b'Not content to just paint walls, this homeowner also uses oors and furnitureas a creative outlet. Some people paint pictures. Ros De Coek casts her magic on houses. Almost every surface at Bordeaux, her French-inspired home and bed-and-breakfast, on the rolling hills of rural Havelock North, is testament to her handiwork. Walls, ceilings, oors and furniture are her preferred canvases. While the house itself is not a renovation project, many of the pieces within it have been born again. Ros is never happier than when shes wielding a paintbrushwhich probably explains why she has moved house so many times. She and her husband Tony have lived in Auckland, Central Otago and Wellington and this is their third home in Havelock North. Its been at least a dozen, she says. Every home is a new project to plan, and a chance to experiment with colour combinations and textures. The couple moved to Hawkes Bay in 2002. Lured by the beauty of the land, the unhurried pace and the crisp, settled climate, with its distinctive warm and cool seasons, they took 15 months to build the house. They did a fair portion of the work themselves. Like Ros, Tony discovered his innate creative ability while building homes. He enjoyed working alongside the builder throughout the construction process. A retired banker, he is now the ultimate handyman. If anything practical needs doing, like building the garden shed at the bottom of the garden, hell take the time to work out how to do it, perfectly.LeftPainted furniture (all in various Resene colours and blends), wrought irondetailing and rich curtaining give the dining room a serene blend of French inuences. The walls are Resene Celeste and the ceiling is Resene Blanc.words Vicki Holderpictures Rossi Gannon21'