Monthly Archives: June 2013

Paint made for tricky areas in the home

Not all paint is created equal, but that's only because the different rooms in your home have different uses, and as such, require paint that's tailored to those requirements.

In particular, kitchens, laundries and bathrooms work a lot harder than most of the other rooms in your home, as they are regularly considered to be 'wet areas', with steam, food and water splashes and varying temperatures working away at the fittings.

Popular demand for a more suitable paint solution has brought about the introduction of a new product to the Resene range, suitably named Resene SpaceCote Flat Kitchen and Bathroom.

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Make painting your house a social event

Ever heard of a paint party?

It might not be what you thought! There are plenty of 'paint parties' for kids, with canvases and washable paints, but this one is for the grown-ups.

Specifically, when you move into a new house, and want to start your interior design renovation with a bang by repainting every room.

Usually this could take weeks by yourself, depending on the size of your house, and after the first couple of rooms you'd probably end up with some pretty sore arms!

For those of us without weeks to wait, or Herculean arm muscles, we've got just the solution, and it's more fun than you'd think.

Make it a party.

Invite your friends – all of the ones who owe you a favour, or are obligated to turn up through their 'best friend' type status – and get them to give you a hand.

It will take a bit of trust, but once you have the preparation sorted (which shouldn't be too tough if you've just moved in and the place is clear of furniture and clean already), you'll be able to get this big job done in no time.

One piece of furniture you will need to set up out of harm's way is a stereo or speaker system. Organise a great painting playlist and turn it up loud enough for everyone to hear – without blasting your neighbours.

Speaking of neighbours, if you're lucky they might be kind enough to lend a hand for an hour or two. It's a great opportunity to get to know them and it will open up plenty of opportunities to invite them over for the housewarming once you're done.

Don't forget to put on a lunch spread, and provide plenty of drinks for your crew to keep the energy up and provide them with some edible thanks!

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Jump aboard the white roof programme

Environmental sustainability is big on the worldwide agenda these days and it's trickling down to everyday home owners to start making small changes that will add up to huge benefits for the planet, and in turn, for us.

Even something as simple as your paint choice can now have a real effect on the planet, especially when it comes to choosing a roof colour.

The White Roofs Project New Zealand (WRPNZ) began in October 2010 to help Kiwis understand the difference that painting your roof white can have on the environment, and the movement is not unique to this part of the world, with organisations springing up around the globe.

It may sound like a small and simple change, but scientific research and real-world case studies have backed up claims from WRPNZ that a white-painted roof has cooling effects.

By mimicking the way the polar icecaps reflect the sunlight back into space, white paint lowers the temperature of roofs under the hot summer sun and will mean buildings will require less air conditioning and less electricity.

It has been tried and proven to the extent that new roofs must be painted white in New York.

While it may be some time before you need to repaint, keep in mind the white roof movement and whether this might suit your home.  If white will be too glary on your home, consider using a Resene CoolColour – while it won’t stay as cool as a white would, it will reduce heat build up compared to the normal version of the same colour.

As well as the benefits for the environment, your power bill and your conscience, white paint on the roof is a good option because due to less thermal expansion and contraction throughout the seasons, it will mean less wear and tear on the paint – and don't forget that white paint is usually a more affordable option!

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Karen Walker picks up the paint brush

First it was designer clothes, then perfumes, kitchenware, appliances and jewellery.

And now you can have designer walls with the latest Karen Walker paint collection created especially for Resene.

For those who aren't familiar with the name, Karen Walker is an incredibly successful fashion designer who has made a name for herself on the world stage.

In 1995 she had just two stores, but within three years she had begun to sell to Barneys in … Continue reading

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Paint colours for the elderly

Whether you're the designer choosing the colour scheme or the property owner or manager trying to decide what would be best, painting a rest home probably won't be the easiest decision you'll have to make.

Finding a paint colour that is modern yet inoffensive can be a balancing act, especially if it's your first time making this kind of decision.

While the choice ultimately lies with you and anyone else on the decision-making team, here are some tips you might consider when deciding on the interior design of that rest home or retirement village.

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Does your photo sound the way it looks?

They say a photo is worth a thousand words, but what about sounds?

If colour was a song, what would it sound like? Perhaps it's time you found out – but beware, this will destroy any hopes you had of productivity today.

Resene has teamed up with Wellingtonian songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Age Pryor to create the Resene Colour DJ.

Age is a founding member of both the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra and The Woolshed Sessions, as well as a contributor to Kiwi band Fly My Pretties and when you mix him with 272 of Resene's funkiest and most musical colours, you get a little bit of magic.

Start by uploading a photo from your computer (it only takes a moment) so that the Colour DJ can pick out various hues and match them to Resene paint colours.

Once this clever technology has matched photo colours to paint colours, it matches those paint colours to the musical stylings of Mr Pryor.

Principal colours are chosen from your image, and you can then click and drag them into the 'sound stage', and make your own symphony of sound.

Purples, blues and pale pinks in an image will match with colours like Resene Wistful to create sweet flute melodies, whereas a calm grey might match Resene Smokescreen for some eerie – yet beautiful – tones.

The delicious plummy tones of Resene Ce Soir (meaning 'this evening' in French) will throw the sounds of a Parisian accordion into the mix.

So do your photos sound as good as they look?

If you're not happy with the resulting symphony from your picture, simply load a new one and start over!

Who said paint can't be fun?

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Painting your heritage home

Heritage homes are some of the most beautiful pieces of our living history, and as such, it's important to keep them looking great.

Back in the early 1990s Ian Bowman, a leading conservation architect, teamed up with Resene to create a heritage colour chart specifically for heritage homes to help owners decide on paint schemes for these special properties.

The charts are based on original colours in homes around New Zealand, as well as international colour charts. They dug up faxes of painter's guides and did research into the Nelson paint company. So these hues are not just picked at random, they have a real history tied up with heritage homes and those stages of early settler life.

If you're interested in recreating the look and feel of original historic homes, have a look at the possible options for your property.

Early Colonial (1840 – 1870)

Ochres, umbers, creams and fawns in one or two-toned schemes were typical of this period, especially with homemade limewashes.

White was not particularly common, but light yellows were were common in timber buildings.

Mid-Victorian (1870 – 1890)

Similar to early colonial homes, the mid-Victorian era was typified with earthy tones, however more dark hues were introduced into colour schemes around this time.

Roofs were painted with dark reds (continuing the trend from two decades previously), but dark greens and greys also started popping up.

Late Victorian and Edwardian (1890 – 1914)

The trend towards dark colours continued through this era, adding maroons and dark browns to interiors, and mixing them with light shades of cream, fawn and grey.

Click here to see a full list of the colours and some examples of their use in actual buildings.

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Capture colours with the Resene App

Smartphones are brilliant aren't they? Need a torch? There's a torch app. Need a translator? Download the translator app. Need a dictionary? Select one of hundreds available.

Now you can download the Resene ColourMatch App on iPhones and androids.

This app can add a handy device to the toolbox for any professional interior designer, or turn any home owner into a paint expert.

Download the app, and the next time you see a colour you love – whether it be a friend's shirt, a beach, a sunset, the sky or the hue of a passing car – you can snap it with your phone and the innovative technology in the app will match it to the closest Resene paint colour.

And with Resene's colour library being home to thousands of colours, it's likely you'll find an excellent match.

The system is instant, so you can snap a colour anywhere you want, anytime.

Any colour can then be saved into your favourites so you can find them again later on, email it to a friend, take it to your designer as a suggestion, or take it into a store to see if you can find something that matches.

You can even use the app to access the Resene Colour Palette Generator to create a whole palette of colours that will complement the one you snapped, just by touching the screen.

Once you start using the app, you'll be hooked. You'll start noticing the fantastic array of colours around you in the environment that you usually barely even see – and then you'll be able to recreate the colour schemes from nature in your own home.

 

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Ragging for special effect – DIY paint style

As soon as you realise how easy it is to paint your own home in virtually any colour you please, you might start to wonder how to take your home paint job even further, and start considering how to work in some special effects.

Here is how to try the ragging effect at home. For more ideas, visit our special effects page for more ideas.

Ragging

This technique will give your walls a marbled or crushed velvet finish, and can be used effectively to disguise imperfections like uneven walls, odd angles or a botched plastering job!

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What can we learn from fashion?

Like it or not, fashion can significantly impact several industries other than just its own.

Interior design is constantly being updated with imports from the fashion world, from everything from colour, shape, style, patterns and accessories.

Resene even publishes its own pages on trends from the catwalk that you might see pop up in homewares stores and fabric shops, which you can see here, and The Range fashion colour fandeck so you can see the latest trend paint colours in one handy collection.

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