Blocks and stripes

From habitat plus - special paint effects

Colour-blocking techniques, geometric patterns and learn the art of perfect stripes

Colour blocking

Simple and effective, colour-blocking can transform a wall, or piece of furniture like a bookcase.You can use sections of a wall, use your blocks of colour in a random way or apply a repeating pattern based on simple shapes such as triangles, rectangles or squares. Or you can create more dramatic walls using 3D geometric effects.

Stripes

Stripes are one of the most classic, and handiest, designs to use to transform a wall, a tray, a floor and even a ceiling. You can go for wide even stripes, horizontally or vertically, for a striking feature wall. Or use random-width stripes for a more complex and colourful look.

Low-tack masking tape will be your most-used tool when creating stripes. For larger areas, like feature walls, use a plumbline for vertical stripes and a level for horizontal ones to make sure your stripes are straight. A good technique is to use a batten of timber, marked at your chosen intervals, as a guide, rather than ruling and marking at various places on the wall.

Pleasingly plaid

This striking plaid effect (below) is simpler than it looks to create. Using two colours (this is Resene Indian Ink and Resene Rhino on a Resene Sea Fog background), both are mixed into Resene FX Paint Effects Medium to achieve the see-through effect. Then simply mask up the horizontal then the vertical stripes and use a small smooth surface paint roller to apply. For this and more easy DIY projects see www.habitatbyresene.com/tips.

Mondrian inspired

The art of Piet Mondrian is very distinctive. Characterised by a rigid geometry of squares and rectangles it’s the perfect candidate for an impressive wall treatment (below left). Resene Eighth Black White provides the perfect white background and an eye-catching grid pattern in Resene Blackjack separates the primary colours in Resene Jalapeno, Resene Aviator and Resene Galliano, synonymous with this style.

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