Colour update for a chic façade
If the colour of your home doesn’t suit your décor vision, take a leap of faith and paint it a shade
that makes you happy.
The budget
“I fell in love with my townhouse the moment I saw it; its double-volume space, attic, spacious tree-filled garden and location in the complex were all perfect,” recalls Home contributor Amanda van Wyngaardt. The only aspect she disliked were the bright red walls.
Homeowners in this complex have to choose from three colour options when it comes to painting the exterior of their homes and since the body corporate had repainted Amanda’s unit just a few months prior to her moving in, she thought long and hard about the cost of changing the colour once again. However, after living with the red for a short while, Amanda woke up one morning to the realisation that she didn’t have the patience to wait until the complex was painted again and decided then and there that she’d simply have to do it at her own expense.
The whole project cost her about R7 000 – and added immeasurable value to her world!
The project
As an interior designer, Amanda always advises her clients to have a plan before undertaking any project. She felt the red was old-fashioned and didn’t fit in with her décor dreams.
The first step was to consider the other colours specified by the body corporate. Although she was initially unsure of the charcoal – one of the options available to owners – the graphic potential of the colour and the way it contrasts with white garden furniture soon convinced her.
In the décor world, grey is regarded as a sophisticated colour. It is also associated with calm. But because this colour can be static and emotionless, it needs accents that help to create visual and emotional balance.
To achieve this, Amanda chose a bold orange for the front door and decided to highlight the timber of the garage door – both elements have added warmth to the otherwise cool aesthetic.
“Over the past few years, orange has risen in the colour hierarchy and is now a popular choice. It is associated with warmth and energy, so it’s ideal as an accent colour for a contemporary look,” she says.
Geometric detail
To finish, Amanda added similar geometric detail to both doors. First she repainted the previously turquoise front door in the muted base colour Dusted Moss 2. Once dry, her painter Paul Chipeta applied blue masking tape in a geometrical pattern and then painted the door with Dulux Ginger Glow 4.
For consistency, the geometric detail was repeated on the garage door. First it was sanded, then blue masking tape was applied and finally it was treated with Dulux Woodgard Timbavarnish in the colour Dark Oak.
Tip
Contrast is important in décor – it creates focal points and adds movement. Too many similar colours in a space are uninspiring and boring to look at.