Are you aware of Pantone’s Colour of the Year event that’s taken place every year since 2000?
It revolves around a colour chosen in correspondence with a given theme or concept. In 2017, the theme was nature – a green retreat from technology; a place for a person to just stop their constant hurry and breathe.
In this year’s installment of the event, Pantone partnered with Airbnb to bring us something significant – a nature-inspired house designed and outfitted with the sole purpose of taking the visitor closer to nature, experiencing the Colour of the Year first hand. The address chosen was 4 Dingley Place and we are glad we took a significant part of the property transformation there.
FastKlean was chosen among several other companies to play a role in putting this project into reality. We were so happy when we received the approval of the organisers, as the project really captured our interest right from the start.
The goal was to create a house with interior as close to nature as possible and it was beautifully realised by the design expertise of 28 Studio.
Upon entering the house, the visitor found themselves in a wonderful lush woodland with green ferns, moss and tree trunks. The main hub of the house took the form of a greenhouse, complete with shelves to store all of the pots, bottles and other garden equipment present. A large wooden table provided enough seating for 8. That is where most of the crafts took place. The kitchen was magically transformed into an herb garden with abundance of edible plants and surfaces workshop-suitable surfaces.
Possibly the most interesting part (at least for the few people who got the chance to stay in the house for the night) was the country garden bedroom. Complete with astroturf lawn floor and conifers along other sleep-inducing plants, the bedroom surely made a statement. Adjoining the bedroom was a camping style kids den.
What is a home without a bathroom? In this house, there was no ordinary bathroom but rather an oasis, featuring a bath tub art installation and living moss mat. While the bathroom was not designed to serve the conventional purposes of such room, it was a beautiful place, taking the visitor somewhere far, far away, all thanks to its wonderful design and ambient sound.
The house turned out beautiful, with every single room providing its unique charm to the green idea. A huge number of people paid a visit for the six days the house was open – from January 24 through January 29. The workshops, stay-overs and all other events held during that period really inspired the community and sparked people’s interest.
This is one of the projects that our cleaners and everyone on the management team will remember for a while. We are glad that the organisers picked our company to help with the setup of the place, the ongoing cleaning maintenance and the post-event big cleanup. We had our cleaners report the house as the most interesting and intriguing place they had ever worked in. Their job was not all that different than what you’d expect from normal domestic cleaning work – change of bedding and towels, tidying up the kitchen after breakfast, taking the rubbish out and sweeping. Some part of the job consisted of after-party help, as there were a few drinks receptions. We carried many cleaning sessions throughout the two-week period of the event. Then, when the event was over, we had to carry out a final cleaning to return the home to ‘normal’.
We are also glad that the event was such a success and attracted numerous people. After all, the shift to nature is always something to be admired and a cause worth pursuing. Hopefully, more people will turn to green not only as a colour option, but a way of life. It is projects like the Colour of the Year that will spark change.
