Mix it up
Retro style gains a bold new personality as an eclectic collection of furniture and décor is tied together with pretty Resene paint and wallpaper.
Walls and floor painted in Resene Quarter Spanish White and Resene Double Spanish White, wall in Resene Wallpaper Collection 220482.
Style influences are often borrowed from the past and reinterpreted for today. Whether a 1970s vibe or a classic English county look, mixing patterns such as florals, plaids and stripes can be updated with fresh Resene colours. Eras can be blended, borrowing a furniture style from here, an architectural detailing from there and a colour scheme from somewhere else.
At first glance this room has an elegantly updated Victoriana look with its whimsical wallpaper and dado-height wall panelling – a joyful example of Grandma chic. Add a rustic table, some curvy emerald Art Deco velvet chairs and a pendant light that is distinctly boho, and you have a brand-new style.
One component that can help bring disparate looks together is the Resene paint colour. This classic paint colour has survived the decades: Resene Spanish White.
There’s a reason it has been so popular over the years. Resene describes it as a complexity of hues of yellow oxide, orange, green and raw umber that will work well with most colourways. It has a creamy feel and comes in several strengths – Resene Triple Spanish White is quite beige and Resene Eighth Spanish White is a white with a whisper of warmth.
Background painted in Resene Quarter Spanish White and Resene Double Spanish White, vase in Resene Wax Flower, craft flowers in Resene Wallpaper Collection 220482, A4 drawdown paint swatches in Resene Quarter Spanish White, Resene Spanish White, Resene Double Spanish White, Resene Rewilding, Resene Half Popcorn, Resene Cest La Vie and Resene Wax Flower.
In this room it’s used in the elegant floor design where a pattern of Resene Double Spanish White is painted on top of Resene Quarter Spanish White.
The hero of the room, however, is this wallpaper, Resene Wallpaper Collection 220482, in which cranes and pheasants perch among flowers and blossoming tree branches.
It all plays out with a combination of vintage shades such as petal pink, soft yellow, apricot and faded green against a background of cool grey. It’s a wallpaper design that injects springy loveliness into a room.
Wallpaper isn’t as tricky to hang as it used to be, so it is an achievable job for an enthusiastic DIYer. Many of today’s unwoven wallpapers are hung using the paste-the-wall method, which means literally that – you paste the wall rather than the paper or soaking the paper in water. Today’s modern wallpapers are also much easier to remove when it’s time for a change. You can get plenty of advice on hanging wallpaper from staff at your local Resene ColorShop.
