Grey's anatomy

From the Resene/Your Home and Garden Colour Home Awards Competition - 2011/2012 Grand Winner

Cheryl and Phil Johnston’s century-old villa scoops this year’s top prize.

The cottage is a miniature version of the original house and is painted in the same Resene colours.

Cheryl Johnston and her husband Phil are the winners of this year’s award for their beautiful grey colour scheme. A transformation to their century-old villa in Cambridge in 2010 prompted a subtle colour change. They added a new ensuite, walk-in wardrobe and study off a bedroom at the back of the house, plus a separate garage, carport and a cottage.

Cheryl took her time getting the right shades of grey and white, and discovered that perfecting a lighter palette can be even trickier than working with bright and bold shades. “There were hundreds of shades to choose from,” says Cheryl.

Colour tricks

Cheryl and Phil built a whole new cottage at the back of their property, with the help of a builder and an architect. The cottage comes in handy when guests are staying. Choosing the colour scheme for the exterior of the cottage was easy, they copied the original house colours – the weatherboards are Resene Silver Chalice and the windows, doors, posts and fretwork are Resene Alabaster.

Exterior colours
The colours of the exterior of the Cambridge villa helped Cheryl chose the colours for the rest of the house.

Take your time

Renovations on the house took 11 months and Cheryl took six months alone just to choose the right colours. “ I had visions of what I wanted, but there were lots of testpots purchased to narrow down the options,” she says. It was also crucial for Cheryl to select shades that married with the original style of the home. “ It was important to us that the additions were done in keeping with the old style of our house, while at the same time adding a bit of ‘us’ to the home. There is a real sense of harmony between all the rooms.”

Bathing beauty

The ensuite in the main house is tranquil and fresh thanks to Cheryl’s colour selection of Resene Half Bianca for the tongue and groove walls and Resene Eighth Stack on the upper walls, shutters and ceiling.

Painting the cast iron bath in Resene Quarter Stack to complement the colour scheme in the bathroom is an ingenious way to tie the look together. It’s topped off with crisp white towels and fresh flowers.

Get the look with Resene Blanc or Quarter Blanc.

lounge
Left: This photo An old Singer sewing machine table graces the hallway.
Right: Cheryl doubts she’ll ever go back to using bright colours, having experimented with burgundy and yellow in her last home. “We do like bold colours in small doses” she says, “we’d like to add some colour to our lounge with artwork or cushions.” “Bright and quirky just wouldn’t suit our furnishings or colours in the existing parts of the house”

Kitchen and ensuite
Left: Kitchen, Right: Ensuite bathroom, Far right: Study.

The kitchen has a warm, country feel thanks to the wood accents and painted tongue and groove. Achieve this look with Resene Kitchen & Bathroom tinted to Resene Sea Fog.

The bathroom ceiling is a half-strength version of the wall colour, because it receives less light, and a colour painted on a ceiling will generally look darker than the same colour on a wall. The painted bath perfectly complements the grey and white tones of the bathroom. Cheryl says the colour scheme in the ensuite is relaxing but also fresh thanks to the white of Resene ‘Bianca’. Resene ‘Half Bianca’ keeps the en-suite looking fresh and clean.

Painted tongue and groove in the kitchen adds a homely feel. The study is a peaceful place to get work done. It is painted in Resene ‘Eighth Tapa’ and combines with the crisp white ceilings and trim in Resene ‘Bianca’.

Details of rooms
Left: Floor-length drapes add some drama to the hallway and the painted tongue and groove of the ceiling mirrors the wood floors. Left Center:The guest room in the cottage is painted in Resene Buttery White and Resene Bianca on the frames and skirting.