Courtyard project

Resene – Get Creative, from Homestyle magazine

Paint isn’t just about adding colour. We show you how to create coloured and textured effects for your planters

Project photo

Left to right: Textured pot with bottom painted in Resene Resitex in white, with a colourwashed top in Resene Pure Pewter metallic then covered with a Resene Crackle Effect, using a wash of Resene Spacecote over the top. Middle pot has a stripe painted in Resene Stack, then sanded. Pot on its side has painted stripes in Resene's metallic Silver Aluminium and Proton, with a base of Resene Stack.

You will need:

Terracotta plant pots, paintbrushes
Resene Terracotta Sealer, Resene Resitex medium grade, Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in assorted colours
Optional:
- Resene Paint Effects medium grade
- Resene Sandtex Crackle Effect

Instructions:

Seal your pot:
Paint your pot inside and out with Resene Terracotta Sealer to keep it looking good for longer. Only one coat is needed, and as it’s water-based clean up is simply a matter of running your brush under the tap. Seal the night before painting, as there’s a six-hour dry time.
Add texture:
To create a concrete look use Resene Resitex, brushing on two coats to build up a surface layer. Water-based Resene Resitex can be tinted to your favourite colour, or painted over when dry with Resene SpaceCote. This will create the basic textured look.
Paint effects:
From here on you’re ready to get creative. You can sand the texture back, or add a wash of colour by using 1 litre of Resene Paint Effects medium grade, with 1-2 Resene testpots added, depending on the intensity required for colourwashing. We used Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Resene Alabaster white for the wash and Resene Resitex in Resene Half Stack for our concrete look.

Paint pots with textured effects.

Paint pots and textures (left): 1. Terracotta pot painted in Resene Boulevard, with the top painted in Resene Sandtex white. 2. Textured pot on Geo table painted in Resene Alabaster wash over Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Resene Half Stack, with Resene Sandtex underneath for texture. 3. Small pot bottom whitened then sanded. 4. Large pot in Resene Pure Pewter metallic, then Resene Crackle Effect using Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Resene Awash over the top. 5. Resene Alabaster wash over Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Resene Half Stack, with Resene Sandtex for texture. 6. Rope pot in Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen in Resene Barely There and custom grey wash over the top. 7. Painted stripes in Resene Silver Aluminium and Resene Proton metallics over Resene Stack. 8. Resene Boulevard base with lighter colourwash in Resene Half Emerge. 9. Middle stripe painted in Resene Stack then sanded. 10. Rope pot painted in Resene Alabaster wash over Resene Triple Sea Fog. 11. Small pot painted in Resene Sandtex and Resene Resitex for texture with Resene SpaceCote Black.

Also in this scene: Bevanda glass tumbler (set of 3), cittadesign.com. Geo baby table, homebasecollections.co.nz. Goat hair kilim rug, ccinteriors.co.nz. Chi cushion cover, cittadesign.com. Trestle bench, inthevitrine.com. Watering can, Burgon & Ball trowel, gubba.co.nz. All other props, stylist's own.

Creating texture and colours:

Painting on your texture with Resene Resitex and Resene Sandtex will instantly give you that ‘grunty’ concrete look, while layering with earthy greys and moody hues will result in an organic feel. Have some fun experimenting with the colourwash effect for ‘ageing’ your pots. We’ve used colours that complement our cactus plants; a colour palette inspired by nature.