Michelle’s cosy living room makeover

12 Nov 2025

When Michelle and her husband moved from the North Island to the South, their goal was to create a home that reflected their new surroundings. Their inspiration behind the Resene colour scheme came from their love of schist. “We have moved to the South Island from the North Island,” says Michelle. “I have always associated schist with the South.”

The couple purchased their home without viewing it. “A risk but calculated,” she says. “We spent many hours looking at the plans, online and at house prices. We are also firm believers in how much colour can change a space. It can update and influence the feel of a room and home.”

Before shots of the lounge (left) and fireplace and entry (right).

Inside, every wall was painted in a cool white. “The house had beige tiles and brown carpet. We felt like it needed warmth,” says Michelle. “Our previous home was mostly Resene Black White, but I wanted to have some fun and add some colour.”

The transformation began with the lounge, where they tiled the back wall behind the fireplace in a mixed autumn colour inspired schist tile. “It looked fantastic,” says Michelle. “This gave us a large range of colours to choose a complimentary colour from as there was such a variety in the natural schist.”

From there, she drew inspiration for the entrance. “I wanted to choose a colour from the schist for the feature wall inside the entrance. This wall is not connected but at the side of the schist but can be seen. This colour was also important as we have also created a snug in another large room in the house and wanted to introduce the same colour to this room, so it wasn’t random. This worked very well to give the room a sense of cosiness.”

On the entrance wall, Michelle chose Resene Hairy Heath, a rich, comfortable brown, drawn from a shade within the new schist around the fireplace.

Michelle used Resene Merino as the main colour in the lounge where the schist fireplace is. The feature wall colour she chose was Resene Hairy Heath. “It is perfectly rich and compliments the schist very well,” she says.

“I love schist. To me it is the essence of the South Island,” says Michelle. “The schist wall was always going to be autumn inspired colours. This gave us a huge range of colours to choose one for the other two projects. Resene Hairy Heath became the colour after much deliberation. It was the closest to the deepest colour in the schist and would have the biggest impact.”

In the snug, the earthy décor and complementary artwork create a cosy space amongst the walls in Resene Hairy Heath.

By using the same colour in both the entrance and the snug, Michelle created a visual link that flows naturally through the home. “The reason for using this in the new snug lounge, is I wanted to be bold but not random. It made sense to use this same colour,” she says.

“The project went very well, and we are happy with all our renovations and paint colour choices,” says Michelle. “It has transformed our home.”

Do you have a home full of wonderful Resene paint and colour? Or a project you’ve recently finished in Resene? Send us some snaps by emailing [email protected].

Published: 12 Nov 2025