven, which Peter says “everyone thinks is concrete”. This same grey coats the stair treads, with a bright Resene Hibiscus wall to the right and contrasting risers in Resene Sorbus, which came from an old can that was given to Peter. ‘Once I finished it, Resene mixed some more for me and it looks great,” says Peter. The floor of the lounge is painted in hard-wearing Resene Poly-Satin polyurethane, with a fireplace wall in Resene Pohutukawa – “a nice colour to look at, quite relaxing and soft at night,” says Peter. “Also, that’s a bracing wall and I like the idea that all the bracing walls are mauve or red or orange.”

The interior walls are painted in Resene Sea Fog, with the ceiling washed with the same colour, and the outer skin of the house is Resene Quarter Mondo. Most paint gets used eventually, and Peter painted two exterior chairs with a pail of 15 year-old Resene paint he had in the garage. “It’s so old that the label has come off, but after 15 years it’s still fine!” he says.

Bright colour tips

Bright colours are a great way to liven up a home. When selecting bright colours, be aware that they will reflect onto other surfaces around them, and may make lighter ceilings and furnishings look quite different. To test this out, use a Resene testpot. Paint it onto a piece of cardboard leaving an unpainted border around the edge so it doesn’t pick up the existing wall colour, or paint directly onto the wall. Make sure you apply enough to give you a good idea of the colour and give it time to dry before making a decision. View it at different times of the day and night to check the colour looks right under different lighting, then pick your favourite and get painting!