Whether you look to exclusive locally produced budget-friendly wall offerings, take on smaller portions for painting or choose to effortlessly elevate your space with pops of on-trend colour, there are plenty of ways to splash on a fresh coat of paint without splashing too much cash.
Wallet-friendly walls
One of the most effective ways to refresh interior spaces is via fresh paint or wallpaper, but unless you’re in a tiny home or looking to update a very small space, painting or papering walls can seem like a big - and potentially expensive - undertaking.
That’s where Resene comes in.
“Resene have an exclusive range of wallpapers that are made right here in New Zealand for budget-friendly projects,” says colour expert Jackie Nicholls.
“Have a look at the Resene Habitat, Home, Paper Scissors Rock and Material World Wallpaper Collections for a quick refresh. Many have a slight texture to them that will hide imperfections with ease.
“Paint is another way to transform a space or create a focal point. Often, a colour block is all that’s needed, which could just be the lower part of a wall or a simple shape like a circle or square to offset some artwork or a shelf.
Go large with less
Create focal points with smaller amounts of paint or wallpaper, suggests Resene colour expert Meryl Southey.
“This requires minimum amounts of product and can be more creative and interesting than painting an entire accent wall. For example, you might want to paint a block of colour in the middle of a wall and fill it with photos – this will draw people to look at your favourite pictures and art pieces.
“Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen is a durable, waterborne enamel, suitable for statement walls – a durable paint allows the finish to remain looking better longer and is easier to clean. For a matt finish, try Resene SpaceCote Flat – this is great for walls with minor surface imperfections.”
Another pro tip from Meryl for keeping costs down is to draw attention to architectural features in a room by colour blocking, painting a bold colour on skirtings and door frames or upgrading an old timber door with geometric shapes in similar colours.
“A current trend is to have multiple finishes within one space – if your walls are low sheen then consider a semi-gloss or gloss finish for these features, such as Resene Lustacryl semi-gloss waterborne enamel or Resene Enamacryl, which is the gloss version.”
Size matters
“Resene has an assortment of pot sizes available, so you only need to buy the amount needed and sometimes a testpot is enough for a small area,” says Jackie.
Refresh your furnishings
If for whatever reason you’re not down with hanging up wallpaper or tackling whole walls, look to smaller projects such as refreshing furniture, plant pots, picture frames or other home decor.
“Resene testpots are perfect for small projects and items and will adhere to most surfaces including pots, frames, and many plastics,” says Jackie.
Resene Sandtex Mediterranean finish is another interesting product that can be tinted to many colours and creates a rough, gritty finish, especially effective on pots.
For furniture repaints, Jackie recommends Resene Lustacryl as it gives a hard, durable finish and is available in 500ml pots or Resene Aquaclear varnish, which is water based and can even be applied over old turps-based varnishes, after a quick sand.
For Meryl, thinking texture is a good way to go when it comes to taking on home decor.
“Adding texture to smaller objects such as pot plants can make painting them much easier, as a textured surface is more forgiving – you can be more carefree with your technique, as well easily create paint effects with Resene FX Metallic paint, or be bolder with your colour choices, as texture softens the effect of saturated colours.”
Get creative
“One of the most effective things I’ve done in my own home is stencilling some words on a plain curtain with paint,” says Jackie.
“The Resene testpots work really well on fabric like this and even when washed, will last for years. For very little expense.
“You can use Resene testpots to stencil all sorts of surfaces. Just dab with a slightly stiff brush or sea sponge and make sure there’s no excess moisture, dabbing on paper first to remove most of the paint. It’s better to build up the colours gently to avoid paint bleeding under the stencil. Practice on another surface first.”
“I also transformed an old wooden coffee table recently by painting over the varnish with Resene Waterborne Sureseal and Resene Lustacryl in Resene Big Stone (a moody blue/green). I was thinking of giving it away but now I love it! It was so quick and easy and the small roller kits give a great finish.
In a case of thinking outside the box (and inside the china cabinet), Meryl says she’s “currently in the process of choosing a fun wallpaper for the back of a 1940s mahogany china cabinet, which has been in my family for some time, and I have utilised it in many different rooms – it’s currently in my kitchen/dining area being used as a cocktail cabinet!”
“Upcycling the front of dressers and drawers, alcoves and the back of shelving with Resene wallpaper in most cases you’ll likely only need one roll of paper and that enables you to choose something you love!”
“I’ve also been toying with painting the exterior of the cabinet with Karen Walker Chalk Colour from Resene ColorShops, which is great for smaller to medium projects and gives a lovely matt velvety finish and is so easy to apply as there is basically no prep work, or I might just refresh the mahogany with Karen Walker vintage wax!”
Article created in partnership with Resene
