Style Insider: A plain Russell house gets a sparkling, fun look.

A plain wee house in Russell gets a colourful retro look – and a flock of birds

Serial renovator Menna Salisbury had just completed the restrained and elegant redecoration of a grand house she owns on the waterfront at Russell in the Bay of Islands (featured November 2019) when her attention turned to the “very square, peculiar looking house” on the street directly behind. It was part of the larger property, bought when Menna began to develop her accommodation business.

The new house was quite different so it was time for a change of tack, decoratively. No cream-on-cream for this plain Jane of a house. Instead, Menna chose a mid-century vibe using vibrant wallpaper and a kitchen finished in candy colours: Resene Turkish Delight and Resene Unwind. Her starting point was the exuberant Midnight in the Garden splashback from Miss Lolo, which features a large pink parrot: “I saw it and thought, that’s the one.” A curvy-cornered black Silestone Eternal Marquina benchtop followed along with the cabinets: “I definitely wanted to get away from having a white kitchen.” Menna then happened on a tropical-look wallpaper at Resene… featuring another parrot. “The house has become a funny bird sanctuary,” she laughs.

“Because the house is so plain and square I thought it would be fun to make it colourful and different on the inside. This is the only house on this stretch of the street – the rest are all shops – but it has a big shop-like window on the front. People stop and look in, so I thought it would be good for them to see something that’s quite fun.” It’s a good thing Menna is used to living fairly publicly – she now owns a handful of houses in Russell she shares with paying guests. Menna had the house replumbed, rewired and insulated, but kept the layout the same. She’s now very happy in her little bird sanctuary. “Everything is new and won’t break down but it has a lovely old vibe too.”