Finding your look

Findingyour look Creating inspired spaces that suit your style

When it comes to customising your home interiors to make them feel more ‘you’, most renters can feel a bit lost with their design plans, unsure of what they can do without the property owner’s permission.

And it’s not just the renters who can feel deterred, first-time owners or novice decorators can also feel overwhelmed.

However, cosmetic changes to home dwellings are more achievable than most think and can be executed on a budget with just a little know-how. According to Dulux Colour Specialist, Davina Harper, customising your interiors doesn’t need to include big plans or major renovations to achieve a stylish look that’s uniquely you. “People often underestimate the power of paint as a cost effective and impactful way to jazz up a space,” Davina says. “Additionally, colour can be introduced in a number of ways to help tailor and refresh interiors, all whilst keeping the structure and integrity of the home intact.” To show New Zealanders how impactful colour can be, Dulux Trend Forecaster and Stylist, Bree Leech, undertook a room makeover in her own rental property using colours from the 2022 Dulux Colour Forecast.

“Our dining room had a feature that didn’t work for us and I’d wanted to fix for some time,” Bree says. “It was a neutral space that had a cutout in the wall so you could look through to the adjoining room. The cut-out feature was serving no real purpose and the dining area itself just felt a bit flat.” Wanting to create a happier space that would make the immediate and extended family want to collectively gather for meals and quality time, Bree acquired fluted panels for the wall – to cover the cut-out feature – and headed straight to Dulux to select colours from the latest trends!

“I chose colours from the Wonder palette for this space as they best represent my personal style. The palette is fun and joyful – everything I wanted for this room.”

Before Bree Leech’s makeover.

IMAGE CREDIT: DULUX COLOUR FORECAST 2022 - WONDER PALETTE.

DULUX COLOUR FORECASTER

& STYLIST: BREE LEECH. PHOTOGRAPHER - MIKE BAKER.

COLOURS:

DULUX LAKESIDE (WALL PANEL), DULUX HUNTLY (CHAIRS).

PRODUCT:

DULUX WASH&WEAR (PANEL), DULUX AQUANAMEL (CHAIRS). SUPPLIERS: WALL PANEL – SURROUND BY LAMINEX; RUG - HALCYON LAKE.

I chose colours from the Wonder palette for this space as they best represent my personal style. The palette is fun and joyful – everything I wanted for this room.

- Dulux Trend Forecaster and Stylist, Bree Leech

Bree Leech’s styling tips:

When it comes to scheming, going bold with colour can really pay off but, equally, small changes can make a big difference. If you want to introduce smaller pops of colour, choose furniture items or highlight small areas of a wall, door or even your ceiling. If you’re renting and working with shelving that has a backboard, paint a contrasting colour behind the shelves so your other decor items can stand out.

Remember, colour is not just for walls! Painting dining chairs or a table is also a great way to achieve this look whilst renting. Add artwork that references your colour scheme to bring it all together. When selecting colours, always have an overall mood or style in mind and select colours that help bring this idea to life. It’s helpful to have a visual you can refer to like a mood board, materials board or a Pinterest board. This helps keep your colour scheme cohesive and gives you a reference point to work out your proportions as this can dramatically change the mood of the space.

Working with existing fittings and fixtures can often mean a clash in colourways. While you may not be able to pull up the carpet or replace the kitchen benchtop, you can always add rugs for a tonal effect to get you closer to your desired palette. Settling on Dulux Lakeside in Wash&Wear as the backdrop colour for the wall panelling, Bree was able to really breathe life and creativity into the space with the furnishings and accessories to finish the look. “Letting the Wonder palette inspire me, I’ve added new chairs painted with Dulux Tuakau in Aquanamel, a new rug and lots of colourful vessels to fill with flowers.

“It’s really helped bring the space to life and is now somewhere the whole family enjoys spending time.” According to Bree, the Dulux Forecast offers endless colourways to help you create a tailored look, it’s just about selecting colours that fit your needs and vision for the space. “What I love about the Dulux Colour Forecast trends is you can choose any combination of colours from a palette, and they will work together,” Bree says. “It allows you to customise your own scheme and feature your favourite shades in larger proportions but then add smaller amounts of the complementary colours from the palette in accessories and soft furnishings, like fabric prints and artwork, to create a cohesive look.”