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Why revive when you can thrive

The noughties kicked off with a 1980s electropop renaissance – and the looks that went with it have lasted.

 If you’re feeling a little nostalgic, why not build a throwback palette, spun in a way that feels more contemporary than retro?

Soft pastels featured heavily in the kitchens of the 80s, with pale pinks and yellows often being combined together in a single scheme. By picking the right shades, the look can feel just as fresh today as it did then. The popular pastels of yesteryear have been updated with slightly muddier tones, making them a great match for today’s fashionable warm greys.

Pastels and crisp whites Mood board - nostalgic 80s
Nostalgic pastels dining room Updating the popular pastels of yesteryear
Mood board: Background in Resene Yuma with A4-sized drawn down paint swatches (from left to right) in Resene Helix, Resene Resene Earthen, Resene Ethereal, Resene Just Dance, Resene Soulful, Resene Despacito and Resene Alabaster. The bowl full of lemons is painted Resene Just Dance and the artwork was created using testpots of Resene Cleopatra, Resene Love Me Do, Resene Smoulder, Resene BFF and Resene Soulful.

In this dining area, walls in Resene Despacito, a barely-there blush, have been offset with a rosier Resene Soulful accent wall and a Resene Yuma floor – an olive yellow with less of the buttery quality than the sunshine shades of the 80s – which make for a warm and inviting revival scheme. Warm gold-toned woods, which were also popular back then, are a natural fit for a palette like this one yet their modern shapes and simplistic style make this dining set more covetable for a contemporary setting. Set with grey dinnerware and rose-gold toned cutlery, the full look plays perfect homage to the best parts of a decade that was admittedly filled with some questionable design choices.

An 80's colour palette for your dining room
Wooden dining room with eighties accents
Paint: Back wall (behind artwork) in Resene Despacito. Left wall in Resene Soulful. Floor in Resene Yuma. Pendant lamp in Resene Alabaster. Bowl with lemons in Resene Just Dance. Round wooden tray in Resene Helix. Large woven Tray in Resene Japonica. Tall vase with flowers in Resene Ethereal. Skinny vase with flowers in Resene Alabaster. Plant pot in Resene Alabaster. Artwork created using testpots of Resene Cleopatra, Resene Smoulder, Resene Love Me Do, Resene BFF and Resene Soulful.

Accessories: Tilt Square Dining Table, Aspen Chairs with Wooden Legs in Natural Oak from Citta; A2 Oak-look Box Mat picture frame, Waffle Highlight Tea Towel from Kmart; All other props are stylist’s own.

Crisp white, like the Resene Alabaster painted pendant lamp, the small vase and the background of the artwork, finishes off the look by making those elements really pop – but it’s the 80s-style collage, created with little more than a few Resene testpots that adds a level of interest that makes the space really shine. Two coats of Resene Cleopatra, Resene Smoulder, Resene Love Me Do, Resene BFF and Resene Soulful were painted onto sections of heavy white cardstock and allowed to dry fully before being doodled on with a series of black polka dots and squiggles using a permanent marker, or you could use a testpot of Resene Black. Wavy, freeform shapes were then cut out at random and glued on to a stiff cardboard background, which was given an oh-so-80s grid treatment with a fine-lined black pen. The effect is one of a kind, yet it’s entirely easy to replicate yourself at home.

And what could be a more perfect way to add the finish touch to a bright and sunny 80s-revival room like this than with fresh lemons, presented in a wooden bowl painted in Resene Just Dance, and a bouquet of daisies, propped up in a Resene Ethereal vase? We can’t think of a single thing.


Resene Despacito

Resene Soulful

Resene Cleopatra

Resene Smoulder

Resene Love Me Do

Resene BFF

Resene Soulful

Resene Just Dance

Resene Ethereal

Resene Helix

Styling by Laura Lynn Johnston. Photography by Bryce Carleton. 2019


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Colours shown on this website are a representation only. Please refer to the actual paint or product sample. Resene colour charts, testpots and samples are available for ordering online.   See measurements/conversions for more details on how electronic colour values are achieved.

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