Colour connections

From the Resene decorating blog

A fear of clashing colours and a disjointed final look can be big hurdles to overcome in going beyond a neutral palette and experimenting with different colours in your interiors.

Contrasting colours do not need to be bright

Contrast colours in connected rooms needn’t be bright or vivid.

These soft shades of blue and beige create a soothing, connected living area. Back wall and bookshelf painted in Resene Casper, with front and side walls in Resene Half Spanish White. Floor painted in Resene Spanish White, side table and handled case in Resene Lynchpin, storage boxes in Resene Casper and Resene Triple Spanish White, white vase and shallow dish in Resene Alabaster, fluted bowl in Resene Triple Spanish White, books in Resene Triple Spanish White, Resene Lynchpin and Resene Casper, small blue dish in Resene Lynchpin and small textured case in Resene Half Spanish White. Sofa and throw from Freedom, cushions from H&M Home, ottoman from Mocka, small blue vase from Spotlight. Project by Vanessa Nouwens, image by Wendy Fenwick.

But used thoughtfully, with a bigger picture in mind, not only can clever colour combinations make purely functional spaces come alive, but they can also create better flow and cohesiveness between interconnected spaces.

It might be a glimpse of a rich botanical shade like Resene Parsley on an ensuite wall while standing in a neutral bedroom painted in Resene Half Spanish White. It could be painting your living room in soft Resene Pattens Blue, seeing a bolder shade of Resene Tory Blue though a connecting archway to the dining room.

Maybe you have a dramatic feature wall in Resene Scoria at one end of the hallway, so you mirror it by painting your front door the same shade.

There are myriad ways to use colour to bring the disparate rooms of your home together in ways that surprise and delight.

Create cohesion

To bring immediate cohesion into the different rooms in your home Resene Colour Expert Jill Marsh suggests starting with trim areas.

“Keeping skirting, window frames and door frames the same colour throughout your home will instantly help to connect each space.

“This creates the foundation of any colour scheme and keeps a lovely flow.

Jackie’s top tip is to use an enamel on all these surfaces so they are hardwearing and easy to wipe down. Using the same colour on all these surfaces also makes it much easier to freshen them up if need be, as you don’t have to keep different colours on hand.

top tip Resene has a range of waterborne enamels ideal for trim and joinery, including Resene Lustacryl semi-gloss and Resene Enamacryl gloss, which offer a durable finish with the benefits of waterborne paints such as non-yellowing, low odour and easy clean up in water.

Maintaining consistent colours through your home, whether on trims or bigger surfaces like walls can also help connect parts of your house that may have a slightly different feel, such as when an old home is given a new modern extension.

Use this consistent trim colour as a building block to find other colours that will work together throughout your home, Jill says. “Look for connecting neutral and feature colours that work together. Colour connections are very important as they add your own personal style to the interior.”

For example, if you’ve opted for a creamy neutral on your trim like Resene Half Dutch White, used throughout your home and you’re drawn to greens as a colour palette, pick three or four greens with some contrast that still work well together. Use these shades in different areas thinking about the interplay between them. What walls can you see through doorways, or linked spaces that give you the opportunity for unexpected contrast?

Paint the walls of your hallway in a light citrusy shade like Resene Lemon Twist, then think about shades like Resene Iko Iko, Resene Highball and Resene Planter for the walls of different rooms glimpsed from the hallway.

This tonal play means each room has its own look and feel, while seeming part of a whole.

Repeating the feature wal colour around this open doorway

Repeating the feature wall colour around this open doorway makes this adjoining nook feel part of the main room. Back wall and border painted in Resene Hot Toddy. Front walls in Resene Orchid White, floor stained in Resene Colorwood Shade, table in Resene Orchid White with stripes in Resene Hot Toddy, pot and vase in Resene Apache, lamp base in Resene Black White and small vase in Resene Marzipan. Ceramic bird and small chair from Good Form, large chair from French Country Collections, artwork from The Frame Workshop and Gallery. Project by Melle Van Sambeek, image by Bryce Carleton.

Places to play

One area of most homes that is the perfect place for an accent colour that can be echoed throughout the house, is an entranceway, Jill says.

“A painted or wallpapered feature wall in your entrance way creates a lovely welcome to a home,” she says, adding that the colours used in the entranceway can be then added in small or large touches throughout the house, so the whole building feels connected, even subconsciously.

Try an ornate design like the soft blue cranes of Resene Wallpaper Collection 2311-174-03 in your entranceway that pick out a similar blue paint shade like Resene Kumutoto to use in other rooms, with a complementary note of dark red Resene Lonestar.

Stairwells and landings can be another great place to experiment with colour contrasts that draw you through these high connecting spaces into other rooms.

Spaces connected by open archways and other wide, doorless entries are excellent areas to play with contrasting colours or darker and lighter versions of similar colours. They draw people from one room to another, even if it’s just visually, making each space feel open, larger and connected.

Contrasting cream through the archway

The contrasting cream through the archway makes both these areas feel lighter and connected.

Rear wall painted in Resene Half Drought with arch wall, bookshelves, tall vase and fireplace in Resene Mission Brown, flooring stained in Resene Colorwood Bark, basket and artwork in Resene Gargoyle and curved pedestal bowl and tealight holder in Resene Half Drought. On the top shelf, pot in Resene Double Drought, ball in Resene Gargoyle and books in Resene Gargoyle, Resene Sandcastle, Resene Half Spanish White. Second shelf: U-shape vase in Resene Half Drought and vase in Resene Gargoyle. Third shelf: pedestal bowl in Resene Half Spanish White. Fourth shelf: wave bowl in Resene Sandcastle, books in Resene Mission Brown and Resene Sandcastle and boxes in Resene Half Drought and Resene Gargoyle. Bottom shelf: vase in Resene Half Spanish White. Chair from Nood, glass vase from Kmart, throw and fluted planter from Spotlight, glass candle from Kingdom. Project by Vanessa Nouwens, image by Wendy Fenwick.

Layering tonally similar shades of green

Layering tonally similar shades of green helps make this open dining and living space feel like a cohesive area.

Curved decorative features add to the connection. The rear wall is painted in Resene Lemon Grass with front and side walls in Resene Scrub. The floor is Resene Quarter Lemon Grass, bookshelf and dining table in Resene Contour, chair in Resene Scrub, pendant light in Resene Nirvana, bowl on table in Resene Thorndon Cream, tall vase on table in Resene Tic Tac Toe, boxes in Resene Green Days and Resene Tic Tac Toe, arch decoration in Resene Contour, small pot in Resene Lemon Grass, pedestal bowl in Resene Thorndon Cream, U-shaped vase in Resene Tic Tac Toe, tealight holder in Resene Nirvana, small pedestal dish in Resene Scrub, large ribbed pot in Resene Nirvana and tall arch vase in Resene Thorndon Cream. Glass vase from Nood, green glass candle from The Warehouse. Project by Vanessa Nouwens, image by Bryce Carleton.

Try a vivid contrast by looking through a door to a bold shot of mustard Resene Pirate Gold, from a neutral room in Resene Gin Fizz. If a strong contrast is not for you, try going for colours that are tonally similar, with the walls of one room in Resene Eighth Canterbury Clay and a visible wall in the connected room in Resene Putty.

If you want to keep all your walls in the same colour, which is the ultimate way to create connection between rooms, consider painting a bold contrast strip around an open doorway, so the connection between rooms is still a focus point. If you have neutral walls in Resene Half Tea, paint a door border about five to 10 centimetres wide in a warm contrast like Resene Moroccan Spice.

Jill suggests experimenting with brighter shades like Resene Smoke Tree in areas like study nooks or home offices to add energy and visual interest that invites you in from a connected more neutral space.

“Storage areas like pantries are often areas left white but these spaces can come to life by adding colour on the walls between shelves. Resene wallpaper looks awesome here too,” she says. These functional areas can also be great places to add accents of bolder, brighter colours you've used in other parts of the house.

The key to cohesiveness throughout a home, Jill says, is to not go too crazy with too many different colours and different styles.

“Colours work best when they complement each other, especially if they can be seen from one space to another.

“The most important part of connecting spaces is testing your favourite colours with Resene testpots painted on large pieces of cardboard, keeping an unpainted border, so these can be moved around the rooms and viewed in both the daylight and at night to make sure they work together in all light conditions.”

Colours mentioned in this blog...

Colour connections

Create cohesion

Places to play

Resene Paints Ltd – www.resene.com