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Resene Dark Slate gives the kitchen a bold and welcoming appeal. Justine has paired it with Resene Double Alabaster on the trims and ceiling for a fresh and timeless look. The kitchen cabinetry is painted in Resene Double Sea Fog, which works beautifully with the warm grey-veined marble benchtop.
Justine bought the gold velvet couch after she was gifted a 1920s gilded mirror by a friend’s mum. It inspired the colour choice of Resene Dark Slate for the kitchen and living walls. The ceiling and trims are painted in Resene Double Alabaster and the kitchen cabinets are painted in Resene Double Sea Fog. Even the Te Reo clock, which was made by Inscribe Design, is painted in Resene White.
“I’ve always been a big reader,” says Justine. Her floor to ceiling bookcase, painted in Resene Double Alabaster, is one of her favourite parts of the home. During lockdown, she had a good time changing the items in the bookcase as the background for each online Zoom meeting. Resene Dark Slate makes its way into the dining room too with Resene Double Alabaster on the ceiling and trims.
Justine wanted the bedrooms to be calming and restful, so she chose softer colours for these spaces. In the master bedroom Resene Half Thorndon Cream features on the walls with Resene Double Alabaster on the ceiling and trims, and a restful palette of greys similar to Resene Half Jumbo, Resene Dune and Resene Bounty come together on the bedding.
The serene stony blue hue of Resene Half Hermitage features in one of the guest bedrooms with Resene Double Alabaster on the ceilings and trims. Lovely dark hues similar to Resene Shark and Resene Sambuca on the bedding create a restful colour palette.
Resene Half Thorndon Cream brightens up one of the guest bedrooms with Resene Double Alabaster on the ceiling and trims. The moody blue colour palette in the rest of the house is brought into this room through bedding in colours similar to Resene Avalanche and Resene Neutral Bay.
Resene Half Inside Back features in the bathroom alongside classic white subway tiles and a vintage mirror.
Resene Gull Grey brings character and personality to the exterior of the house with Resene Double Alabaster on the front door and trims, and Resene Shark on the front door lintel.
images Justine Daw
A 1920s family home makes an elegant return to its former glory
Justine had a very straight forward design brief for her 1929 home; ‘return to elegance’. “It was a very beautiful house once, and I wanted to bring those elements back within the context of a modern, liveable home,” she says. Originally, she had planned to give it a smart, but quick, refresh. However that plan quickly “snowballed,” and before she knew it, she was installing pressed tin ceilings and wallpaper, knocking down walls and painting the kitchen in the alluring hue of Resene Dark Slate.
“I never wanted to do a major renovation,” Justine says. “But something about this 1929 family home caught my imagination. When I entered the house, I knew right away that I would buy it, even though it was a complete doer-upper.”
As she began to strip back the house, “wonderful things began to come to light,” she says. “It was a delight to discover the luxurious original wallpaper behind the layers of paint, and a snuff box left in the walls by the builders.” The home’s original Carrara ceiling and etched glass doors were still in a wonderful condition and the rimu doors and floors were happily restored. The home’s former owner – who was in the house for 43 years – gifted Justine an oak bookshelf. “It’s another part of the history of the house that I am retaining and honouring,” she says.
Justine, who is a former career diplomat and avid traveler and now works as an executive leader in a science agency, has filled her home with items collected from her overseas adventures. She chose the colours for the home to speak to its history and to celebrate her journeys. “I wanted to honor the many wonderful, diverse and beautiful people and places that have touched me as I have lived and travelled around the world. This inspired the warm, welcoming palette in shared spaces, as well as the restful colours in the more private spaces.”
She says, “I thought about the furniture, art, objects and gifts and chose the house colours around them.” The gold couch in the living room presented her with her first major colour pairing challenge. The resulting match, Resene Dark Slate, is one of her favourite hues in the house
“I love blues and greens, golds and yellows, Japanese patterns and textiles from around the world as well as a natural palette of stone, wool and rattan. How do you bring that all together?” she asks. It must be a rhetorical question, because Justine has done so seamlessly to give her old dame an elegant and eclectic new look.
The kitchen, living and dining come alive in Resene Dark Slate. “The surprising warmth, depth and cosiness of the colour is so appealing,” says Justine. “It felt like a big risk to take, but I’m so glad I took it. I don’t think anyone else thought it was a good idea at the time.”
Softer grey blues dominate the rest of the house with Resene Half Inside Back in the bathrooms, Resene Hermitage in the laundry and guest bedroom, and Resene Half Innocence in the scullery. Traditional creams and whites feature in the main and guest bedrooms with Resene Half Thorndon Cream on the walls and Resene Alabaster on the ceilings and trims. The entire look of the house is encapsulated in the welcoming colour of Resene Gull Grey on the exterior weatherboards, with Resene Double Alabaster trims and front door.
The warming colours in the home lend themselves to the welcoming feel Justine was aiming for. During her time in lockdown, she was particularly grateful for the wide open spaces and sun-filled rooms. “My architect, John MacMillan, did an amazing job of ensuring the new extensions were in keeping with the original house. It meant that absolutely no rooms in the house are as they were before, but you’d never know.”
Published: 15 Jul 2020
Do you have a home full of wonderful Resene paint and colour? Send us some snaps by emailing [email protected].
Resene Dark Slate gives the kitchen a bold and welcoming appeal. Justine has paired it with Resene Double Alabaster on the trims and ceiling for a fresh and timeless look. The kitchen cabinetry is painted in Resene Double Sea Fog, which works beautifully with the warm grey-veined marble benchtop.
Justine bought the gold velvet couch after she was gifted a 1920s gilded mirror by a friend’s mum. It inspired the colour choice of Resene Dark Slate for the kitchen and living walls. The ceiling and trims are painted in Resene Double Alabaster and the kitchen cabinets are painted in Resene Double Sea Fog. Even the Te Reo clock, which was made by Inscribe Design, is painted in Resene White.
“I’ve always been a big reader,” says Justine. Her floor to ceiling bookcase, painted in Resene Double Alabaster, is one of her favourite parts of the home. During lockdown, she had a good time changing the items in the bookcase as the background for each online Zoom meeting. Resene Dark Slate makes its way into the dining room too with Resene Double Alabaster on the ceiling and trims.
Justine wanted the bedrooms to be calming and restful, so she chose softer colours for these spaces. In the master bedroom Resene Half Thorndon Cream features on the walls with Resene Double Alabaster on the ceiling and trims, and a restful palette of greys similar to Resene Half Jumbo, Resene Dune and Resene Bounty come together on the bedding.
The serene stony blue hue of Resene Half Hermitage features in one of the guest bedrooms with Resene Double Alabaster on the ceilings and trims. Lovely dark hues similar to Resene Shark and Resene Sambuca on the bedding create a restful colour palette.
Resene Half Thorndon Cream brightens up one of the guest bedrooms with Resene Double Alabaster on the ceiling and trims. The moody blue colour palette in the rest of the house is brought into this room through bedding in colours similar to Resene Avalanche and Resene Neutral Bay.
Resene Half Inside Back features in the bathroom alongside classic white subway tiles and a vintage mirror.
Resene Gull Grey brings character and personality to the exterior of the house with Resene Double Alabaster on the front door and trims, and Resene Shark on the front door lintel.
images Justine Daw
Resene Half Inside Back
Resene Half Inside Back
Resene Half Thorndon Cream
Resene Half Thorndon Cream
Resene Double Alabaster
Resene Double Alabaster
Resene Double Sea Fog
Resene Double Sea Fog
the look
If you're stuck on what
colour to use or need colour
advice, try out the Resene
Ask a Colour Expert service.
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Resene Half Inside Back
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Resene Double Sea Fog
the look
If you're stuck on what
colour to use or need colour
advice, try out the Resene
Ask a Colour Expert service.
