From habitat magazine - issue 39, relaxed living
Harking back to a more relaxed way of living has become more familiar over the past few years.
With many choosing to shift to the country away from the hustle and bustle of busy city lives, our interior style choices are increasingly reflecting a more relaxed way of life. Take this beautiful Tuscan-style kitchen, with walls treated in textures of blues and greens to complement the garden-to-table feeling. The walls in Resene Dusted Blue are given a limewashed, rustic look with colourwashed topcoats in Resene New Denim Blue and Resene Half Emerge for a calming finish that looks like it has been there forever.
home grown Home vegetable gardens are becoming increasingly popular as part of our desire to connect with nature, not to mention help manage the family food budget. For summer vegetables, Palmers Garden Centre recommends planting delicious cucumbers from Labour Weekend through to early mid-summer. Dig in compost and sheep pellets or poultry manure before planting your vegetables for rich, fertile soil. Cucumbers are best planted during the warmer spring months to set their roots, making them ripe for eating in high summer.
Following the ‘return to the country’ trend, barn doors are seeing a resurgence, with the trend extending to include fresh geometric elements. While the city still holds dear for many, the essence of the country can be imbued in very simple ways. Take the modern barn door (pictured) and give it a fresh contemporary feel by finishing it with wood-stained battens. Continuing a modern touch but using colours that are comfortable in a country setting, the walls are split by treating the lower area in Resene Atmosphere with the upper in Resene Kensington Grey.
Painting the floor in the shade of Resene Sidecar lifts the mood of this room with its light and warm tone.
This country-blended-with-industrial style has been working its way into city homes for a number of years, says Resene Colour Expert Jackie Nicholls. The stylish trend has been cemented in both highceilinged apartments adorned with modern amenities and barn-style homes furnished with a butler’s pantry. You can find these design gems nestled amongst the city’s more familiar villas and bungalows.
Create a home that combines both industrial and country trends by choosing elements of each style and blending them together, Jackie says. Another simple way to harmonise these two different themes is with colour. Use a deep industrial shade on your doors like Resene Bokara Grey, then paint walls with a softer, earthy tone like Resene Quarter Biscotti to bring in that country-meets-city expression.
While we’re not all able to move to the country or be lucky enough to live by the ocean, bringing the sensations of the sea to your home is a simple task with Resene’s bountiful selection of blues. Blues are known to be restorative and calming, especially in these softer tones, reminiscent of late summer days spent on the sand.
Team calming blues with bright whites like Resene Alabaster to give a classic Hamptons feel to your home, or if you prefer a more diffused off-white choose the ever popular Resene Sea Fog to work in with your beachy blues.
Continuing the theme of country style, luxurious Resene Truffle is an elegant way to inject a country manor elegance into your home, Jackie says. “While embodying the rich, earthy tones of its namesake treat, Resene Truffle is a colour that commands a room, bathing it in subtle sophistication.”
A pared back luxe look*
This pared back luxe look features neutral on trend tones that evoke an enduring elegance. Walls and trims painted in Resene Truffle with floorboards finished in the soft shade of Resene Colorwood Breathe Easy. The coffee table and side table are painted in Resene Triple Truffle, bowl on table in Resene Quarter Truffle and round vase in Resene Half Truffle. These planters have been given a fresco finish with Resene Stonewash (front pot) and Resene Claywash (back pot) from the Resene In The Wash collection applied using a criss-cross brush technique. Sofa from Interior Warehouse, rug from Briscoes, table lamp from Lighting Direct.
Reflecting the modern trend toward warmer neutrals, this family of elegant tones is the perfect palette to take your space from cool to chic, she says. Bathe your entire room in Resene Truffle, selecting Resene Triple Truffle for the walls with trims in Resene Eighth Truffle.
Choose a Resene Enamacryl gloss finish to make your trims stand out against the wall colour. “Pair furniture in crisp creams like Resene Eighth Spanish White, or deep navy blues like Resene Blue Night, to create a rich and embracing room.”
*This pared back luxe look features neutral on trend tones that evoke an enduring elegance. Walls and trims painted in Resene Truffle with floorboards finished in the soft shade of Resene Colorwood Breathe Easy. The coffee table and side table are painted in Resene Triple Truffle, bowl on table in Resene Quarter Truffle and round vase in Resene Half Truffle. These planters have been given a fresco finish with Resene Stonewash (front pot) and Resene Claywash (back pot) from the Resene In The Wash collection applied using a criss-cross brush technique. Sofa from Interior Warehouse, rug from Briscoes, table lamp from Lighting Direct.
Projects: Kate Alexander, Megan Harrison-Turner, Moneuan Ryan
Images: Bryce Carleton
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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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