A magical surprise

This year’s Resene Small Room Awards grand winner is something straight out of Harry Potter: a hidden bathroom-turned-library, accessed only via living room cavity sliders. Inside this magical world, a fantastical feature of Resene Wallpaper Collections 36630-1 leaps out at visitors from behind floating bar shelves. It’s a rich reward for anyone who stumbles upon this secret delight.

Resene Half Merino complements the wallpaper, providing a calming effect on the library’s many shelves and nooks.

Our grand winner, Christchurch resident Lisa Foote, spent the better part of 2020 extensively renovating the ’70s-style home she shares with her partner. “Our vision was to lighten and brighten our home, starting with a classic, neutral palette and adding elements of surprise,” she says.

“We’re super excited to hear we’ve won the Resene Small Room Awards for our library. It was such an unexpected surprise – we never anticipated being a finalist, let alone chosen as the overall winner. It’s been an incredible, sometimes challenging, experience to renovate our home and see our vision come to life, especially for this space, which was once a bathroom.”

Judge Fiona Hawtin says the space speaks for itself. “I think everyone deep down wants a secret nook all to themselves. Lisa’s done a wonderful job to make a small space feel bright and uplifting, and that wallpaper choice is just inspired.”

Her advice to others renovating a small space is to take time to develop a vision, using magazines, Pinterest and home reno shows as inspiration. “Have fun with it, design the space for your needs rather than resale, and embrace colour, whether that be in small doses or large scale.”