Excuse to paint

Excited after seeing a great colour in an open home, Julie Lander was motivated to find a room in her house to transform. It wasn't long before the light avocado walls in the summer lounge were singled out for the change along with the deeper avocado French doors and windows.

Four days later, the room was finished in tones of Resene Pumpkin on walls and Resene Melanzane on window trim and the French doors. The four days work included the machine dying of calico curtains and the Austrian blind in a deep wine/maroon shade. The Pumpkin wall behind the sofa is the perfect colour background for handpainted gold and Arabic lettering.

Summer lounge walls	Window trim and French doors
Resene Pumpkin	Resene Melanzane

With comments from visitors being very favourable, Julie says you shouldn't be afraid to use strong colours. For the best results, use a tinted undercoat under deep colours.

While on holiday in Tauranga Julie noticed a number of houses had been painted brown. It was time for an exterior change so they decided to repaint the exterior of their light green/grey 1910 villa. After several shades and types of testpots and a new Karaka COLORSTEEL® roof, Julie decided on Resene Stonewall exterior walls and black low sheen French doors, main doors, verandah posts, pergola, trellis, windows and fences.

Weatherboards	Windows, doors, verandah posts, pergolas, trellis and fences
Resene Stonewall	Resene Black

The exterior repaint was a major undertaking, consuming almost 12 months of fine weekends. Luckily with the previous paint job Julie's husband had burnt off all the paint to get back to a sound surface and replaced boards, so this time it was a relatively simple task of just sanding and painting. It just goes to show that it is worth putting in the hard work at the start, as it will probably save you time later.

Decorating inspiration gallery
Click on the links below to view more great home decorating ideas and colour schemes for home interiors and exteriors.