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The Current Place's custom record shelf

In collaboration with MasterStroke by Resene, photographer Damien Nikora (Ngāti Kahungunu) and model Chanelle Taylor (Tainui) – aka The Current Place – are in the process of renovating their 400sqm woolshed. The extraordinary transformation has taken the very raw, basic premises into creative wonderland with the power of paint, and the couple has brought to life a comfortable and cosy place to live, work and create.

So far, they have renovated their loft bedroom, cosy lounge and feature wall with a palette of rich Resene hues. Now, they’ve moved on to Chanelle’s art room.

“I’ve always loved the idea of having a rustic, country-inspired space ever since I was a kid,” she says. “A place where I can relax and have everything already set up, and I don’t have to pack away anything after each day.”

To bring the area to life, they lined the room with rough sawn fence palings and used pine decking timber to create skirting and door frames. They chose to stain these with Resene Colourwood in Resene Bark to contrast with the light Resene Double Parchment on the walls, then coated them with Resene Aquaclear for a deep richness and protection.

Record holder

Once they had the space sorted, they decided to build a custom shelf for Chanelle’s vast vinyl collection.

“I love music and I’ve always wanted a record player, so D got me one for my birthday last year but it’s never had a home in the woolshed because of the renos,” explains Chanelle.

“So we thought it’s about time we build a unique home for it – and my art studio is the absolute perfect spot for it. I’ve always wanted my vinyls to be displayed as pieces of art, as they should be. When D designed a bookshelf in his office to display his favourite books and the publications he’s been in, I wanted that for my vinyls.”

Damien bought Chanelle and old record player as a birthday gift, and the couple wanted make a space for it in the woolshed and be able to display their growing record collection.

They chose Resene Colorwood in Resene Bark to give the structure a professional-looking finish and to tie in with the other detailing in the room that they’d stain the same colour. Walls painted in Resene Double Parchment.

The Current Place ethos is strong, so they didn’t for a moment think that they would buy a shelf new. This, and the practicalities of the space, made building it themselves a given.

“The height of this room is a lot lower than most, so standard floor-to-ceiling furniture was never going to fit. To achieve what I wanted, custom was the only way. We’re also a little obsessed with thinking we can make whatever we want on our own!”

Top shelf

They ingeniously decided to use decking timber, so that the grooves of the timber would hold the records in place. The next step was heading into their local Resene ColorShop to discuss colour schemes.

The advice was to use the same stain that they had used on Chanelle’s art desk – another awesome art room project – so they opted to finish the shelf in Resene Colorwood in Resene Bark. “Something stain does that paint doesn’t is it allows the wood grain to show through, and it just seemed fitting as it’s an old woolshed,” says Chanelle.

After they applied the stain, they wiped it off in a circular motion and allowed it to dry, before applying a coat of Resene Aquaclear to make it shine and add an essential layer of protection.

Play and display

They installed the timber shelving straight onto the wall, leaving enough space between each shelf for standard 30cm x 30cm record sleeves to be displayed. And with a little Kiwi ingenuity, they turned their one challenge into a creative success.

“We only had one problem: our lack of maths skills meant we over-bought decking timber for the vinyl display! But our optimistic, resourceful selves used the excess for skirting. For the actual shelving build we had no challenges at all on this one – it was a very straightforward and affordable idea to pull off!”

Using decking timber was an ingenious move as the records sit perfectly in the grooves. Shelf stained with Resene Colorwood in Resene Bark.

The record shelf is a practical piece that has elevated the space and was very affordable to build. Record shelf stained with Resene Colorwood in Resene Bark and Resene Aquaclear, walls painted in Resene Double Parchment.

A job well done

The record shelf has elevated Chanelle’s art room in both a practical and aesthetic way.

“I love that the vinyls are all on display and easy to access, plus I now have a place where I can steal all my Dad’s collectable vinyls and put them on display. We’ve got The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Neil Diamond, Elton John, Barry White, Eurythmics, Billie Holliday, Mick Jagger and Beethoven.”

She says that building the shelf was an exercise in having a go.

“Making something custom doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. All you need is some $2 per metre decking timber, some Resene stain and Resene Aquaclear to turn affordable materials into something beautiful and practical.”