I love vibrant colours. My home is full of bright turquoise, different shades of green, pink, yellow and purple. Orange and brown however have never appealed to me. Orange happens to be my husband’s favourite colour though. So when he was convalescing from a foot operation and unable to climb up to his home office on the second floor, I decided to do an act of love for him: a full makeover in his study using his favourite colour. I couldn’t go with a full-on bright orange even for the love of my life but I found the perfect terracotta shade in Tikkurila’s range. The rich and earthy terracotta walls look super cool and have transformed his study to a modern and cosy space to work. Most importantly, my husband is very happy with it and I love it too.
If you want to see how my own home office looks, click here.
Before the terracotta walls, my husband’s study looked unloved and uninspiring with light blue walls and a beige carpet. The blue was actually really nice but it was lacking in energy, vibrancy and warmth and therefore did not reflect my husband’s big, exuberant personality. A carpet is always a no-no in any Nordic home so we had it replaced with engineered wood flooring from UK Flooring Direct. I painted the top half of the room and the woodwork crisp white, used a contrasting blue as an accent colour and softened the scheme with natural rattan lamp shades, jute rug and loads of house plants. I didn’t have to buy virtually anything new for the room because we already had most of the furniture and accessories. All I purchased was a leather office chair from Cult Furniture and cane lamp shade from MADE.
Terracotta has a retro feel which is why the ‘Groovy, Baby’ wallpaper by Lust Home was the perfect final touch [wallpaper gifted]. The funky 70’s design comes with layers of rounded shapes in sunset pink, deep purple and orange. I think it looks fabulous in the recess behind the shelves next to the terracotta walls.
HOME OFFICE MAKEOVER WITH TIKKURILA PAINTS
Typical of a loft room, the home office has an awkward shape with many odd corners and sloping surfaces and therefore it was pretty difficult to decorate. It required a steady hand, precision, patience and a good quality paint that was easy to apply. I was glad to be using Tikkurila, my favourite, trusted paint brand!
I decorated the whole room from top to bottom with these Tikkurila premium paints:
Terracotta walls
Colour: Terracotta N405
Product: Joker (eco-friendly, durable paint, matt finish with 7% sheen)
White walls and ceiling
Colour: Paper F497
Product: Joker (eco-friendly, durable paint, matt finish with 7% sheen)
Woodwork and MDF shelves – Primer
Colour: Paper F497
Product: Helmi Pohjamaali Base Cover
Woodwork and MDF shelves
Colour: Paper F497
Product: Helmi 30 (semi-matt)
Tikkurila isn’t just another paint brand. It’s a leading Nordic manufacturer of premium, eco-friendly paints and it’s been around for an impressive 150 years. The company is based in my native Finland and I’ve known it since I was a little girl. It’s a highly respected brand in Scandinavia and used by both trade and consumers worldwide. I was overjoyed when I realised that Tikkurila paints are available in the UK where I currently live. It’s a brand I genuinely love and not just because it reminds me of my home country. I have a huge admiration for the company for being forward-thinking and always striving for developing sustainable solutions that make their products safe for the user and the environment.
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Recommended reading: The whole redecorating process of our home office has been described on Tikkurila’s website.
