Federation House Interior

The clients have a Federation house in the leafy Sydney suburb of Beecroft which was last painted sometime in the 1980s, and they wanted to update it with contemporary colours to enhance the stunning Federation features. One of the formal rooms houses a grand piano and the client wanted this room in particular to have a dark, dramatic colour on the walls. The result in this room in particular provides a stunning contrast between the dark walls and white woodwork, with the whole scheme (including new carpet) lifting the interior and providing a great backdrop for their colourful art collection and antique furniture.

The previous scheme consisted of wallpaper borders at dado level, three different colours on the wall, and extremely dark green woodwork. There was also mould and damp damage on some of the walls, which was important to treat properly to ensure the new paint scheme lasts.

The brief for the ‘Piano Room’ was a dark colour to provide an element of drama in this room. The client had selected a number of dark greys and charcoals, but when paired with bright white woodwork, it was found the colour selection could go very dark indeed. Older houses can often take a lot of colour, even if the same depth or saturation in contemporary houses can look out of place. It was a case of “the darker it was the better it looked”.

The ceilings, particularly in the lounge room, are beautiful examples of ornate residential ceilings from the Federation era. Although there was mould in some areas, they were in otherwise good condition. Because the client wanted a contemporary look, Resene Eighth Black White was chosen. This provided a high contrast with the dark charcoal walls in the Piano Room, making the decorative ceilings and cornicing really stand out.

Resene Armadillo (very dark charcoal) proved to be the stand out. It was a brave choice to use something so dark in a dark room and house, but changing the woodwork and ceiling to the bright white of Resene Eighth Black White provided a high contrast between the walls and the other painted surfaces. That high contrast provides the ‘drama’ the client wanted to achieve.

With the existing woodwork colour being very deep green it darkened the entire interior. Using the same Resene Eighth Black White, in Resene Lustacryl semi-gloss waterborne enamel, on all the woodwork provided consistency in the palette and brightened up the interior enormously.

The result is a sophisticated scheme that provides the right amount of drama and forms the perfect accompaniment to the client’s collection of brightly coloured cushions, rugs and art works.

The painter for this project had not used Resene paints previously, but he was very impressed with the finish they provided, noting that he could achieve a usual three coat coverage in just two coats of Resene paints.

Colour selection: Flow Colour and Design
Painting contractor: Arash Moshtaghi, AMK Painting
Project: Resene Total Colour Awards 2017