Painting Sage Hearth Cottage: Choosing the Colour and Seeing it Come to Life

After the exhausting prep work, it was finally time for the next stage: giving Sage Hearth Cottage a fresh coat of paint. Choosing a colour turned out to be a story in itself.

From the start, Ben and I were in agreement: whatever we chose, it needed to feel light, bright, and in keeping with the cottage’s original spirit. During sanding, we made an interesting discovery — the cottage had once been a pale, creamy yellow. Ben’s immediate reaction? A firm, “No. It will look like a schoolhouse.” We went back and forth, weighing our options, until we eventually settled on a pale green. Bright, clean, and peaceful, it feels as though it has always been this way.

The colour is a quiet trickster. In direct sunlight, it reads almost white. When the sky is overcast, it deepens to a gentle, earthy green. On blue-sky days, a hint of blue peeks through the green, giving the cottage a soft, playful charm that shifts with the light. It’s subtle, it’s calming, and it feels entirely at home here.

Once Christmas had passed, Ben’s parents came to stay again, ready to get stuck in to the painting. We were armed with brushes, buckets, and a determination to see the cottage transformed. The weather, however, had its own ideas — squally, unpredictable, and decidedly unhelpful. Still, with a bit of patience and a lot of teamwork, we made progress.

Braving the ladder and scaffold, Ben’s dad tackled all the high bits while the rest of us worked on the lower walls, windows, and trims. It was long, tiring work, but there’s something quietly satisfying about seeing each section go from bare and patchy to clean, light, and ready to greet the world.

The transformation is almost complete, and already the cottage feels lighter, brighter, and more like the home we’ve been imagining since we arrived. It’s a reminder that the right colour, a bit of teamwork, and a lot of patience can turn months of hard work into something quietly magical.

Small repairs done, starting first coat

Small repairs done and starting first coat
First coat applied

First coat
First coat completed

First coat complete on lower parts
Second coat applied

Second coat
Third coat in progress

Third coat in progress
Third coat, trim not done

Third coat applied, trim not done
Location: Taupō, New Zealand

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