of floors and walls

Adding paint is a quick and effective way to brighten or add drama to a room… but why limit yourself to only painting the walls? Many an old concrete bathroom or laundry floor could benefit from a little love. This bathroom floor is painted in Resene Lumbersider tinted to Resene Concrete and Resene Blue Charcoal to mimic a tiled pattern.

For a handy step by step guide, check out habitatbyresene.com/diy-painted-bathroom-tiles.

It's easy to overlook stairs as a place to get creative. These stairs are painted in Resene Lumbersider tinted to Resene Half White Pointer and Resene Half Nocturnal, with a coat of Resene Uracryl 402 Clear on top to keep everything looking fresh.

Simply choose a pattern you want to create, measure, add masking tape then paint with a paint brush, or speed brush. Make sure to press the edges of your masking tape down firmly a few times. The corners will take special care and attention.

As a writer and creative, Michele Powles wanted to make a word art piece for her new home that echoed the tones of the house and reflected the journey of the build. The solution was a poem made out of individual letters captured in boxes and treated with Resene colours to give it the look and feel of a series of old printing press drawers. Michele chose colours from her house palette – Resene Kitsch, Resene Retro, Resene Blue Charcoal, Resene Magma and Resene Nocturnal – and then treated the individual letters with washes and stains of darker colours like Resene All Black and various Resene timber stains. Michele and her husband James made the frames out of left-over cedar.

The artworks have become such a talking point that Michele and two other creatives have generated DIY kits with different poems, a range of Resene paints and step by step instructions on paint effect techniques. Check out www.boxblocks.co.nz.

Top tip: If you have a number of different surfaces to paint or finish, get technical help at www.resene.com/technicalexpert or talk to the staff at your Resene ColorShop.

pictures: Bryce Carleton

Want to get your own free copy of future issues of habitat magazine?

Printed copies of habitat highlights are available from late March 2024 at Resene ColorShops and resellers, while stocks last. You can view back issues of habitat magazine online.

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If you have an idea, project or story that you think would suit habitat, we’d love to hear from you. Please drop us an email with your details and include photos if submitting a project.

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