Modern folk

It is almost as though this blanket chest was plucked straight from a fairytale. The intricate, hand-painted detail is breathtaking, particularly when paired with the rest of the colourful bedroom. Artist Hayley Elliott-Kernot and her husband Andrew Piselli are the creative minds behind the chest, as well as many other projects in their Waitara home. They took a secondhand treasure (the chest was found for $30) and transformed it into a piece of art.

The blanket chest, like the rest of the room, was inspired by folk art. “This was different than other projects. We love the garden and anything old, vintage or historical. Folk art-style plants painted on old furniture combine these,” Hayley says. The dream materialised through an array of Resene testpots. Of the dozens that Hayley and Andrew own, the testpots used for the chest were Resene Norway, Resene Wax Flower, Resene Touche, Resene Cream Can and Resene Saratoga.

“I find lots of colour makes a space feel happy, so our rooms tend to be full of colour and patterns. Greens and sunset colours are current favourites, which is why they are the main colours on the box.” Hayley says.

The hope is that the rest of their house will one day be given the full artistic treatment. “Each room has quite a distinctive style,” Hayley says. “We have called our next room the ‘Sherlock Holmes’ room, and we are doing it up in a Victorian library style.”

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