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Resene – Paint project, from Homestyle magazine

Primary colours pop within an earthy scheme that also puts a twist on a textile print.

Get the look

This kitchen colour palette combines the dusty hues of grey-blue Resene Big Stone and soft olive Resene Bitter with primary brights, including Resene Red Red Red, for a kitchen that's equal parts animated and sophisticated. Adding rich browns and black as accent hues grounds the look.

Paint a checkerboard pattern on the floor

Paint and accessories...

Kitchen: Left walls in Resene Spacecote Flat in Resene Quarter Tea; ‘splashback’, dowel and bench in Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen Kitchen & Bathroom in Resene Big Stone; dowel cord and handles in Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen Kitchen & Bathroom in Resene Red Red Red; cabinetry in Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen Kitchen & Bathroom in Resene Bitter; floor in Resene Walk-on in Resene Quarter Tea, Resene Sour Dough and Resene Dark Buff.

Accessories: from front left Cherner chairs, Karakter. Pedestal table, from Homestyle Editions. Luisa Calice glasses by R&D Lab. Beauty vase by Astier de Villatte, Bud vase by Walk in the Park, Piano tea towel by Charvet Éditions, Tessuti. Soap by Sphaera, soap dish by Misma Anaru, Everything I Want to Eat cookbook by Jessica Koslow, Everyday Needs. Buddy round spout kitchen mixer by Progetto, Plumbline. Bowl by Monmouth Glass Studio and salad servers by Petley, Monmouth Glass Studio. Wooden tray by Hasami Porcelain, Il Conico kettle by Aldo Rossi for Alessi, Simon James. Additional items: Pride cutlery by David Mellor Design, plates by John Derian x Astier de Villatte, Tessuti. Decorative rock and flowers stylist’s own.

For a colour-blocked change from the standard set-up, take a tonal approach with a wall and benchtop in the same shade. Stylish and utilitarian, a matching painted rod of dowel forms an alternative to shelving or hooks that keeps hanging essentials extra-handy.
Who says flooring has to only be something you walk all over? You could also make it fun. This gingham effect provides a playful take on classic black-and-white checkered tiles, while turning a heritage textile into a contemporary statement.

How to paint the floor...

To recreate this gingham floor, paint the entire thing with two coats of your base colour — we used Resene Quarter Tea — then leave to dry.
Starting at a side wall, measure and mark the width of your stripes (ours are 44cm) using a pencil and metre ruler. To ensure flawlessly sharp lines, use painter’s tape to mask every second stripe before painting them with your mid-tone — we used Resene Sour Dough. Leave to dry, then remove the tape.
Repeat these steps with the same paint colour perpendicular to your stripes to make perfect squares.
Use painter’s tape to mask the squares that are created by overlapping stripes, then paint these squares with your darkest colour — we used Resene Dark Buff. Leave to dry, then remove the tape.