Exterior and Interior Colour
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The Gardner's Tauranga home uses colour inside and out to stunning effect. From the street, the impact of the Linea® Weatherboards has attracted a lot of interest from passersby – with people even knocking on the door to ask about the colour.
Owners Gary and Carol Gardner worked closely with Tauranga based Interior Designer Judy Lourens to maximise the impact of the exterior and to create a flow of colour from the outside through into the interior of the house. “We all agreed that the exterior colour had to do justice to the Linea weatherboards and make a strong statement for Gary's business”, says Judy. “I'm not a fan of using unnatural colours, I prefer colours that pick up on sky tones such as the Dulux Tristan that we used here.” Originally the Gardners had envisaged a dark roof, but Judy felt that a light colour was required. “A dark roof tends to lower the roof height - whereas the light natural steel colour has the effect of emphasising the height and loftiness of Gary's design.” Judy worked in close consultation with Carol to come up with an interior colour scheme that not only connected with the exterior colour, but also flowed from room to room. “I know what I like, but I need Judy to pull it all together and make it work,” explains Carol. “The more integrated the colour is, the bigger the house seems,” says Judy. “You need to work with a controlled palette to create a flow that carries you from the exterior in through the house from one room to the next. We all liked the steel grey/mauve palette which we've interpreted in a variety of ways to be restful or more challenging in different rooms.” Downstairs in the lounge Judy used Resene's Bossa Nova (a moody purple) on the walls which helps to create an enclosed intimate feeling while in the master bedroom upstairs a subtle mauve creates a calm restful sense of luxury without being fussy or overwhelming. Sam (11) and Chris (10) also had a say in the colour in their rooms. “It's great to give children a say in what colours they like,” says Judy. “Sam and Chris had quite strong ideas that have worked well on the feature walls behind their beds. The Resene Orient (turquoise) in Chris' room was chosen to compliment the colours in a cushion that he'd chosen and the Resene Vortex in Sam's room ties in with the duvets he chose. While decisions about some interior wall colours could be left until the decorating stage, the use of coloured concrete floors downstairs from the front entrance, through the office, living area, kitchen, through to the north facing outdoor living area, meant that other decisions had to be made early on. “The oatmeal coloured floors work beautifully with the blonded timber kitchen fittings and stainless steel benchtop and fridge. It creates a reasonably tech look without being austere. This is a family home – we were going for a relaxed feeling rather than steely minimalism,” says Judy. Lighting is one area that Judy believes most people don't pay enough attention to. “On the whole people don't spend enough time or money to get the lighting right. Typically, people spend ages with colour charts and test pots, but don't think about the effect that light and shade will have on that colour. By lighting certain parts of the room and allowing other areas to be more shaded, you can create wonderful contrasts and effects.” This is one area that Judy will be looking closely at later in the year as a judge in the Master Builder Home of the Year Awards.
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