The pared back, beige tones of this bedroom let the delicate wallpaper pattern shine for neutral hotel-style chic. Rear wall in Resene Wallpaper Collection M37302 , floor and skirting painted in Resene Quarter Sisal, bedside table in Resene Sisal, bench seat in Resene Double Sisal, lightshade and palm hooks in Resene Triple Sisal and knot decor piece and plant pot in Resene Double Sisal. Bedlinen from Adairs. (Project by Vanessa Nouwens, image by Bryce Carleton)
Who doesn’t love a holiday?
Maybe it’s family camping, a sandy beach getaway, a road trip or even an international adventure.
We come home and fill our homes with the memories, photos and souvenirs gathered from the time away.
But, when holidays aren’t possible, for whatever reason, you can still cost effectively recreate the relaxed vibes and inspiring locations of your holiday at home.
The trick, when starting to pull a relaxed holiday look together, is to think carefully about the holiday feeling you want in your home, rather than recreating a holiday destination or a particular look.
Summer relaxation
When you’re trying to give your home interior a holiday vibe a good place to start is with the colours of nature. Think of your favourite holidays and what are the colours that come to mind? It might be inky blue clear night skies or vivid sunsets. It could be stretches of clear blue sky or turquoise ocean against shimmering ivory sand. Maybe it’s lush green bush, bright flower gardens or rolling paddocks in a spectrum from deep green to parched browns.
Colour has been proven to be a strong trigger for memories, so it makes sense to start with colours as the foundation for your at-home holiday style.
If it’s summer beach holidays you want to bring home, Resene Colour Expert Meryl Southey suggests starting with the sky, sea and sand as your colour palette inspiration.
To keep the relaxed feel of a holiday work with softened, muted greens, beiges and blues, such as Resene Double Duck Egg Blue, Resene Half Robin Egg Blue and Resene Awaroa Bay. These subtler shades evoke not only the colours of the beach, but retain a relaxed, lived in look, that is comforting and easy to be in.
These types of muted shades are also great as the basis of a soothing colour scheme because they’re versatile, often working well with cool and warm accent colours and changing in relation to the colours around them.
Top tip:
Always try your colours out first using Resene testpots to paint A2 sheets of card (leaving a 2cm unpainted border) so you can see what they look like in different rooms, on different walls at different times and against other colours.
Resene Double Duck Egg Blue, works with everything from a steely silver like Resene The Ritz, to a delicate yellow like Resene Moondance or a sharp neutral like Resene Black White.
Add a clean, fresh touch by pairing your colour choice with crisper off-whites like Resene Chalk Dust and Resene Half Carrara or brighter Resene Alabaster so the space feels airy and open.
For a moodier look that is still beach holiday inspired, look for colours reminiscent of wilder, open coast beaches. Take your colour palette a little darker with shades like deep grey-blue Resene Rhino teamed with Resene Parchment and Resene Sea Fog.
Of course, holidays aren’t all about the beach. Other holiday-evoking hues could be the organic greens of the forest floor like Resene Tarzan, vibrant plant-life with Resene Pohutukawa or Resene Green House.
If you’re a fan of an all-neutrals look, try a palette of earthy beige shades, like Resene Sand, Resene Desert Sand and Resene Bronco., Meryl says.
“These shades are remarkably versatile and will bring warmth and depth to your neutral palette. You can add contrast notes in shades that will help create a specific holiday feeling or moment.”
Want a stunning sunset vibe? Try Resene Solitaire with Resene Tuscany and Resene Soiree. Want a soothing native bush setting? Try Resene Sand with Resene Green Smoke and Resene Mangrove.
Hotel chic at home
For some of us a great holiday is all about staying in a beautiful hotel or resort and emulating that look and feel can give you a great framework for your home interiors.
As with any design, start with the feeling you want to evoke from a hotel style. Is it a sense of escape? A little at-home luxury? The carefree warmth of a tropical resort? Or the urban sophistication of a city break?
Starting with neutral colours gives you a blank canvas to add a layer of affordable luxury with plants, art and decor pieces. Resene Thorndon Cream and Resene White Pointer are warm neutrals that work well with rich jewel tones such as Resene Stromboli or Resene Hot Chile for a warm, comforting retreat. Or try cooler neutrals such as Resene Sea Fog or Resene Bon Jour for airy, subtler tones with Resene Lemon Grass or Resene Mint Julep.
Restful colours are another good place to start if you’re not sure what style of hotel chic you want. Try warm blues like Resene Kashmir Blue or Resene Bali Hai, soft pinks and peachy tones such as Resene Blossom or Resene Calico and biophilic greens like Resene Amulet or Resene Dingley.
An opulent wallpaper pattern, paired with luxe finishes using Resene FX Metallic paint or timber stained in deep Resene Colorwood Mahogany, and finished with lush velvet fabrics is another effective combination for a little hotel luxury at home, that won’t break the bank. Try a fabric-look textured finish like Resene Wallpaper Collection ILA603 or an Art Deco inspired pattern like Resene Wallpaper Collection M421-19. Repeat highlight colours in your wallpaper pattern in key decor pieces in your room to pull the space together.
The lived-in look
Almost the opposite of creating hotel chic at home, is designing rooms that feel lived in. That may seem silly when you are living in those rooms, but adding softer, weathered touches to newly decorated rooms can help them feel less formal and more relaxed. Think of holiday homes rather than holiday hotels as your inspiration here.
One simple and quick way to do this, Meryl says, is with texture. It might be actual texture in the form of natural fibres, throws and other soft furnishings. But it’s also about visual texture.
Try a limewash or sponged effect to create an undone or weathered look reminiscent of Mediterranean homes or older farm cottages, using Resene FX Paint Effects Medium.
To start choose your colour from the Resene range and try mixing 60 mL of that colour (one Resene testpot) per one litre of Resene FX Paint Effects Medium. Always test your effect before applying it to the walls or other surfaces in your room. You can play with the finished effect by changing how much paint you add to the Resene FX Paint Effects Medium, how you apply your effect (such as with a rag, roller or brush) and what colours you use with the medium or as a basecoat.
Some combinations to try are Resene Parchment over Resene Aspiring for a weathered concrete look or Resene Anglaise over Resene Calico for a parched, beaten earth appearance.
Washed or stained timber surfaces, both inside and out, also give a relaxed finish to furniture that evokes coastal getaways or bach life, Meryl says. “The Resene Colorwood We Speak Beach collection of colourwash hues is inspired by the lazy days of summer and can be used on walls, upcycled furniture, flooring and other interior wooden surfaces.”
If you need help getting starting or deciding on the colours that best suit your home, come in and visit your local Resene ColorShop, Ask a Resene Colour Expert free online, www.resene.com/colourexpert or book a Resene Colour Consultation free instore or virtually or a paid home visit in selected areas, resene.com/colourconsult.
