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6 Creative Ways With Paint You’ve Probably Never Thought Of
Looking to make a big impact on a small budget? Pull out the paintbrush! Here are six inventive ideas to try
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Paint is the most powerful tool in your decorating arsenal – for very little time and outlay, you can instantly change the look and feel of a room. And while plain, coloured walls might be the obvious starting point, they’re far from your only option. There are tons of fun and creative ways you can use paint to give your surfaces a unique look – think plaids, tidelines, battens, colour blocking and more. You can just as easily breathe new life into old furniture and decor items with fresh colour.
The beautiful thing about paint is you can have fun and experiment; it’s all about expressing your personal style and making a home uniquely your own. And if you no longer love a particular colour or paint effect? Simply paint over it!
We chatted to the colour experts at Resene to discover six imaginative ways you can use paint to add one-of-a-kind style to your interior.
The beautiful thing about paint is you can have fun and experiment; it’s all about expressing your personal style and making a home uniquely your own. And if you no longer love a particular colour or paint effect? Simply paint over it!
We chatted to the colour experts at Resene to discover six imaginative ways you can use paint to add one-of-a-kind style to your interior.
Have fun with different techniques
A feature wall can be a great way to add depth and drama to a room – and creating one is often easier than you might think.
Try colour blocking across two, three or four walls in a room. To avoid visual overload, choose a palette of no more than three colours. Then, create a sense of flow by picking up the same colours elsewhere in the room, such as in your flooring, soft furnishings and decor items.
Or create a casual and cool feature wall by adding a painted plaid effect, like the one pictured here. Start by painting the walls in Resene Sea Fog, then add bold stripes in Resene FX Paint Effects medium tinted to Resene Indian Ink (vertical) and Resene Rhino (horizontal)
Be sure to position your feature wall in the right spot. It works best if it’s the first wall you see when you enter a room – for example the fireplace wall or the wall behind your bed.
A feature wall can be a great way to add depth and drama to a room – and creating one is often easier than you might think.
Try colour blocking across two, three or four walls in a room. To avoid visual overload, choose a palette of no more than three colours. Then, create a sense of flow by picking up the same colours elsewhere in the room, such as in your flooring, soft furnishings and decor items.
Or create a casual and cool feature wall by adding a painted plaid effect, like the one pictured here. Start by painting the walls in Resene Sea Fog, then add bold stripes in Resene FX Paint Effects medium tinted to Resene Indian Ink (vertical) and Resene Rhino (horizontal)
Be sure to position your feature wall in the right spot. It works best if it’s the first wall you see when you enter a room – for example the fireplace wall or the wall behind your bed.
Think beyond walls
Walls are a fantastic spot to introduce colour to a room, but they are just the starting point.
Tonal layering, where you apply colour in different strengths to various elements of a room, is a key trend for 2021. Recreate this fashionable look by painting your walls (or a single feature wall) in one colour and then layering it in different strengths across your bedside table, a bench at the end of the bed, and small accessories such as vases and lamp bases.
This bedroom has been transformed into a calm retreat by pairing cream with soothing layers of blue; Resene Juniper on the walls, a bench painted in Resene Balderdash and sweet blue-green decor pieces.
Walls are a fantastic spot to introduce colour to a room, but they are just the starting point.
Tonal layering, where you apply colour in different strengths to various elements of a room, is a key trend for 2021. Recreate this fashionable look by painting your walls (or a single feature wall) in one colour and then layering it in different strengths across your bedside table, a bench at the end of the bed, and small accessories such as vases and lamp bases.
This bedroom has been transformed into a calm retreat by pairing cream with soothing layers of blue; Resene Juniper on the walls, a bench painted in Resene Balderdash and sweet blue-green decor pieces.
Or use paint to make an unexpected and thoroughly appealing feature of your floor. Applying a subtle checkerboard pattern to your timber or tiled floor, like the designers have done here, creates a warm, coastal feel – and will bring a tired room scheme right up to date.
This floor was painted with Resene Black White in two different strengths. The warmth of the floor is emphasised with textural, natural accessories, such as the woven rattan pendant, fringed cushion and trailing greenery.
This floor was painted with Resene Black White in two different strengths. The warmth of the floor is emphasised with textural, natural accessories, such as the woven rattan pendant, fringed cushion and trailing greenery.
Carve out a corner
Looking to give your work-from-home space its own identify? Create a sense of visual separation from the other parts of the room by applying a bold, contrasting colour to your corner office area.
Up the drama factor by wrapping the colour around the edges of your walls and right across your built-in shelves. Incorporate curves in the line of your paintwork to soften the look. You can keep the focus on your bold walls by selecting lighting and furniture in the same wall colour as the wall.
Here, the upper section of the wall is painted in Resene Cashmere. The curved section of the wall, desk, shelves, coat rack and pendant are all in Resene Nocturnal. To turn the dark section of the wall into a handy magnetic pinboard, the colour has been applied over two coats of Resene FX Magnetic Magic.
Looking to give your work-from-home space its own identify? Create a sense of visual separation from the other parts of the room by applying a bold, contrasting colour to your corner office area.
Up the drama factor by wrapping the colour around the edges of your walls and right across your built-in shelves. Incorporate curves in the line of your paintwork to soften the look. You can keep the focus on your bold walls by selecting lighting and furniture in the same wall colour as the wall.
Here, the upper section of the wall is painted in Resene Cashmere. The curved section of the wall, desk, shelves, coat rack and pendant are all in Resene Nocturnal. To turn the dark section of the wall into a handy magnetic pinboard, the colour has been applied over two coats of Resene FX Magnetic Magic.
Get arty
It can be hard to figure out what to do with large, plain expanses of wall. If you’d prefer to keep them neutral while adding interest in another way, why not create your own mini mural?
From small and intricate designs to larger geometric or abstract shapes, the options are virtually endless when it comes to bringing artistic licence to your walls with paint. It’s always a good idea to mark out your plan on paper first, and to mock up your colours with Resene testpots on a large piece of card to ensure your palette goes well together.
And when it comes to location, think of your mural like an artwork. Position it so that it’s not obscured behind a piece of furniture or so high that nobody can see it – ideally the centre of your work should be at eye height. The size of your mural is important too; too small and it will get lost in a space, too big and it will look out of proportion.
In this lounge, the wall is painted in Resene Rice Cake and the mural in Resene Midnight Express, while the wall panelling below is in Resene Smoke Tree.
It can be hard to figure out what to do with large, plain expanses of wall. If you’d prefer to keep them neutral while adding interest in another way, why not create your own mini mural?
From small and intricate designs to larger geometric or abstract shapes, the options are virtually endless when it comes to bringing artistic licence to your walls with paint. It’s always a good idea to mark out your plan on paper first, and to mock up your colours with Resene testpots on a large piece of card to ensure your palette goes well together.
And when it comes to location, think of your mural like an artwork. Position it so that it’s not obscured behind a piece of furniture or so high that nobody can see it – ideally the centre of your work should be at eye height. The size of your mural is important too; too small and it will get lost in a space, too big and it will look out of proportion.
In this lounge, the wall is painted in Resene Rice Cake and the mural in Resene Midnight Express, while the wall panelling below is in Resene Smoke Tree.
Add magic to a child’s room or nursery
There are all sorts of specialist paint finishes available to add whimsy and fun to a child’s room, including Resene FX Metallic, which allows you to introduce a touch of gold, silver, copper, sparkling blue and more to furniture, doors and wooden trims; and Resene FX Write-On Wall Paint, which can be painted straight onto painted surfaces to turn them into a whiteboard that the kids can write on and then simply erase.
Or unleash your inner artist and create a show-stopping feature wall for your little one’s space – think a vertical race track, or a pretty, hand-painted wall design for the nursery, such as the one pictured here, where the wall is painted in Resene Double Alabaster with hand-painted scallop detailing in Resene Chelsea Gem, and the floor is painted in Resene Meino.
There are all sorts of specialist paint finishes available to add whimsy and fun to a child’s room, including Resene FX Metallic, which allows you to introduce a touch of gold, silver, copper, sparkling blue and more to furniture, doors and wooden trims; and Resene FX Write-On Wall Paint, which can be painted straight onto painted surfaces to turn them into a whiteboard that the kids can write on and then simply erase.
Or unleash your inner artist and create a show-stopping feature wall for your little one’s space – think a vertical race track, or a pretty, hand-painted wall design for the nursery, such as the one pictured here, where the wall is painted in Resene Double Alabaster with hand-painted scallop detailing in Resene Chelsea Gem, and the floor is painted in Resene Meino.
Get colour blocking
Looking to make your entry or mud room more organised? Use colour-blocked stripes to cordon off a spot specially for each of your children to hang their coats, pop their school bags and tuck away their shoes.
Allocate each child their own cubby and then run a different-coloured stripe from the cubby to the wall above it, going right to the ceiling. This entry features stripes in Resene Noctural, Resene Cello and Resene Enigma, against a neutral wall in Resene Rice Cake.
Make the area even more useful (and fun) by choosing a paint such as Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen, which works just like a chalkboard so you can leave notes or reminders for your little ones and then simply wipe them off with a dark cloth.
More: For more information on Resene’s latest colours and how to use them, check out Habitat plus – decorating and colour trends. You can also get loads of paint and decorating ideas on the Resene Colour & Decorating Inspiration Hub on Houzz.
Tell us: Which of these fun ideas would you like to try? Share your thoughts in the comments.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
Looking to make your entry or mud room more organised? Use colour-blocked stripes to cordon off a spot specially for each of your children to hang their coats, pop their school bags and tuck away their shoes.
Allocate each child their own cubby and then run a different-coloured stripe from the cubby to the wall above it, going right to the ceiling. This entry features stripes in Resene Noctural, Resene Cello and Resene Enigma, against a neutral wall in Resene Rice Cake.
Make the area even more useful (and fun) by choosing a paint such as Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen, which works just like a chalkboard so you can leave notes or reminders for your little ones and then simply wipe them off with a dark cloth.
More: For more information on Resene’s latest colours and how to use them, check out Habitat plus – decorating and colour trends. You can also get loads of paint and decorating ideas on the Resene Colour & Decorating Inspiration Hub on Houzz.
Tell us: Which of these fun ideas would you like to try? Share your thoughts in the comments.
This story was written by the Houzz Sponsored Content team.
It’s amazing the difference a coat of paint can make.
Resene has all the quality paint, colour, wallpaper,... Read More
It’s amazing the difference a coat of paint can make.
Resene has all the quality paint, colour, wallpaper,... Read More
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