Moody blues
All the details
A fresh paint job was the final piece of the puzzle for a young Christchurch family who undertook an extensive villa makeover. The subtle duck egg blue is complemented by white window frames, while a matte black front door makes a statement.
Tell us about some of your colour choices.
I used lots of test pots on the walls and am delighted with the colours we chose. Reinstated picture rails provided a handy divider for twotone colour in the bedrooms and lounge. For the kitchen we chose black cabinetry that was in keeping with the era of the home.
What aspects of the build did you spend time on? The skirting boards and doors were quite battered so we chose to replace them – we also noticed that all the interior doors were different. As the hallway was a focal point, we felt it was important that all the doors leading off it had the same profile, so we spent a lot of time going around demo yards looking for doors. We eventually found four that were the same, then had to find three more to match. We also had skirting boards made to replicate the originals.
What was a priority for you? The house was cold and draughty when we bought it and typical of a villa in that only the lounge was heated while the rest of the house was freezing. As we were bringing a newborn into the home, we wanted to make sure the entire house could be at a constant temperature, so we invested in quality insulation and a ducted heating system. What was one of the issues you had to solve? Storage was definitely a big problem and one I wanted to fix for us and future owners of the home. We put two double cupboards in the laundry and wardrobes in each bedroom. We also opened up and lined the roof cavity to create a large storage area.