Time will tell

Jan Ivar Czaplicki

Which is your current favourite Resene colour and why do you like it?

There are so many amazing colours to choose from, but I do love our ‘CarbonClick green’ and, coincidentally, Resene Tree Frog looks like it. I do love frogs... and trees!

What has been your favourite painting, wallpapering or staining project that you have done to date and what did you like about the outcome?

We’re in the process of building a house, so haven’t had the pleasure of painting anything just yet, but selecting colours was surprisingly challenging. Having a session with a Resene colour consultant was incredibly helpful.

Would you consider yourself a ‘DIY perfectionist’ or ‘do you leave it to the professionals’?

I really love DIY but entrepreneurship has starved me of free time and killed so many of my hobbies, so lately I’ve relied on professionals – what a luxury!

What do you believe to be the biggest challenge currently facing your organisation?

Sustainability is a surprisingly immature industry and it’s rapidly evolving, so finding our sweet spot has taken quite some time. Another challenge is that sustainability is often not seen as a critical business activity and can therefore easily be pushed out and delayed.

What is something that you wish more people knew about your organisation?

Inaction on climate change is no longer an option. We exist to help businesses take action on climate change in a simple, meaningful and transparent way. If you’re reading this, I hope we can be part of your sustainability journey one day!

If you could magically invent something that doesn’t exist, what would it be and why?

An unlimited, sustainable energy source. Energy is the basis of civilisation and critical for a bright future.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

Some sort of healing power. There’s too much suffering in the world.

If you could go back in time and give a younger version of yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

An almost unlimited string of events over billions of years has led to the miracle that you’re alive today. Make every day count.

What are your key colour or design predictions for the next year or two to come?

I’ve been watching AI advance much faster than people have expected, with technologies like Stable Diffusion being able to create any image from a text prompt. We’ve only scratched the surface of how AI will affect our lives and it’s coming in hot. There’s no doubt AI will impact and possibly even disrupt the design industry.

Laura Gemmell

Which is your current favourite Resene colour and why do you like it?

We’ve used Resene Sea Fog and Resene Pumice in our home, but I absolutely love Resene Style Pasifika Whirlpool. I’m really drawn to earthy blues and greens.

What has been your favourite painting, wallpapering or staining project that you have done to date and what did you like about the outcome?

Painting my boys’ playhouse in Resene FX Blackboard Paint was lots of fun (and about the only thing my husband has trusted me to touch with a paintbrush). My sons constantly redecorate it with chalk. During the Super Rugby season, there was a lot of blue and white drawings and messages of support for their favourite team!

Would you consider yourself a ‘DIY perfectionist’ or ‘do you leave it to the professionals’?

I learnt very early on that I’m much better leaving most things to the professionals!

What do you believe to be the biggest challenge currently facing your industry?

Greenwashing, when companies claim to be doing the right thing by the environment but aren’t. Environmental Choice is a not-for-profit and the most rigorous ecolabel in this country. We’re proud we’ve been able to help consumers make more responsible purchasing decisions over the past 30 years.

What is something that you wish more people knew about your organisation?

That we consider the entire environmental impact of a product or service, not just carbon emissions. We also check the product or service is fit for purpose, and we’re aligned with both the New Zealand and Australian Green Building Councils.

If you could magically invent something that doesn’t exist, what would it be and why?

A way to reverse the damage humans have caused to the planet. While we’re all a lot more aware of the impacts of climate change now, we need to act with much more urgency if we want to avoid giving our children and grandchildren one heck of a hospital pass.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

Easy – the ability to teleport! Dreaming of a tropical Island getaway? Boom, you’re there! Also, as far as I know, teleportation doesn’t generate carbon emissions!

If you could go back in time and give a younger version of yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

Relax; everything works out. And don’t be in such a bloody rush all the time!

What are your key colour or design predictions for the next year or two to come?

Oh gosh, I don’t think I’m much of a trend spotter! But after the past couple of years, I’d like to see something that sparks a little joy in people (thanks for the phrase, Marie Kondo). More bright and fun colours!

Belinda Mathers

Which is your current favourite Resene colour and why do you like it?

We used Resene Goblin as a feature colour in my daughter’s lounge and bedroom. It made the rooms feel cosy and looks great with the wood in her 1910s villa.

What has been your favourite painting, wallpapering or staining project that you have done to date and what did you like about the outcome?

My latest fun projects were renovating my daughter’s house with her, including some woodworking and freshening the house up with colours that she loves.

Would you consider yourself a ‘DIY perfectionist’ or ‘do you leave it to the professionals’?

I’m very much a DIYer. I enjoy transforming rooms using colour and have renovated a few houses over the years.

What do you believe to be the biggest challenge currently facing your industry?

Climate change is a huge challenge for the world. Toitū is working with hundreds of businesses to measure and reduce their impacts, and it will take ambition and transformation from all of us to keep our world livable for future generations.

What is something that you wish more people knew about your organisation?

Sustainable solutions don’t have to be expensive, and there are tools that help you to choose between design options to find a way forward that will minimise impacts while meeting the needs of users.

If you could magically invent something that doesn’t exist, what would it be and why?

A time machine to give me more time to spend on all the things I love to do!

If you could go back in time and give a younger version of yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

Be confident and don’t give up! I was working in climate change before most people realised how big an issue it is, and I wish I had pushed for action sooner.

What are your key colour or design predictions for the next year or two to come?

Products based on circular design will become more and more popular – products that last, are made of recycled materials and are recyclable at end of life. Transparency and understanding of the lifecycle impacts of products from cradle to grave is just going to become more important in people’s decision making.

Barbara Nebel

Which is your current favourite Resene colour and why do you like it?

Our talented in-house design team are refreshing our thinkstep-anz brand. I love the colours they’ve chosen: a wonderful dark blue, Resene Christalle, with a light purple highlight of Resene Perfume.

What has been your favourite painting, wallpapering or staining project that you have done to date and what did you like about the outcome?

Painting our cottage. It accommodates our team when they visit our offices in Wellington. As we live on the coast, we chose green colours – Resene Onepoto with accents in Resene Dali – to match the shades of the sea. We complemented this with light purple Resene Lavender on the door, taking our inspiration from the agapanthus along our driveway.

Would you consider yourself a ‘DIY perfectionist’ or ‘do you leave it to the professionals’?

I love DIY but sadly don’t have enough time for it. I recently started upholstering a couch to suit a room that we’ve painted in Resene Rice Paper. The couch is a work in progress – still half-and-half with the old fabric on the back and the new one on the seats. We call in the professionals to paint our walls. And we encourage our sustainability clients to talk to the professionals, too!

What do you believe to be the biggest challenge currently facing your industry?

Greenwashing – marketing that’s intended to make people believe a company is doing more to protect the environment than it is. Our work is based on facts and data. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of greenwashing around. The risk is that it reflects badly on the work we do and on clients like Resene who are serious about becoming more sustainable.

What is something that you wish more people knew about your organisation?

We’d love them to understand how our work helps them create a low-carbon built environment that’s better for everyone. We’re the sustainability firm behind many trans-Tasman LCAs and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for building products. EPDs are science-based, public documents, like the nutrition labels on food products. Plus, our team members are trained to help companies tackle their Green Star rating through the New Zealand Green Building Council.

If you could magically invent something that doesn’t exist, what would it be and why?

An automated greenwash detector!

If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

The ability to slow down time so we can achieve more change more quickly – and to give me time to do the DIY that I can’t get to do (or finish).

If you could go back in time and give a younger version of yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

Take opportunities as they come along and shape them, so that I and others can succeed sustainably.

What are your key colour or design predictions for the next year or two to come?

Bright, bold colour blocking to give people an optimism boost after a challenging couple of years. It’s what we’ve done with our brand.

Adele Rose

Which is your current favourite Resene colour and why do you like it?

I am a big fan of Resene Duck Egg Blue and have used this colour in a few homes we have painted. We are currently renovating an old home in Central Hawke’s Bay. It looks great with creamy white and suits the style of the home, especially up against the internal wood features.

What has been your favourite painting, wallpapering or staining project that you have done to date and what did you like about the outcome?

That’s a hard one! For our first home, it wasn’t so much the paint or wallpaper as it was about working together as a team late into the night (pre-children!). As for outcomes, I loved a textured feature wall we did with wallpaper in a burnt orange.

Would you consider yourself a ‘DIY perfectionist’ or ‘do you leave it to the professionals’?

DIY perfectionist, which has rubbed off on my daughter (who is twice as much of a perfectionist as me).

What do you believe to be the biggest challenge currently facing your industry?

Ensuring that the raw materials we use to create the products we so enjoy using, are sustainably sourced – leaving no harm for our future generations. The surface coatings sector will also need to adapt to changing environmental impacts on their products, such as increased rainfall, greater temperature fluctuations and the like.

What is something that you wish more people knew about your organisation?

That we help manufacturers of any product be responsible producers by ensuring that their customers have access to product stewardship programmes that collect their products at end of life and repurpose them. On construction sites, this can be achieved by the whole supply chain working together.

If you could magically invent something that doesn’t exist, what would it be and why?

Doctor Who’s tardis. I live an hour from work and would love to just step into the tardis at the end of the day and magically appear at my front door!

If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

To be able to stop people from littering! If I could figure out why people choose to throw their rubbish out their car window and hurt Papatūānuku rather than take it home and put it in the rubbish or recycling, I’d be a happy person.

If you could go back in time and give a younger version of yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

That making mistakes is innately human. It’s what makes us who we are.

What are your key colour or design predictions for the next year or two to come?

I think we will see joyful colours combined with natural materials. I went to a new restaurant in Tauranga recently and they had deep turquoise colours accentuated with peacock features, willow furniture and textured materials. It felt like the place to be and stay.

Melanie Seyfort

Which is your current favourite Resene colour and why do you like it?

Resene Frontier. It’s the perfect earthy casual green! I am about to use this shade in our new powder room – can’t wait.

What has been your favourite painting, wallpapering or staining project that you have done to date and what did you like about the outcome?

In 2019, we commissioned massive billboards on Courtenay Place in Wellington and Karangahape Road in Auckland in eye-catching lolly pink with a heart made up of verdant green native tree species and cute native birds that was emblazoned with the tagline, ‘LOVE NATIVE TREES’. The artwork was designed by New Zealand artist Ezra Whittaker-Powley and painted by mural artist Jonny 4 Higher and certainly did the trick in raising awareness of our charity!

Would you consider yourself a ‘DIY perfectionist’ or ‘do you leave it to the professionals’?

My husband is a builder but also very handy with a paintbrush. I’d call him a perfectionist, but I’ve been banned from interior painting and relegated to staining decks or painting fences only! So yes, I leave it to the professionals!

What do you believe to be the biggest challenge currently facing Trees That Count?

Aside from the obvious massive issues we’re here to help arrest, such as climate change and biodiversity loss, it’s always funding. We have so much demand from incredible projects throughout New Zealand that are looking for support.

What is something that you wish more people knew about your organisation?

It’s really easy to plant native trees. But if you can’t plant them yourself, we can do it for you at our website (and clients LOVE it).

If you could magically invent something that doesn’t exist, what would it be and why?

An instant solution to global biodiversity loss.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

See above!

If you could go back in time and give a younger version of yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

Plant more native trees, of course!

What are your key colour or design predictions for the next year or two to come?

Naturally, I think people are embracing the move to earthy greens and organic shades. If nothing else, Covid forced us to look outside and embrace nature and it’s so nice to see these shades move inside people’s homes!

Ben Solly

Which is your current favourite Resene colour and why do you like it?

I’m a little conservative and really like Resene Eighth Merino. It is a modern off-white colour with neutral, calming tones and pretty much works with anything in terms of décor. I’ve recently used it in my own home and we really like it.

What has been your favourite painting, wallpapering or staining project that you have done to date and what did you like about the outcome?

My own home. I have recently completed a renovation project and have really enjoyed the different cladding (vertical shiplap vs. the rest of the house, which is weatherboard) and the natural cedar joinery we used to make the extension ‘pop’, so to speak.

Would you consider yourself a ‘DIY perfectionist’ or do you ‘leave it to the professionals’?

Having been a professional painter in a past life and having a bit of carpentry experience, I’m very much a perfectionist.

What do you believe to be the biggest challenge currently facing members of the Resene Eco.Decorator programme?

The biggest challenge our Resene Eco.Decorators are facing currently is lack of resource. They are very busy and there is a massive labour shortage in all sectors of the country.

What’s something that you wish more people knew about the Resene Eco.Decorator programme?

I would love for them to know more about what the term ‘Eco.Decorator’ means and what it represents. It carries so much value as a programme, not just for Resene Eco.Decorators themselves, but also for specifiers, builders and all their customers.

If you could magically invent something that doesn’t exist, what would it be and why?

A teleportation machine to make travelling internationally less of an effort from down in our corner of the world and, particularly, to avoid dealing with Auckland traffic at times.

If you could have a superpower, what would it be and why?

To see into the future. With so much uncertainty in the world, it would be great to see into the future and see how it pans out for us, our children and their children.

If you could go back in time and give a younger version of yourself one piece of advice, what would it be?

Just always be nice and treat people how you want to be treated. There’s a lot of angst in the world at the moment, so the more we’re nice to one another, the better the world will be.

What are your key colour or design predictions for the next year or two to come?

Tough question, but I think people are starting to experiment more, so I think we’ll see greater use of bold colours and modern bright furnishings. Everyone is looking for a point of difference, so we’ll see a lot of different finishes – not just in terms of paint, but with other things we may not expect.