‘Weird’ ideas in home renovation

When it comes to home renovations Evie Kemp admits she sometimes comes up with weird ideas – but they are ideas likely to add value to her home.

Recently she set about re-painting the kitchen and one of two bathrooms in her Manurewa home, a task that left her and her partner feeling “so happy”.

Evie's Kemp kitchen. Image / Supplied.

“Sometimes we come up with weird ideas, but we love doing everything ourselves,” she says. “It (the kitchen) now feels so light and bright, yet warm and cozy and just connects so much better with the rest of the house,” she says.

Kemp moved into the four-bedroom home six years ago and while she loved the size and layout of the kitchen, the all-white room bothered her. So five months ago, with the aid of the Dulux Renovation Range, she decided to inject some much-needed colour in the kitchen.

“I wanted to add my personal style and with the Dulux range I knew this was the perfect solution.”

Using a colour not often associated with kitchens - pink - Kemp set about re-painting the walls and cabinets a job that took only a few days. She also painted the kitchen tiles and replaced the sink.

Evie's Kemp painting the walls in the kitchen. Image / Supplied.

Her work has likely added value to the home at a time when the Auckland property market continues to boom. The New Zealand Property Report for October says listings in the city have increased by 36.8 per cent compared to October last year, while the average asking price - $1.01 million - was up 8.4 per cent on the same time in 2019.

Kitchen and bathroom renovations usually provide good returns. A report by the New Zealand-owned financial co-operative NZCU Baywide says most experts agree homeowners ought to double what they spend in these areas meaning a $5000 renovation should result in a $10,000 increase in the home’s value.

Apart from wanting a splash of colour, Kemp’s motivation was to add her personal style to the house.

“A full renovation was out of our budget,” she says. “It seemed environmentally too wasteful to get rid of a kitchen that was so functionally good and relatively new, the colour was the only thing that bothered me.

Image / Supplied.

“I knew whatever I did inside had to reflect the garden (a big window looks straight out to the greenery of the garden). Obviously pink and green are a beautiful combination; I always lean towards using lots of warm colours and I have a real passion for pink.”

Kemp and her partner applied all the paint themselves ( Dulux colours Bluff Hill on the walls, Big Glory Bay on the cabinets and Tokatoka, Clive and Cook’s Beach accent colours for the tiles).

There was a similar story for the home’s first bathroom: “It was all just white tiles floor to ceiling,” Kemp says. “It wasn’t old or worn, but it was just so white it didn’t fit with our style.”

Using the blue of Dulux Huka Falls she painted the bathroom cabinet and vanity top (she also designed her own wallpaper for the nook and added some accessories) without having to change the whole room.

Image / Supplied.

“I wanted something in the bathroom that was fresh and bright and Huka Falls was a colour I really loved, it jumped out at me. It (the room) links well to the rest of the house with both a nod to the retro style of the house and a unique modern twist as well.”

Kemp now has plans to update her second bathroom with a similar colour scheme and style.

Dulux colour specialist Davinia Harper says when the world outside is challenging, it is good to let your home tell a different story.

“Colour and mood are intimately connected so it’s important to surround yourself with colours you love and that help you feel positive,” she says. “Changing the colour of your walls might seem fairly insignificant, however it’s all part of self-care and surrounding yourself with uplifting hues.”

Bathroom finished look. Image / Supplied.

Harper says that colour is a great way to bring your own personal style into your home, something which Kemp has done to great effect.

For more information got to: www.dulux.co.nz/products/renovation-range/overview.

This content has been created in partnership with Dulux.