BOLD AND BEAUTIFUL

Bold and beautiful By Natasha Parrant

How to zhoozh up your home with colour

Everyone appreciates a unique house because you can tell a homeowner has put a lot of time and effort into customising their house.

One way of zhoozhing up the interior and/ or exterior of the house, simply and without spending your salary you’ve been saving up for months, is by bringing colour into your home. Look no further. Follow these tips, tricks, and trends on how to zhoozh up the house with colour. Dulux New Zealand is one of the country’s most popular and trusted paint companies.

Dulux Flourish Bedroom edition.

Dulux Autumn colours featuring the iconic Dulux dog Madison. Image styled by Bree Leech. Photographed by Lisa Cohen. Paint: Ceiling – Dulux Sandfly Point Half. Cabitnets – Dulux Basix Coral. Feature wall – Dulux Silo Park. Artwork (large): “2021 Serpent Series” by Barbara Kittallides. Artwork (small): “Clay Bird” print by Stacey Rees. Dulux Flourish in the living room with different shades of blue.

Paint: Walls and trim - Dulux Kenepuru Sound. Chimney breast - Gold Vintage Gold Effect. Ceiling -Sandfly Point Half. Artwork: “Kimono” Limited Edition Print by Jai Vasicek.

The company offers many services such as colours, products, support services, design inspiration, and many other tools and resources. Dulux is known for recreating bland homes into bright or neutral beautiful homes depending on what the consumer wants. The company’s colour scheme ranges from whites, neutrals, greys, and browns to purples and pinks, blues, greens, yellows, oranges, and reds. Dulux New Zealand’s colour specialist, Davina Harper, believes painting a room is a great way to zhoozh up the house simply and cost-effectively. A current trend is using a small amount of colour to paint a wall or two walls behind the bed or TV, she says. “Just to add colour simply to a space can make a huge difference.” She also suggests people paint their front door to create a “dramatic effect and personalise their home”. This way people can get a sense of what someone’s house may look like from the inside. Davina also says it’s a good idea to choose colours you like, rather than what’s on-trend at the time, as trends are always changing. The good thing about doing a paint job is the colour can easily be changed in the future, she says. “Paint is the most cost-effective way to change space up.” Dulux doesn’t set prices, but there’s a paint calculator available online to calculate how much it would cost to paint a room. Prices and litres of paint vary depending on what needs to be painted such as a wall or room, and the size of the room. Bunnings sells Dulux’s one litre of interior paint in low sheen orange which costs $59. Dulux’s two litres of paint in low sheen blue costs $85. To do the ceiling with Dulux’s four litres of white paint will cost $75. These prices compared to buying artwork, wallpaper, tapestry, and so on, which can cost hundreds of dollars, are more cost-effective. Depending on the skill levels, painting can somewhat be more time-efficient as well, although some projects may take longer than others. Time efficiency depends on the size of the room and whether the walls are ready to be painted, or whether the walls already have wallpaper up, which will need to be removed before painting, Davina says. “Most people can give it a go!” Another tip Davina advises is adding colour to a room that is not used as much as others, such as a bathroom or laundry. “Add colour to your space by painting rooms you don’t always spend time in. Small spaces also make a big difference. This can lead to people commenting on it.” According to Dulux, whether someone wants the home to have a traditional or modern look, having a bit of colour will show flair and the way the home feels. Play around with colours to create a mood. You can always use other colours in other rooms to create another feel. Whites and neutrals create a timeless feel, whereas hues create a modern look. Baby blue creates a lot of relaxation and summer vibes, and can easily complement other colours for interior and/or exterior areas. Bright yellow brings sunshine, warmth, and happiness to the room. A bold red stands out, as it represents energy, passion, and love, but goes well if you colour-coordinate the room with white, rather than have another prominent colour such as dark green, which will give an endless Christmas effect. Understanding how different colours work together to create a mood is beneficial, so decide how you want your space to make you feel. Colour can also be seen as a tone.

Lighter tones create a relaxing, fresh feel, whereas darker tones create more of an outrageous and bolder feel, and usually suit bigger spaces like a bedroom or studio. White and neutrals create a fresh, natural, and timeless flair, which can be paired with any other colour or look fantastic on its own and are often painted in the kitchen or lounge. Be sure to check out Dulux for professional advice, inspiration, and samples to help choose which colour is best for your home: www.dulux.co.nz.