Plum assignment

Finalist 6 – Colour Home Awards Competition

A couple of keen renovators have used bold colours to personalise their new home.

Bold colour can inject vibrancy into an interior space

A burst of colour is all you need to inject a space with vibrancy. By creating a stunning feature wall in their living room, Nic Hall and Kiri Chivell did exactly that. They bought the 1990s home in Auckland’s Waitākere Ranges in April 2024, knowing that there was room for improvement on their terms.

Nic, a semi-retired art director, leapt on the opportunity to renovate. According to Kiri, he wanted something where he was “utilising his existing creative talent whilst adding new renovating skills”.

The beauty and impact of a feature wall is heightened by a quality neutral, so Nic and Kiri painted the rest of the living room walls in an old favourite of theirs: Resene Zylone Sheen in Resene Quarter Truffle. “We know how well it works with different housing styles and different types of furniture,” Kiri says. They also went with Resene SpaceCote in Resene Triple Truffle in the foyer, brightening the entrance to the room and helping to define it as a separate space.

The rest of the transformative details in the living room were Nic’s handiwork – a product of research and harmonising with the feature wall. The ceiling had originally been painted with a clear satin polyurethane, so Nic went over it with a coat of Resene Colorwood Whitewash.

“It brightens up the lounge whilst retaining the aesthetic of the natural wood grain.”

Nic also designed and built the pressed tin faux fireplace and repurposed a black oak veneer unit for the room, painting the latter with Resene Colorwood Shade from the We Speak Beach Collection that “allows some of the grain to show and complements the macrocarpa and natural wood ceiling”.

No matter what neutrals were introduced, it was impossible for Nic and Kiri to resist the rich hues of Resene Pompadour. “We liked Resene Pompadour so much in the lounge that we used it for the front door,” Kiri says.

This is just the beginning of their transformation process. They plan to use variations of Resene Truffle throughout the home, and Nic is keen to further flex his DIY skills.

Resene Pompadour provides a pop of colour on the front door