Left: Resene Quarter Rice Cake in a project designed by Nobbs Radford Architects. Resene Merino Resene Alabaster Resene Barely There Resene White Pointer Resene Quarter Rice Cake There is also a distinct preference for warm versus cool whites depending on where you live. In warmer, northern areas of the country, grey whites are popular. But in cooler, southern climes, warm yellower whites are more commonly used. Cool whites tend to suit more contemporary interiors which have lots of windows rather than older homes with smaller windows and less-than-perfect walls. It’s always best to try out a Resene testpot of your favourite colour or colours. Paint two coats on to a large piece of cardboard, leaving an unpainted border around the edge, and move the card around the space to view it at different times of the day and night. Comparing whites side by side is misleading. You need negative or neutral space to understand the colour in your white, hence the advice to use samples with a paper- white border around the outside. View the large painted swatches at your Resene ColorShop in the in-store colour library to compare your white options. Place a piece of printer paper between them – this will help your eyes to see the subtle undertones. The subtle undertones of off-whites combined with your lighting and furnishings can make the colour seem different to the colour chip, even though they are the identical colour. This is because the lighting, the amount of the colour and colour reflections from the furnishings can make your eyes view the colour differently. Grey (cool) whites We love our grey-edged whites. It seems that every house in the land has walls and trims painted in variations of Resene Alabaster or Resene Black White. The beauty of these two colours is that they are ‘soft’ whites, so are easy to live with. They are also hugely versatile and complement most other colours well. Using grey or stark whites doesn’t mean you’ll feel like you’re living in a chilly bin. There are many ways to soften these whites – with texture, furnishings and coloured accessories. Or you can be inspired by the trend for Scandi interiors and go a bit darker and choose a pale grey (Resene Triple Sea Fog, Resene Concrete or Resene Quarter Surrender). Some believe pale grey can be too cold for interiors but with the right warm or bright accessories, it looks sensational and sophisticated. Try it with accessories in terracotta or sand colours, or swampy and khaki greens. Examples of grey whites: Resene Black White, Resene Alabaster, Resene Black Haze, Resene Merino, Resene Sea Fog, Resene House White, Resene Barely There, Resene White Pointer. | 7