A little colour in her life...

A friend of mine (and co-worker) got married this May, back in Queensland. I haven't seen her for years, but we keep in touch through work email. So it was a lovely surprise for me to receive an email asking to help her and her new husband with a project of theirs.

They are building a new house! I so envy them, in some respects. Definitely not for the headaches of building, but for the opportunity to have a blank canvas.

Some colours for the palette had already been chosen with the help of a Dulux consultant, and she was asking me if I had anyway of 'projecting' them into a visual for hubby. You see, he was having a bit of trouble 'seeing' what it would look like, and they needed to make a decision on the roof colour.

I was so happy to help as it meant I could dig out all my colour samples and rendering materials from when I studied Colour Styling. These have been put aside for a little while until my banking career starts to wind down or I take a career break, maybe!

Below is what we came up with from the chosen palette. The home is in an area with surrounding bush of green/blue grey hues, depending on the time of day and weather. So what they had selected should fit in to their bushland setting. AND hubby has always wanted a blue house!

The palettes look very very similar with a few subtle differences, but the body of the house is the same colour - Loveday from Dulux.

Version 1 above: House - Loveday, Roof – Shale Grey, Guttering and Fascia – Deep Ocean, Gables and Batons – Dark Door, Eaves,  Balustrade and Railings – Half Lexicon, Doors and Window Frames – Cedar (not represented here)

Version 2 above: House - Loveday, Roof – Dune, Guttering and Fascia – Ironstone, Gables and Balustrade – Ironstone, Railings and Veranda Posts - Dune, Eaves – Half Lexicon, Doors and Window Frames – Cedar (tried to represent the front door in Cedar here for them)

Dulux and Colorbond colours have been used.

I'm now just waiting to hear what they chose.

My Creative Space

My Creative Space this week comes by way of a Guest Post on Being Tazim this weekend.

Visit my posts on Saturday & Sunday. It covers a few of the things I've made to decorate my family holiday house. A lot of the items have DIY project instructions here on my blog. Or you can email me if you want more info.

There's even some photos of the outside of the house, with the National Park in the background (right at our back door, beautiful!). And the beach is 5 minutes away.

Bit of a teaser, the exterior colours are grey, lime green and dark purple, (all Dulux colours).

I love it, and it's easy to identify. When people ask 'Which house?', I just have to answer, 'The one with the green garage!'

Visit more Creative Spaces over here at Kootoyoo!

Favourite Things - Week 12

It's been a little while since I've been over to Being Tazim for The Favourite Things Project. Interestingly this week is about Creative Pursuits.

For years I've always done something creative. Mainly sewing, but in recent years I have done some study and now have a Certificate IV in Colour & Design, a Diploma in Visual Arts - Surface Design (Textile and Homewares etc etc) and another in Colour Design (Residential and Commercial colour styling).

So for this week I thought I'd showcase some of my mood boards from the courses.


Waverton - A renovation. I won the Dulux Award for Creative Colour Application with this one in 2009.

These were from a last minute assignment we were given, also in the Colour Design course. My entry was one of the 10 finalists. The award was sponsored by Porters Paints. I called my range 'Tuscany' with a play on words for 'A House in Tuscany' and 'A Garden in Tuscany.

A Bar/Restaurant refit complete with samples of tiles, paint, fabric and wallpaper. Yes!! I used a Florence Broadhurst wallpaper. Well, what else did you think I'd use!

Lastly, a colour story for fabrics to be used for outdoor furniture. I was really happy with this board.

More Creative Pursuits over at Being Tazim here.

Project: Bathroom Renovation Rescue

Going back a couple of months, I published a post 'Reaching a Milestone' about my Dad and my Aunt reaching their 80th birthdays.

We had a great day at home with 14 elderly friends and family members.
About a month before the day, I felt the bathroom needed to have a once over to make it a bit more presentable. After 14 years it was looking a bit tired. The Renovation Rescue was only subtle touches, but gosh it made a difference.

From the 'Before and After' picture above, you might think I haven't done much. To be honest, I didn't. A lick of paint, a few new bathroom fittings, some matching accessories and new towels to match, was all I did.


I chose Dulux ECRU in half strength to paint the walls, with gloss ANTIQUE WHITE for the window and door architraves, and the door. The colours matched perfectly with the existing tiles. The vanity just has some new door knobs.

You can see in the collage above, I changed the towel rails with a stainless steel one from Ikea. Other things from Ikea are, all the baskets (the white baskets on the bath and the small cane ones), the tissue box, the liquid soap dispenser and cup on the vanity (there is also a ceramic box from this set on the shelves), and lastly the white shelves.

The absolutely luxurious new towels are a dream. Both sets, the white and the taupe colour were on sale. Always looking for a bargain, especially around the end of the financial year. I actually didn't realise how worn my old ones were until I bought new ones!

I had only ever had 2 towel rails, so when the boys came to visit there was towels everywhere. I swear they are worse than girls. (Just to clarify, my 2 sons are in their 20's, with the youngest turning 25 this week, but I cannot believe how many clothes he has and how often he's in the bathroom!) Anyway, I digress. Getting back to the towels rails.

There is now a stainless steel towel rack, so towels can sit on the top (like in a hotel! mmm...nice) and it has 4 towel rails. To add to the extra rails, you can see in the collage there is now 2 knobs on the back of the bathroom door. It was always difficult to get the towels dry when we were all together.

Both of the boys have been for a visit since I did the reno, and it worked wonders. No towels lying over the bath, everything was neat and tidy. Yay!!!

The last change I haven't mentioned was the lighting. I always found the old incandescent lighting very 'yellow'. Hallogen bulbs have given the room a much clearer light and the light fitting is directional. So I have set the lights facing the bath, the mirror and the shower cubicle.

Costs: about $A450

I'm very happy with the result. When I can afford it, I need to look at replacing the vanity and shower cubicle/screen, and lastly the tapware. These would be the biggest expense.

If it's decided to do the FULL reno, the tiles and toilet would be changed also.

For the moment, this quick renovation rescue made a huge difference and looks great!

White on White

I must say I love whites....

White would have to be my favourite base colour for decorating - actually it's also my favourite for clothing. Especially white linen.

Now whites just aren't any old 'whites', there are yellow base, red base, brown base whites etc etc. Take a look at the large colour samples of the Dulux whites you can pick up at any Hardware store or Dulux colour shop these days.

{Courtesy digsdigs.com}

Next time you are at the hardware store, pick up a few, take them home and look at them side by side. See if you can tell what base colour they are. This will help you in determining which white best suits where you want it to go and if it fits in with a current colour scheme.

I used white as the main colour throughout the holiday house, initially because I wasn't sure what colour would suit. It's taken me 4 years to see and realise that the white used is a blue base white, and I don't like it (for those Queenslanders, does the phrase ring any bells). In my defence, I'm only at the house every couple of weeks, sometimes it's a month before I make it there.

And....no!...the picture above is not of my house...I wish.

My current loves are the palettes from Bauwerk and Resene. So I'm on the hunt now for a better white...and possibly even a dark colour for the 5 mtr ceilings in the living area...it could take it.

White Accessories

Check out this online store Whiteport for white on white - bed linen, gifts, bathroom accessories etc. Really nice. I came across it while I was looking for something like the butlers table below.