Art inspired

Rather than trying to find homeware to complement your décor, try taking inspiration from the tones and shapes in a favourite artwork and create your room around that.

While there will always be artistic styles that experience waxing and waning popularity, the artwork you choose for your space should feel very personal. Whether you opt for an investment piece or want to display something that holds sentimental value, the key is picking something that really speaks to you – or something you at least enjoy looking at. Once you’ve found something that you love, why not use it to inspire a colour palette for the room in which you’ll be hanging it?

Moodboard Background in Resene Polo Blue and A4 drawdown paint swatches (from left to right) in Resene Time Out, Resene Flotsam, Resene Bunting and Resene Alabaster, a vase in Resene Time Out and a coaster in Resene Frozen.

This modern garden room or ‘conservatory’ features an original artwork by Hannah Jensen, one of many artists in New Zealand and Australia who paints her works using Resene products. If you are unsure what colours are used in the artwork you own, you can always upload a photo or scan your piece to the Resene Colour Palette Generator. This nifty online tool creates a Resene colour palette based on the most common colours that occur in the image. It also tells you what proportion of the palette the colours are, and so helps give you an idea of the colour balance you’ll need to translate it into a space. From there, you can download swatches to start fleshing out your design scheme.

One clever idea is to use the shape of your artwork to create similar shapes on your walls. In a way, the ‘frame’ of this piece has been painted directly on to the wall instead of putting a frame on the artwork itself. In this space, an arch has been painted in Resene Alabaster over a background in Resene Flotsam. Then, repeat the same shape throughout the room to create a sense of continuity. Here, the rice paper lantern, the table, the vases and the wheels of the cart carry the theme throughout the space.

In the same way that round shapes have been repeated, so have colours. The wall at the right in Resene Polo Blue and the vase on the table in Resene Time Out bring the main colour of the artwork further into the space. To bridge the gap between the lightest colour in the room (Resene Alabaster), the darkest colour (Resene Bunting) and the grey of Resene Flotsam, Resene Link Water was used on the chairs, small vases and plant pots to link together the entire colour palette. And, the decision to stick to a tonal scheme gives the artwork more visual space to shine, rather than overpowering it.

While it’s good to start to create repetition and rhythm in your interior decorating, it’s the unique bits you add that become the icing on your proverbial design cake. The section of Resene Bunting at the left of the room has been added for contrast and depth, while the green foliage in the centre of the table really pops against the rest of the tonal palette. The result is a restful room to relax in – but not one without its elements of interest.

resene.co.nz/palettegenerator