Viva la Villa

Finalist 7 – Colour Home Awards Competition

A Whanganui villa enjoys a colourful revival using maximalist magic.

A few years ago, Danny Breaker bought his century-old villa in the beautiful city of Whanganui. For the past 20-odd years, the house was used as a student rental, and he says, “There had been little love given to the house in those years and most features had been removed and destroyed.”

A maximalist villa interior

Danny Breaker

A bright red front door

Yet the house had good bones and is located opposite the Whanganui River, where the sun would play fantastically with the colours of the house and water.

Initially, Danny was going to paint the house exterior black, in keeping with the riverside cottages in his hometown of Kent in the UK. However, while waiting in line to buy black paint, he spotted Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Resene Indian Ink. “I ambled over to the paint colour wall and the blue said buy me. So, I did – and the house and my life has been transformed ever since.”

A villa exterior

In fact, he loved the deep, dark blue of Resene Indian Ink so much he painted the kitchen and bathroom in the same colour to match. Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Resene Pohutukawa red on the front door and veranda roof put the cherries on top of the brilliant blue house.

As you enter the house, you’re greeted by the beautiful Persian-inspired turquoise of Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Resene Guru, which is used in the hallway. “The sun rises at the front of the house, so to wake up and walk into my hallway seeing the light bouncing off the walls immediately sets the tone of the day,” says Danny. In the early evening, the last of the sun’s rays light up his bedroom, painted in Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Resene Broom, which “looks like gold.”

A golden yellow bedroom

The golden yellow of Resene Broom adds warmth to Danny’s bedroom.

In the living room, Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Resene Husk coats the space in calmness. “I’m a great believer in using colour. It alters my mood and calms me. I work in a volatile environment, which can be very stressful. When I come home, the day’s dramas disappear the moment I walk in.”

Danny’s house is a monument to colour and style, so much so that he’s become used to receiving messages in his letterbox asking what colours he has used and how the exterior had made an impact on them. But he can’t take all the credit. “Teresa is a godsend at my local Resene ColorShop and often helps with my choices.”