Soothing outdoor sanctuary
Kiwis love the outdoors, and our outdoor areas are the ultimate blank canvas – extending our living space and encouraging us to slow down. Resene brings the indoors out with this soothing neutral garden lounge.
Consider what works for you and your family’s lifestyle – do you need an area where kids can entertain themselves? What will you use it for? If cooking is part of the brief, then allow a safe, secluded space for a barbecue. Where does it receive the most sun? Do you need shade? Where can you place floor cushions or bean bags? If you have some old plant pots in the shed, freshen them up with some paint and replant them. Potted plants need frequent watering to survive, so if they’re under shelter they won’t receive any rainwater!
Efficient seating is key to attracting people to this space, so plan your seating, even if it’s with two chairs or an outdoor couch. Maybe you want to arrange it around a fireplace or garden feature? Whatever your design is, comfort and easy flow are your friends.
There are so many inspiring colours to choose from. Testpots are the best starting point. In the outdoor light, colours can change depending on the light quality or next to certain colours.
Background in Resene Triple Merino with A4 drawdown paint swatches in (from left to right) Resene Triple Merino, Resene Ebb, Resene Paper Doll, Resene Coral Tree and Resene Merlot, floor boards in Resene Colorwood Riverstone, lantern in Resene Merlot plant pot in Resene Paper Doll and tray in Resene Ebb.
Here, the much-loved neutral of Resene Triple Merino serves as a peaceful creamy backdrop to the Pink Ombre outdoor lounge. Timber floors stained in Resene Colorwood Riverstone (Resene Woodsman Tiri if outdoors) lend a raw-look finish that resembles the rippling sand of the beach. This ombre screen is the focal point; its waterfall of colours can be changed easily when you tire of them. Here we’ve used (from top to bottom) Resene Ebb, Resene Soothe, Resene Paper Doll, Resene Coral Tree and Resene Merlot. The screen itself provides a decorative element, visually breaking up the space and protecting from the sun and shade if need be. Hints of rose and dusky pink pop up in plant pots in (from large to small) Resene Ebb, Resene Alabaster, Resene Paper Doll and Resene Merlot. The pendant lampshade, lending a truly boho-beachy vibe, is painted in Resene Alabaster and tray in Resene Ebb.
Your outdoor area is likely to be private from the street, so treat it like your own sanctuary where you can sit with the birdsong and the sunshine, stamping your own style with paint in the way you like best.
