This room is a classic combination of palest grey, black and tan, with a casual twist.
Not all rooms are created equal and certainly not all rooms are standard rectangles. There are rooms in our homes that might be oddly shaped due to a number of reasons and may not be able to be readily changed, fixed or restructured – whether it’s a closed-off chimney breast in an older house, an unusual corner created by changes to the adjacent room, an oddly angled part of the ceiling or maybe it’s something that’s just always been there.
There are two ways to handle structural elements that impact on a room. You can try your best to disguise them, or you can take advantage of the situation and enhance them. In this room, part of the wall protrudes so rather than ignore it, it’s been used not only to provide an alcove in which to place a cabinet but also a surface on which to make a statement – in battens. Or rather, oriental screening, bought readymade.
Because the narrow protruding wall already accentuates the height of the room, the battens are run horizontally to combat that.
Rather than paint the battens in a solid colour, the character of the timber is enhanced by finishing it in Resene Colorwood Bask wood stain, a warm golden sand colour. This heightens the innate texture of the batten screens and adds depth. The same wood stain is used to finish the stump stool and the colour of these is echoed around the room in cushions, a throw and a decorative wall hanging. If you were keen on introducing a solid colour as a complement to the stain, try Resene Gold Coast or Resene Amaranth.
These delicious caramel tones are a hit of warmth against the wall, painted in Resene Concrete, which is a frosted silver grey with that wet cement look. It has a sophisticated, cool vibe but if you wanted something warmer, there are many creamy whites in the Resene colour collection, for example, Resene White Pointer, Resene Double Rice Cake, Resene Thorndon Cream or Resene Blanc. Check out the Resene Whites & Neutrals range for these and other timeless colours, handily arranged in palette cards with a number of strength variations.
This room is a classic combination of palest grey, black and tan, with a casual twist. Notice the way that black is used to lead your eye around the room and on different-sized objects, big to small, with a cabinet and pendant lampshade painted in Resene Nocturnal, a black cushion and black tealight holder. And the whole scheme is anchored with wide timber floorboards finished in the dusky and slightly dramatic wood stain Resene Colorwood Shade.
The wood stains used here come from the Resene Colorwood We Speak Beach range of six interior wood stains that are inspired by hazy days at the beach and other popular Resene weathered hues such as Resene Colorwood Whitewash and Resene Colorwood Greywash. The range will take you from sea to shore with colours including soft blue Resene Rising Tide and sandy colours Resene Breathe Easy and Resene Becalm. Explore the range at www.resene.com/colorwood. It’s best to visit your local Resene ColorShop when choosing stain colours as there are instore displays of various stains applied to different timbers.
Ideal for use for everything from walls and ceilings to flooring and furniture, the hues can be used individually or combined into a palette.
The wider Resene Colorwood range has a variety of stain colours, from naturals like brown and green though to more unexpected bright shades such as red, orange, emerald and blue – there’s even a purple.
Project by Vanessa Nouwens. Photography by Bryce Carleton. May 2022
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