feature garden Resene Duck Egg Blue turn the page for alternative looks for this garden... Canna lily Cat’s paw Designer: Louise Dunning, www.noblefox.co.nz Get the weatherboard look with Resene Lumbersider tinted to Resene Revolution This colour is from an older range; try Resene Neutral Bay as another option and use with a Resene CoolColour paint to protect your cladding from UV damage. Get the painted veranda look with boards painted with Resene Walk-on tinted to Resene White Pointer. Resene Half Alabaster Resene Buttercup Resene Revolution Resene White Pointer than I anticipated. I had six colours pinned up against the back of the house for ages.” A challenge for Louise was to create good flow from the raised house to the garden below. A combination of layered decks, steps and handsome concrete planters provided the solution, with one of the decks being large enough for outdoor furniture and a barbecue. That deck was also carefully positioned and raised enough to take advantage of a view over the fence, down into nearby Shoal Bay. The lawn level was also raised by half a metre, and the large concrete planter was designed to not only separate the deck and the steps but provide an edge that is wide enough for extra seating. The deck is now Louise’s favourite spot… along with the existing garden shed which was converted into a fun garden bar! The shed has been painted in Resene Escape, while Louise spruced up the old timber table and chairs with Resene Pitch Black wood stain. The front garden faces west, so to take advantage of the wide front bungalow porch – perfect for an evening drink in the sun – a low picket fence has been replaced with a privacy-creating wall. There is also a new pedestrian gate to separate foot traffic from the vehicle entry, and a boardwalk-style path that meanders beneath the puriri tree to the new front door. Louise chose a sea of bromeliads for the challenging area beneath the tree, where few plants would thrive. In a happy coincidence, her cousin lives across the road and was in the middle of taking out a subtropical garden and replacing it with a cottage style version. Louise spent an afternoon wheelbarrowing reject bromeliads across the road and planting them under the tree. Since refurbishing the house and garden, Louise has moved herself and her business to Blenheim… and on to a new challenge. words Sharon Newey pictures Sally Tagg Below: The cute Cape Cod chairs are painted in Resene Black while the veranda boards are in Resene Walk-on tinted to Resene White Pointer. Resene Black Resene White Pointer 77