Here's a taste of some of the Colour Expert questions and answers to help you with your own colour scheme.
If you would like more colour advice for your project, please ask our Colour Expert for help or come in and see our staff at your local Resene ColorShop or Reseller. Colours are a representation only.
Please refer to the actual paint or product sample. Resene colour charts, testpots and samples are available for ordering online.
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Q. We have a single level 1960s home with cream joinery. We've used Resene Gravel on the house, and would like your suggestion as to which colour to use on the baseboards. Resene Double Gravel doesn't give quite enough contrast. We purchased Resene Woodsmoke but found it way too green (the depth of colour was good though). A. Resene Gravel is an olive green based grey and quite dark. To get something that relates well and is darker again is difficult. But going lighter in the same palette of colours is easy. Perhaps you might look at this colour - Resene Quarter Gravel. But if you did want a darker colour then perhaps you could use the same colour as the main - Resene Gravel. May 2015 |
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Q. I am having trouble choosing a colour for the master bedroom. The ceiling will be white with doors and trims in Resene Alabaster. The room is very sunny with large windows. The bedhead is black velvet, the lamps and duvet are black with silver and the full length curtains are silver with a black elongated swirl pattern. I have recently painted the bathroom with Resene Grey Chateau and Resene Alabaster and the contrast looks stunning, but I don't want to carry this look through to the bedroom. It's not an ensuite. The following are some absolutely divine greys that carry within them delicate undertones of colour – Resene Designer White, Resene Geyser, Resene Concrete, Resene Half Rakaia, Resene Athens Grey or Resene Eighth Ash. If you can pop into a Resene ColorShop to view the A4 real paint samples in their Colour Library it will help you a lot. Compare them to each other and judge them against a sheet of white printer paper will allow you to really judge what the colours are truly like - it will make choosing much easier. May 2015 |
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Q. I have purchased two bedside cabinets in a duck egg blue type colour for our spare bedroom. A queen bed with cabinet either side is what you see upon opening the door. On the left of the wall they are against is a big window with grey, brown and cream stripe full length curtains. I had purchased four litres of Resene Half Robin Egg Blue to paint the room as I like the colour but now I think it may be too much with the cabinets? The room is a good size but does not receive any sun. I’m not sure if could have a feature in a brown or grey neutral like Resene Milk White with Resene Half Robin Egg Blue on the side walls. A. If you want the bed and bedside cabinets to be the feature of the room and the room doesn't get any sun it may be wise to use a neutral on all walls. If you did decide to use a colour as a feature (behind the bed perhaps) and were contemplating a brown (this might be better than the grey) it would have to tone very sympathetically with the brown in the curtains. Brown enhances blues so the cabinets would harmonise well with a brown toned feature wall and be nicely accentuated. Brown may be cosier also in a dim room. Resene Milk White can throw a little mauve undertone, which may be noticeable in a dim room. Have you tested it to see what happens to this colour when light changes and shadows grey it? If you did find that it wasn't exactly what you wanted might I suggest you look at Resene Half Albescent White - this may be a warmer neutral that will work well with browns and duck egg blues. Is it possible to use the Resene Half Robin Egg Blue in another room? A room that does get sunshine? May 2015 |
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Q. My house interior colour is Resene Sisal including the curtains. I am slowly changing to Resene Sugar Loaf which is lighter and greyer. I also have teal carpet. My problem is in the kitchen I have put in a splashback which is very close to Resene Half Reservoir, my bench is in a mix of greens and I need to paint the walls and cupboards. Can I use Resene Sugar Loaf on the walls or should I change? A. I think it would be wise to change to a much lighter colour for the kitchen and cupboards so that the bench and splashback don't need to be changed. You might look at these colours to see if they appeal to you – Resene Rice Cake or Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream. These cleaner/crisper whites will still work well with Resene Sugar Loaf and the existing Resene Sisal but are lovely with teals, aquas and greens. May 2015 |
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Q. We'd like to upgrade our roof to a fresh charcoal such as COLORBOND® Monument. We'd like to change the wall colour to a light, cool, clean, but cosy and inviting colour, and we'd like to keep the window frames white. We had considered mid-to-pale grey for the roof (e.g. COLORBOND® Steel Grey or Basalt) but we think the rich charcoal colour is suited to the house and area (and we like it). For the walls we had considered a cool pale grey like Resene Silver Chalice but now we think that might be too cool or blue. We love the look of Resene Eighth Truffle and its 'milk and mushroom' colour almost perfectly describes what we have in mind. However, we aren't sure if we need to go with a stronger shade of Resene Truffle, that is, to account for the bright/light effect of the sun. We also like Resene Pampas and Resene Bon Jour. All of our interior walls are Resene Seashell and we'd love the exterior to tie in with the interior. We'd like their commonality to be white tone, neutral colour palette, delicate or 'soft and tender' as Resene Seashell is described. Do you think COLORBOND® Monument and Resene Eighth Truffle are complementary? If so, should we select a stronger shade of Resene Truffle in order for it to look like Resene Eighth Truffle? A. I do think you may need a deeper variant of Resene Truffle. Colours on an exterior often look a lot lighter than you might expect - so unless you want the house to look quite 'white' you might look at using Resene Quarter Truffle (or if this looks too white) then Resene Half Truffle. If you use Resene White you will get the maximum crisp clean contrast between the warm house colour and the dark roof. I think your idea of using COLORBOND® Monument for the roof is a good choice. The roof angle to the sun often lightens a dark colour so sometimes the dark charcoal will look like a lighter version of this colour and sometimes it will look very dark - it is a lovely warm charcoal though. May 2015 |
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Q. I have a 1973 house – the walls are Summerhill stone brick (painted), wooden windows, front patio/entrance with an aluminium ranch slider, back porch with three wooden doors (storage cupboard, laundry and back door). The roof and guttering were replaced three years ago with COLORSTEEL® Karaka roofing. I am stuck for a colour scheme to repaint the exterior, as I like fresh spring colours and just can't work out what will go with the roof. I don't want earthy tones or neutral non-descript colours. A. The earthy deep olive toned green roof colour controls what options will work for you. Blues, aquas and pink or peach tones are out. With fresh Spring colours in mind you might look at these colours to see if they appeal to you - Resene Sidecar, Resene First Light or Resene In The Mauve. Alternatively crisp slightly yellow edged whites will always look fresh and appealing – Resene Rice Cake or Resene Orchid White. May 2015 |
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Q. We have been in our Lockwood style house 29 years and want to change to a painted look. Our walls are plasterboard and all painted Resene Spanish White. I have painted some of the posts Resene Spanish White as a test and some windows Resene Alabaster but we are not sure that they look right. Should we paint all the ceilings, windows, skirting boards, balustrade etc Resene Spanish White or should the ceilings be another colour? Should the ceilings be painted semi gloss to reflect light? Baths, hand basins and showers are all white so should the bathroom windows be white? A. I think you might need to use a paler variant of Resene Spanish White if you want to use the same colour on woodwork and the ceiling. This would mean you could dispense with the Resene Alabaster. It would be a softer look and tonally related - it may seem better to your eye. You could use Resene Quarter Spanish White - low sheen acrylic on the ceiling and semi-gloss waterborne enamel for all woodwork. That would give a very nice level of sheen for the woodwork and a low sheen ceiling may give you just enough light reflectance without it being a wet shiny look. It is entirely up to you if you want to use Resene White for the windows in the bathroom - but if you did then you might also use it for the bathroom ceiling to co-ordinate. Bathrooms that get very moist from steam might benefit from the use of a semi-gloss enamel for woodwork and ceilings - it may be a stronger/harder wearing paint film as well as more light reflecting. May 2015 |
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Q. My wife and I are looking at building a beach bach. We have selected a Grey Friar roof and that is as far as we can agree on with any colour selections. We would be interested in what colours you would pick for the exterior? We want something beachy, summery, clean and fresh and not too dark. The house is weatherboard/fibreboard two storeys with silver aluminium joinery. The house next door is a pohutukawa colour which is a bit overbearing and every other house seems to be two tone grey. We would something slightly different but not become a standout orphan. A. I, personally, would use a White because it would never date, always be cool, fresh and bright, would look great with bright spots of colour on the deck and close to the house. What are summery, beachy, clean and fresh colours to you? Perhaps you might start looking at colours that do excite you and to get you started thinking about this here are some that are beachy and summery – Resene Emerge, Resene Gin Fizz, Resene Miso, Resene Daydream or Resene Duck Egg Blue. May 2015 |
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Q. I need to paint my roof. It is currently bare galvanising 20-30 years old. The house cladding/fascias and barges/spouting are painted Resene Mondo. A. You have quite a dark colour on the house and having an even darker colour on the roof (if that was what you were considering) takes you to a colour like Resene Element or even blacker - Resene All Black. Personally I would recommend a lighter colour (to create contrast) like Resene Quarter Mondo, Resene Gauntlet or Resene Atmosphere. Some greens work well also - i.e. Resene Rivergum. It is a personal taste thing and of course you may prefer something quite different. May 2015 |
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Q. We wish to freshen up our home. My thought is to stain the house with Resene Woodsman Treehouse (or darker) and paint the roof in a charcoal grey? The windows are brown powder coat, and the garage door, roof and fascias look like Karaka. What would you recommend for the gutters and fascia boards? A. Are you planning to paint the windows and garage door as well as the roof etc so it all co-ordinates? If you want a charcoal tone for the roof, gutters and fascia boards that is earthy and will work with the stain and the existing brown windows you might look at Resene Ironsand. If you want to use a standard charcoal (this can look a little blue grey) - Resene Grey Friars you may find that it looks smart but isn't related to the stain on the house. If you chose a stain that was lighter i.e Resene Tiri you might find a blacker roof colour - Resene Nocturnal - and a contrast colour for the guttering, fascias, garage door such as Resene Evolution which could look smart. |
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Q. I have a Deep Ocean COLORBOND® roof. The front of the house is south facing. What render colour would you suggest? A. South facing frontages on houses often don't get masses of bright sunlight so you might look at light and warm colours, such as Resene Half Akaroa, Resene Quarter Cougar, Resene Half Truffle or Resene Quarter Spanish White. May 2015 |
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Q. I am looking for a warm grey neutral colour. I have tried various sample pots, but find the colours I am choosing to be quite cool or too dark. I am looking for a depth of colour similar to Resene Tea or Resene Half Tea, but with a bit more warmth. Some colours I have tried are Resene Sisal, Resene Quarter Arrowtown, Resene Cloudy, Resene Cloud, Resene Half Truffle and Resene Tea in various strengths. I don't want anything that throws a particular colour if possible - just a true warm neutral. A. All greys carry undertones of colour in them. Warm greys carry yellow or red. True neutral greys that are a direct reduction of black and addition of white tend to be cool toned greys. You could try Resene Eighth Pravda, Resene Eighth Friar Grey, Resene Silver Sand or Resene Half Mountain Mist. May 2015 |
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Q. Just wondering if it is common practice to paint ceilings/doors and architraves all the same colour? And what are the most popular shades of white for ceilings/doors etc? A. Yes it is a popular and common practice to do the woodwork and ceiling the same 'white' colour. But you don't have to if you would prefer to use a soft light version of the wall colour for all the woodwork trims and a real white for the ceilings. Popular 'whites' are – Resene Alabaster, Resene Black White, Resene Sea Fog, Resene Quarter Rice Cake, Resene Quarter Bianca or Resene Eighth Thorndon Cream. The first three may look slightly cooler than the last three. May 2015 |
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Q. What colour and finish would you use as a splashback with a Caesarstone Frost Carina benchtop and high gloss white cabinetry? A. You might look at several things:
A word to the wise - if you are considering colour behind glass then you need to know there are two types of glass that are used for splashbacks. Only one will show the colour behind it true to reality and that is low iron oxide crystal clear glass. Standard float glass has a green cast and makes colours look unlike what they are in reality. May 2015 |
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Q. I have inherited a large black granite kitchen bench. I can only afford to paint the melamine cupboard doors. I understand that if I use an etching sealer and then I can paint them. What smart neutral colour do you recommend? Someone suggested Resene Pohutukawa red as an accent; do you have any other suggestions? The adjacent carpet is a faded olive green. A. I think you may have some other things to consider - What colour are the kitchen walls? What colour is the kitchen floor? Any cupboard colour suggestions would have to work well with these elements as well as the adjacent carpet. The least worrying aspect is the large black granite bench as black will work with most colours. If you liked the idea of a red accent (Resene Pohutukawa is one of many reds that you might choose) would you use it as small accessories (mugs/platters) or electrical apparatus [(jugs/coffee machines/toasters etc) or as a splashback (colour behind glass) or as a predominant colour in a piece of art on the wall? The following are several 'smart neutrals' for you to try: Resene Half Thorndon Cream, Resene Half Spanish White, Resene Quarter Parchment, Resene Eighth Napa, Resene Half Tea or Resene Triple Black White. May 2015 |
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Q. We have a 1980s Hardiboard® three bedroom home. We would like to paint it a new modern colour. It is currently Redwood in colour with white trim, doors and fascias etc. We have two individual garage doors that are New Denim Blue in colour. We also have brown/bronze aluminium window frames. I was thinking a new modern brown would look quite nice. A. You could look at these browns - hopefully they will appeal to you, look modern and work with the bronze aluminium windows and the New Denim Blue – Resene Pravda, Resene Double Arrowtown, Resene Double Stonehenge or Resene Half Oilskin. I suggest you view the large A4 real paint samples of these colours in the Colour Library at your nearest Resene ColorShop - it does make it a lot easier to judge colours to see larger samples. If you want to test them it would pay you to paint all of the testpot onto A2 card (available from Resene ColorShops) and leave an unpainted white border all around the edges and pin it up on the various sides of the house. That way you will see how it really looks and it won't be misjudged because of applying it to an already coloured surface. May 2015 |
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Q. I have seen a colour in a magazine I really like. Is there a way for Resene to tell me what it is? A. The best idea is to bring the magazine into your local Resene ColorShop to get the colour matched. There are always subtle colour changes in the printing process, then there is the effect of light and shade or the reflection of a carpet and even if they have the name of the paint, it may in reality look slightly different from what it appears to be in the magazine. May 2015 |
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Q. Could you suggest a good Resene white for a minimalist, pure white bathroom? And also a good white for a bedroom with red and orange accessories? A. Resene Alabaster is an excellent white that’s nearly white but has a very slight hint of black in it. Or Resene Quarter Rice Cake – slightly more coloured than Resene Alabaster but has green undertone so has a fresh feel. For the bedroom, try Resene Eighth Blanc or a touch creamier and warm Resene Quarter Villa White. May 2015 |
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Q. How can I turn a paint that is creamy colour into a more snow white type colour? A. Cream to snow can be tricky as snow is normally just off white. Cream is generally quite yellow/orange and it can take quite a lot of additional tinter to hide that yellow/orange tone. Generally speaking snow type colours have either hints of black, blue or green in them. You could try adding that to what you have but it’s likely you will end up with a darker colour again, so won’t be as white a look as a snow type colour. May 2015 |
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Q. We were going to use Resene Alabaster ceiling paint combined with Resene Spanish White on the walls. This combination should go together shouldn’t it? A. Yes that will work. Resene Alabaster is a very popular option for ceilings though and goes well with most colours. The other option is to do something like Resene Eighth Spanish White (if you want to keep to the same sorts of shading but much lighter). You can view A4 paint swatches of all these colours in our Resene ColorShops if you want to double check your colour before you get it tinted. The A4 swatches are a great size to check you are happy with everything. May 2015 |
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Q. How can we get a magnetic blackboard with paint? A. Resene Magnetic Magic is a basecoat – so what you do is apply it thickly first. Once dry, test with your magnets to check they stick well. If they don’t apply more basecoat (and then allow to dry and retest) or else choose other stronger magnets and test to see if they work better. Then you can apply your chosen Resene paint colour over the top – e.g. Resene Blackboard Paint if you wish. When the wall is finished the magnetic part is hidden underneath your topcoat. May 2015 |
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Q. I have an older house and I'm looking at repainting my girl’s room. I have a very high ceiling and three quarters of the way up the wall I have a picture rail. Can I paint above the picture rails to the top bit that meets the ceiling a darker or brighter colour? A. Of course you can and sometimes it adds that bit of excitement that young people love - without it being the whole room colour. It will lower the look of the very high ceiling/walls and can be changed easily if a change of colour is decided upon. May 2015 |
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Q. I was going to use Resene Quarter Napa in a bedroom with white shutters. It is a large room, north facing, with lots of light. What is the base colour of Resene Napa? It looks grey but could also have a stone beige feel. A. It is off a white base and it is comprised of yellow ochre and black - which gives it a green undercast - and red oxide which warms it and browns over the green undercast. Essentially it is a complex neutral. If it can change colour it will do so. If you look at both Resene Quarter Napa and Resene Quarter Stonehenge together then Resene Napa is a yellow brown and Resene Stonehenge is a greyer brown. If you never compare colours with others then you are very likely to misread the colour as your eyes have nothing to judge by. In a north facing room the sunlight doesn't reach all the walls (until the winter when it is lower in the sky) and there is shadow on the walls. Shadow may make Resene Quarter Napa look greyer - but the Y in the colour code still indicates it is a yellow albeit a slightly browned stony one. However it can appear greener in its grey/beige/yellowness if a lot of red is used in the room - rugs, furniture, accessories etc. I suggest you paint the all of the testpot onto A 2 card (available from Resene ColorShops) leaving an unpainted white border all around the edges - this will give you a very large amount of the colour to judge what it really looks like. The unpainted border will hold it away from any existing wall colour so it isn't unduly influenced by it. The large card allows you to move it from wall to wall to see how the colour changes on different angles. It will look a lot deeper/greyer on the window walls and lighter/beiger closer to the bottom of the walls that do get sunlight directly on them. May 2015 |
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Q. I am painting our timber fence Resene Shingle Fawn. Could you suggest complementary colours that I could paint our plaster-cast house? A. Resene Shingle Fawn is a unusual bitter tan. Colours that complement it are full bodied, rich and unique – try Resene Double Villa White, Resene Triple Fossil or Resene Double Sisal. Lighter versions of these colours will still look nice but they may look disassociated because of their paler ambiance which may make Resene Shingle Fawn look very liverish by comparison. The following are colours that are enhanced by close association with Resene Shingle Fawn and might be used as small contrast detailing – Resene Avalanche, Resene Hot N Spicy, Resene Black Sheep, Resene Kea and Resene Billabong. May 2015 |
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Q. I am painting the interior of my house. I would like shades of grey ever so slightly beige with white trims, ceilings and doors. I would like easy on the eye colours for a nice clean look. The colours I am considering are: Resene Cloud, Resene Sea Fog, Resene Ash and Resene Half Truffle. I am in an older cedar home that is painted black on the outside. I would like the inside to be natural, warm, light and clean looking. A. I like the idea of two of the colours you are considering - Resene Cloud and Resene Half Truffle. The others are either too white or too green edged but I do have to say that testing them in the house and with the light you have will soon sort out which ones are the best. Testpots are your best friends in this regard. There are lighter versions of both Resene Cloud and Resene Half Truffle - colours often appear much deeper than we might imagine in the interior of a house - dependent upon the angles and light and shade so going a bit lighter isn't a bad thing. Take your time to get it right and I am sure you will achieve the natural, warm, light, clean looking colour you are after. May 2015 |
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Q. I'm looking for a white-ish colour for the walls for my new apartment. There is lots of sunlight and it will be quite a warm home. I have chosen a bleached ash floor board and Cavalier Bremworth Lattice carpet in Fossil (grey/beige). Ideally I'd like a warm white with a bit of grey. Is this possible? A. You might look at these white-ish colours – Resene Quarter White Pointer, Resene Eighth Truffle, Resene Wan White or Resene Sea Fog. You may need to view these 'white-ish' colours next to pure white to be able to identify the grey and grey/beige undertones. May 2015 |
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Q. My transitional villa needs a repaint. I really like white; however my partner does not like the resulting glare. We will keep the New Denim Blue roof. Are you able to give me some advice on a colour scheme? A. Try these 'whites’ to see if they are shaded enough not to cause too much glare – Resene Quarter Surrender, Resene Double Black White, Resene Black Haze or Resene Triple Sea Fog. If you are able to pop into your nearest Resene ColorShop and view the real paint A 4 samples in their Colour Library and compare them with a sheet of white printer paper this will help both you and your partner see what types of colours they are. May 2015 |
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Q. Our office is painted Resene Quarter Tea. We have a brick wall which we would like to paint to make it a feature. What warm toned colours would you recommend to go with Resene Tea? A. You are fortunate - almost any colour will go with Resene Quarter Tea. The following suggestions are just a few of many that might suit the office environment – Resene Broadway, Resene Scaramanga, Resene El Nino, Resene Avalanche or Resene Double Tea. May 2015 |
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Q. Could you please recommend a warm white paint colour for a kitchen with wood benches and grey tiling and cupboards? I live in Methven, so a cold climate. The kitchen is open plan and leads to a living area of virtually all wood. A. Warm whites that you might look at are Resene Eighth Spanish White, Resene Half Orchid White, Resene Bianca or Resene Eighth Parchment. I hope this is helpful - I feel they will look warm with all the wood. May 2015 |
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Q. We need to choose a colour for the soffits on our new house. There are two covered decks which will have the same colour on a pitched lined soffit. The house cladding and roof are Ironsand corrugated iron. There is wooden cladding on part of the house as well. Can you suggest a light colour for the soffits? A. A light colour - but not too white - to work with predominantly Ironsand for the soffits that doesn't look too stark might be one of these: Resene White Pointer, Resene Truffle, Resene Double Merino or Resene Eighth Napa. May 2015 |
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Q. My house is south facing and painted throughout in Resene Tea. I would like to bring some warmth into it. Blues are my favourite. My house is coastal. Is there a colour I could use as an accent that would complement and introduce warmth? A. Very bright or very dark colours appear much warmer than paler colours in a coastal south facing aspect. You might look at blue/greens rather than straight blues as they also appear warmer by comparison. Check out these colours to see if any of them appeal to you – Resene Meltwater, Resene Captain Cook or Resene Explorer, and perhaps splash a bit of orange based red around to add the extra excitement with Resene Countdown. May 2015 |
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Q. We have a large living family area with cathedral ceilings painted in Resene Waikawa Grey and Resene Oxygen respectively. We now need to paint a large high ceilinged hall/stairway and three bedrooms. One bedroom is very light and sunny the other two south facing. Can you suggest some complementary colour ideas? A. A complement of blue (directly opposite across the colour wheel) is any colour that carries warmth (orange) in it. You could try Resene Quarter Solitaire (warm cream), Resene Nougat (warm beige), Resene Drought (warm brown), Resene Coffee Break (deeper warm brown) or Resene Sante Fe (terracotta). A blue between the deepest and lightest ones that you have which is the tonal complement - Resene Ship Cove for very bright sunny spaces might be considered. But if you are wanting to stay in the whiter/cooler palette then you might look at Resene Wan White. May 2015 |
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Q. I am having trouble with deciding what colour curtains to put in the master bedroom in the house we have just bought. The walls are neutral, the carpet dark brown and the duvet is mainly grey with a dark green pattern at the foot. A. I suggest you match the curtains as closely as possible to the neutral wall colour. You have dark brown carpet and a grey and green duvet so you don't need more colour. You need it to blend into the walls to keep the spaces open, light and elegant. May 2015 |
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Q. I would like to use Resene Rice Cake or Resene Double Rice Cake for most of the interior walls in our house. What colour would you choose for the trims around doors and windows? Our windows have Titania coloured aluminium frames. My husband is keen to use Resene Black White for the trims and doors. Would this suit? Our curtains are beige and cream in colour. The carpet is speckled warm brown colour. Also what colour would you suggest for a feature wall that will go well with Resene Rice Cake? It is not a particularly bright entrance. A. It is No to the Resene Black White. It will not suit at all. I think it will look cold and greyish and totally opposing to the windows - Titania - and with the wall colour – Resene Rice Cake - and the brown carpet and the cream and beige curtains. I suggest the trims and doors be painted Resene Quarter Rice Cake so that it works with everything else in the house. May 2015 |
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Q. We are having duck egg patterned curtains and blinds with matching dining room chair cushions. Would duck egg on a feature wall be a good idea or a contrast? If so what colour would contrast? The room is north facing so quite dark apart from some occasional late evening sun. A. I think you may have enough Duck Egg colour in the curtains, blinds and dining room chair cushions. In a north facing room blues often look grey and unless you want that look or to minimise the impact of the soft furnishings by 'taking over' the room I suggest you stay with a warm/light neutral on all walls and use mirrors, paintings etc to add extra colour and feature to the room. May 2015 |
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Q. What colours would you recommend for a villa to make it appear 'larger'? In particular the roof. I am presuming a lighter coloured roof and exterior with a slight change in the trims. A. You are correct in your thoughts. Paler colours with less contrast between roof, weatherboards and trims make the house seem larger. Cooler colours - whites, greys, blues and some greens - also make surfaces seem larger as they appear to recede away from the onlooker. Warmer colours - red, yellows, browns - often make the surfaces seen more advancing and dominant - hence larger in ambiance. May 2015 |
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Q. Can you please advise me what secondary colour I should use on my front door. I am thinking the main colour will be Resene Domino, but am wanting to contrast it on the trim. Can you please recommend a colour? I will eventually paint the roof, downpipes and guttering, so do not need to match their colour. A. You might look at these types of colours for the front door – Resene Barometer, Resene Double Lemon Grass, Resene Gargoyle or Resene Coast. May 2015 |
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Q. We have blue floor tiles in our bathroom. We painted the wall tiles white but they have started to go yellow. What other colour would work in a bathroom with blue floor tiles? A. You could just repaint them white to freshen them up a bit. Alternatively you could look at these colours to see if they might work with the floor tile colour – Resene White Thunder, Resene Alaska or Resene Half Tea. May 2015 |
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Q. I have a small courtyard that has one brick wall. The other two walls now have white glass doors, but above this are painted planks on the wall up to the ceiling which has a painted aluminium roof with beams. I am thinking of painting the wall planks in either Resene Half Wheatfield or Resene Half Spanish White. Can you recommend which colour to select of these two colours and also what colour I should paint the roof? It is currently grey. A. I think Resene Half Spanish White may work well for you. In regards to the roof - if you don't want to draw attention to it then you could paint it to match the painted planks. If you want to highlight it then you could paint it a light blue like Resene Half Escape (like a sky) or a grey/blue Resene Duck Egg Blue (cloudy grey) or even a mysterious metallic - Resene Crescent (shimmering like light reflected off water) to create an airy look height enhancing ambiance. May 2015 |
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Q. I'm painting a wardrobe. It is 2m high x 2.4m wide in a room that has Resene Black White on the walls. I bought Resene Half Thorndon Cream to paint the wardrobe. It is a beautiful colour but it just doesn't seem to go with the wall colour. The colour needs to be very light as it is now in a dark stain colour and it takes over the room which isn't overly big. The house is a villa with 3.6m stud. A. The sheer size of the wardrobe makes it a feature in the room, doesn't it? The wall colour and the wardrobe colour appear too similar in depth to do anything for the room or each other. If you painted the wardrobe to match the walls - but in a semi-gloss enamel - then just the sheen would make it seem a little different. Alternatively a lighter variant - Resene Half Black White or even a little deeper than the walls but related - Resene Double Black White may work well for you. But if you are hanging out for a Resene Thorndon Cream colour in the room then I suggest using a deeper variant so it doesn't disappear into the Resene Black White but has its own personality - perhaps Resene Double Thorndon Cream. Yes it will be a double feature - very large as well as coloured. May 2015 |
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Q. We have a 1950s timber bungalow with a COLORBOND® roof in Windsong. I am wondering what exterior colours would look good with this roof? Could you advise on exterior walls, windows, frames, trim and entrance door colours? A. I can't identify the roof colour on the COLORBOND® roof chart - are you sure it is Windsong? There is a colour called Windspray - might it be that one? If it was Windspray then you could use these types of colours – Resene Quarter Delta with Resene Half Wan White (trims), or Resene Triple Sea Fog with Resene Eighth Black White (trims). Doors can be a special colour that you feel passionate about - a door or two is such a small part of the palette of colours it is really nice to choose something that you particularly favour. May 2015 |
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Q. We are renovating a bungalow. The new roof colour and fascia is COLORSTEEL® FlaxPod. We have chosen Resene Eighth Friar Grey for the weatherboards and are using Appliance White for the wooden joinery to match in with the Appliance White euro sliders going in. What would you suggest for the concrete foundations? The same as the roof? Plus we are thinking a dark door. Would black be ok? A. You could use the same colour as the roof for the door - Resene has a match to the COLORSTEEL® colour - it is called Resene Element - providing the door doesn't get direct sun on it - I would hate for the sun to heat it up a lot and warp it. The base of the house could be a deeper version of the main colour so it slides together in a tonally related way - Resene Friar Grey - and doesn't make the house appear shorter in height - which a really dark colour may do. May 2015 |
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Q. We are currently trying to choose paint colours to paint the outside of our house. We have existing aluminium bronze anodised windows and sliding doors. The house is tall with large feature timber battens, a COLORBOND® Shale Grey roof with contrasting Woodland Grey fence. Our interior palette is very natural colours - timber, greys and neutrals. We are looking for exterior colours to tie in anodised bronze windows and timber battens with the Shale Grey roof. We are thinking of neutral beige, stone or brown. We have tried several taupe sample pots but they are throwing pink or purple against the windows. A. The main problem that you may be having is that the bronze joinery throws a yellow/brown cast, the roof throws a yellow/grey cast and the fence throws a olive-yellow/brown/green cast. I would imagine a lot of beiges would be too red based and the stone colours would be too grey to work well with what you have. You might look at using these colours that annexe the underlying tones from the Shale Grey and the Woodland Grey – Resene Half Atmosphere (render/under the eaves) with Resene Quarter Gravel (weatherboards), or Resene Double Sea Fog (render/under the eaves) with Resene Friar Grey (weatherboards), or Resene Quarter Truffle (render/under the eaves) and Resene Touchstone (weatherboards). May 2015 |
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Q. We need to choose a paint colour for the walls of our new baby boy's room. We have the trim colour (to match the rest of the house) already, which is Resene Rice Cake, so we need something that goes with that. The blind is yellow with grey spots. The room is on the northern side of the house, but with only a small window, and having a veranda off it, it does not get a great deal of light. We were thinking of Resene Half White Pointer - in order to get a neutral that has more of a grey to it than brown. A. Are you wanting to make the room full of shadowy greyness? It is already lacking sunlight being north facing and with the veranda roof outside the window increasing that factor. I suspect it may be only in winter when the sun is very low in the sky that direct sunlight enters the room. Resene Half White Pointer is a pale slightly greyed beige and is nice but it doesn't really work with Resene Rice Cake. Perhaps you could check out slightly greyer colours like these ones which look good with Resene Rice Cake – Resene Quarter Foggy Grey, Resene Half Surrender or Resene Iron. If you decided against using a grey your default is to use the same colour as the trims to create lightness and simplicity. May 2015 |
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Q. I am looking for a deep dark red metallic paint. I can find automotive paint, even nail polish in a range of gorgeous deep dark reds but not interior paint. Would you please explain why many of the colours in the metallic range appear almost washed out rather than deep rich shades of red, purple, jade green etc? A. The metallic decorative paint finishes are made using aluminium flakes and these tend to be grey in colour so once they are mixed in they tend to make the bright shades look duller. It also depends on the combination of tinters used to make a colour. If you look at the Resene KidzColour chart you can see that you can get some bright metallics but generally they are clear bright original shades rather than deep shades. Colour wise, the most popular metallics shades tend to be the aluminium/grey metallic, golds and coppers. Resene Pearl Shimmer can be used to add a shimmer effect over your chosen colour; however the effect is not as striking/metallic as an actual metallic finish and the shimmer effect does tend to lighten the colour behind it. The best way to view metallic finishes is to hold the colour chart vertically (as if it was on the wall) as it will look very different if viewed flat. Lighting can also be used to emphasise the metallic effect if required. Car paints are generally made with different technology and sprayed on so you get a different effect from house paints. May 2015 |
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Q. We are renovating our home and painting the interior. We are after a nice gentle grey, not too cold but earthy and natural, keeping in trend for good resale. Upstairs is a family room and bedroom where we are considering Resene Half Truffle. Downstairs for the bedrooms, living and kitchen we are considering Resene Half Truffle or Resene Quarter Truffle. We also like Resene Concrete and were considering using that in the kitchen/dining and lounge with Resene Truffle in the other parts of the house. Would this go or would it be wiser to stick to one colour for consistency throughout the house? What are the main differences in Resene Truffle and Resene Concrete and is one more popular than the other? Our trims will be Resene Double Alabaster. A. Resene Half Truffle (and Resene Quarter Truffle) are lovely warm greige (beige grey) colours and work really well with Resene Double Alabaster. Resene Concrete is a cooler silver grey - it is more dreamy and allusive - it can sometimes throw an almost lilac undertone. They are lovely colours - both popular - and if you wanted a completely different look in the kitchen/dining room as long as it isn't south facing (which might make Resene Concrete look cooler) I think you should go ahead. Please do test the colours - paint them onto A2 card (available from Resene ColorShops) using two coats (all of the testpot) and leaving an unpainted white border all around the edges - and move from wall to wall, room to room to ensure you know exactly how the colours respond to your space and light. That way there will be no surprises and all will be well. May 2015 |
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Q. We want to paint over the ugly mustard yellow stucco at the base of the exterior of our house. We want to go for a grey, but don't know what shade/darkness to pick. The roof is terracotta red. We have red brickwork and tiles around the house and deck is a red. We really want to minimise the red look! A. You might like to check out these greys to see if they look good with the bricks and tiles and the existing weatherboards – Resene Stack, Resene Half Tapa or Resene Half Gauntlet. I hope this is helpful - please note the depth of the grey is to balance the redness of the tiles and bricks - lighter greys will make the bricks and tiles look redder. If you are testing colour please don't paint directly onto the existing colour as you will be totally mislead as to the reality of the colour. I suggest you paint all of the Resene testpot (two coats) onto A2 card (available from Resene ColorShops) leaving an unpainted border all around the edges so you see as much of the tested colour as possible. This way you can move the colour around onto different sides of the house to see how it alters on angles and in differing qualities of light and shade. May 2015 |
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Q. I have selected Resene Rice Cake for my living areas and Resene Quarter Truffle for my bedrooms. Can you suggest what colour/s I should paint the window trims, skirting boards and internal doors? A. If you want a slightly warmed 'white' that will work well with both of your colours then you might check out either of these colours – Resene Eighth Rice Cake or Resene Alabaster. May 2015 |
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Q. We are doing up a warehouse conversion with high stud ceilings and concrete floors. Please help with a few suggestions on wall colours. We want to use one colour throughout the home. We were trying out Resene Black White, Resene Half Black White, Resene Quarter Black White and Resene Alabaster. I'm not sure if cold whites would work with such a huge space. A. I am inclined to agree with you - a huge space with a cold whites is unappealing and very hard to make into a comfortable home. Your main colour may need more warmth and depth. Also, have you considered using some deep or rich colours on some areas of wall to 'zone' them to create backdrops for dining, lounging, sleeping etc? I feel you may need to think about this. In the meantime please check out these warmer neutrals as a possible main colour – Resene Double Merino, Resene Half Thorndon Cream, Resene White Pointer or Resene Barely There. May 2015 |
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Q. I have a villa with high studs and timber ceilings. At this stage I do not intend to paint the ceilings and am looking for a white for the hall and joinery. I am okay with the walls and joinery in the hall to be the same but I'm considering Resene Athens Grey for one of the bedrooms and Resene Willow Brook for the lounge and would like to continue the joinery colour throughout. A. You might consider using one of these colours for the hallway and a semi-gloss enamel version of the same colour for the joinery - a cooler 'white' – Resene Black White or a warmer 'white' – Resene Half Rice Cake. Both would work with the Resene Willowbrook and the Resene Athens Grey. May 2015 |
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Q. I have painted my whole interior Resene Quarter Tea with white ceilings and trim. What colour will suit the wardrobe and bedroom doors? A. If you want them to blend in you could use the same colour as the walls but in a semi-gloss enamel - that way just the sheen level is different. If you want the doors and wardrobes to stand out then you might use Resene White but if you want the doors to be a bit deeper (so that fingermarks don't show up as much) you could use Resene Half Tea. May 2015 |
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Q. We've ended up with a bathroom with a vanity in Resene Limerick and our bath and bench are ivory. We would like to change our walls to a neutral colour - what would you advise? A. Is this ivory the almond ivory colour that was favourite for bathroom fittings during the latter part of last century - sort of pink/peach based cream? If this is the same colour then I suggest using a sweet pale colour like Resene Quarter Solitaire or even lighter – Resene Bianca. Or if you are keen to get rid of the ivory in favour of white bathroom fittings (which will work with every other colour) now might be the right time - especially if you want to keep the Resene Limerick. May 2015 |
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Q. We need to repaint our plaster clad house. Our roof, window frames and garage door are COLORSTEEL® Mist Green. Can you recommend some nice colours? I'm not keen on ‘cool’ colours or any with a green undertone. The house is currently a cream colour with green undertones. Our retaining wall, side fences and trellis are black and the front picket fence is white. A. You say you aren't keen on 'cool' colours or those with a green undertone but how are you going to ignore the huge amount of green you have already? Some colours will emphasise the green you do have. Some colours don't like the green you have already. You might check these out to see if they associate well with all the green you have – Resene Double Truffle, Resene Half Napa or Resene Quarter Stonewall. May 2015 |
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Q. Can you please recommend a wall colour for our kitchen? The cabinets are Resene Bianca and the ceiling and trim is White. We would like a light neutral colour that will look good with the grey benchtop although I'm not really a fan of greys. A. If you are not a fan of greys then perhaps look at crossover grey/beiges instead – Resene Quarter Truffle or Resene Eighth Napa. But if you do want a greyer colour then you might look at this one – Resene Whiteout. May 2015 |
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Q. I am about to repaint my 11 year old daughter's room in Resene Sea Fog - walls and ceiling. Her room is quite large and west-facing. She would like a feature wall in turquoise, her favourite colour. Can you recommend a turquoise that would complement Resene Sea Fog? A. Resene Sea Fog will work well with almost all turquoise colours. You could try Resene Seeker, Resene Dauntless, Resene Retreat, Resene Yabbadabbado or Resene Scooter. May 2015 |
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Q. The house interior is being painted entirely in Resene Eighth Pravda, with the exception of the kitchen/family room which is in Resene Quarter Pravda. Do I use the same colour on the doors? A. If you want a simple related look for all doors you might use the Resene Eighth Pravda in a semi-gloss enamel in all rooms. But if you want to totally blend the doors into the wall colour then you might do the same as the wall colour. For a much lighter look you might look at Resene Sea Fog which will work with both colours and create a sharper contrast. May 2015 |
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Q. We are painting our walls and kitchen cabinets in Resene Alabaster or Resene Black White. We would like a glass splashback in teal but would prefer a more blue than green teal which is not too baby or tropical looking? A. Some colours to get you started – Resene Retreat, Resene Dauntless, Resene Calypso or Resene Hippie Blue. May 2015 |
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Q. We need help choosing a Resene colour for our new build. The gable roof is Sandstone Grey and joinery Pearl Grey. We have a mixture of LINEA® weatherboard cladding and Titan paneling. We are trying to go for a modern look. Our intentions are to choose a white for the LINEA® and a dark grey for the Titan. A. You could look at these modern whites and greys to see if they appeal to you – Resene Double Black White and Resene Gravel, or Resene White Thunder and Resene Half Bokara Grey, or Resene Double Sea Fog and Resene Wireless, or Resene Eighth Ash and Resene Double Trojan. May 2015 |
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Q. I would like to treat my new vertical cedar weatherboards so they look like its new natural colour. What Resene Waterborne Woodsman stain colour would you recommend I use? Also, should every coat I apply be this colour? A. Cedar goes from gorgeous to a paler colour very quickly when exposed to sunlight. Is it the rich red based colour you want to maintain? If you apply two coats of Resene Waterborne Cedar Woodsman it will stay as if it is new. But if you prefer the slightly more tan/brown look then you could use Resene Waterborne Woodsman Natural. Some people intermix both colours together to get the look they prefer and if you were at all uncertain then you could do this to some cedar offcuts with Resene Waterborne Woodsman stain testpots. It is really important to get the cedar coated as soon as possible because it is such a soft delicious timber that mould spores like to take up residence and do their best to make it go all dark and horrible. It is the colour that is added to the stain that helps protect it from U.V. damage, and the specific coating system that protects it from weathering. After applying two coats of the coloured stain there is the recommendation to do another coat after several months then re-coat completely every second summer to maintain it. It is a high maintenance timber but it always looks so wonderful if this regime is followed and then it never has a chance to deteriorate. May 2015 |
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Q. What roof colour would go best with exterior Resene Napa and trim Resene Eighth Napa? A. Resene Napa looks good with several different roof colours – Resene Ironsand, Resene Karaka or Resene Windswept. May 2015 |
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Q. We have a home that is what I call Mediterranean/European style. It is a plastered concrete block home with large curved, cartwheel style feature windows. It has orange/terracotta concrete roofing tiles which we want to keep the same colour, Karaka green joinery and is surrounded by reddish/pinkish paving cobbles. We are wanting to repaint with Resene X-300E and also change the colour a bit. We are thinking of lightening the walls and have so far seen a few colours with Resene Haystack being one that we like, but we are still open about this. I need to have a colour scheme for the house walls, the soffits, the garden walls that are plastered and the fences that are wooden, plus the garage door, double front door and gates that are cedar but have been painted with a reddish stain and need to be stripped back. We prefer a more natural wood look on these features. A. Because of the terracotta roof colour and the Karaka powder coated joinery you are slightly constrained in your choices. Resene Haystack is nice but may be too bright in colour. You might check out these colours - slightly earthier and more harmonious with both the roof and the window joinery colour – Resene Double Parchment, Resene Double Spanish White, Resene Quarter Canterbury Clay or Resene Nougat. Lighter colours for the soffits could be a warm cream - Resene Half Spanish White. Plastered garden walls might be the same as the house colour. Wooden fences might be stained – Resene Nutmeg - and this might be used also for the garage door and front door as it is a warm natural look. May 2015 |
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Q. What is your closest colour to new copper spouting? Part of our earthquaked house will have replacement spouting. The upper storey will not so I want it to look similar. Also thinking I will paint the barge boards with this colour. What colour would you paint the roof and the concrete? Thinking lighter grey for roof and some nature sand colour for the main house body. With your lovely Resene True Blue for the front door maybe. A. The closest colour to new copper spouting is new copper spouting. You may find copper colours - both plain paint and metallic - but they will never ever match - slightly similar is the best you will be able to do. You might look at these coppers – Resene Copper Fire or Resene Copperhead (both metallics), or plain paint Resene Paarl or Resene Wild West. Is it at all possible to have PVC guttering in a copper look - on the repaired areas and the existing areas - so they look more similar? Suggestions for roof and house - Resene Gauntlet (roof), Resene Eighth Friar Grey (main house, like grey sand) or Resene Quarter Craigieburn (like alluvial sand). May 2015 |
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Q. We are trying to find a pale grey paint for our inside walls; however the ones we have tried so far are turning out looking like pale blue. We have tried Resene Quarter Iron and Resene Quarter Silver Chalice so far. What can you suggest? I would prefer a grey that is more leaning towards the black side of the spectrum. A. The greys you have tested so far are blue based greys. If you are wanting a grey that isn't 'coloured' you may have to ask at the Resene ColorShop what tinters actually go into a grey colour (before taking it home to test it) to make sure you get the ones that only have black tinter in them. You might start by looking at Resene Double Black White. If this looks bluish then I would suspect it is either the natural light in your rooms or other coloured elements (curtains, carpets etc) that is influencing how the colour is seen. A word to the wise - never paint the testpot onto a coloured wall as it too may greatly influence your eye and make you see the test sample 'wrong'. I usually recommend that testpots be painted onto A2 card (available from Resene ColorShops) - using two coats (all of the testpot) and leaving an unpainted white border all around the edges of the card. This helps you focus on the colour, you see enough of it to judge what it truly looks like, and it can be moved from wall to wall/room to room so you can see how it alters. May 2015 |
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Q. I was hoping to find out what your recommendation would be for staining external cedar cladding. We used one of your stains for a project and the cedar throws a red colour so it looked quite warm and almost brown. I am wanting a black stain. Is there one you would recommend that will not let the red show through? A. In all Resene ColorShops there is a great display of exterior stains on cedar and pine (yes they look quite different) which is handy to check out. You may like the look of these Resene Waterborne Woodsman exterior stain colours – Resene Crowshead, Resene Shadow Match or Resene Pitch Black. They are available as Resene testpots so that you can try the colours on off cuts of cedar. The standard recommendation is always to apply two coats and regularly re-apply coats every second summer schedule to maintain protection. If you are using such dark colours I strongly recommend that use the CoolColour™ reformulated versions of these colours to try and minimise the heat absorption which is the cause of many problems with any timber. May 2015 |
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Q. I recently painted the exterior of my weatherboard house Resene Half Malta. Internal walls are Resene Raffia with Rivergum beige window trim. I have an accent wall up a stairway from the entrance door. The stairs are carpeted with a beige carpet. The entry area has terracotta tiles. The existing colour on the accent wall is Resene Jambalaya. I would prefer a contrasting colour a little lighter. I have considered Resene Double Sisal but this looks too light against Resene Raffia. A. Resene Double Sisal is too yellow/green edged to work well with the orange/red undertones of Resene Raffia. You might look at these colours to see if they appeal – Resene Potters Clay, Resene Leather or Resene Double Malta. The last option (Resene Double Malta) may help to link the exterior and interior together. May 2015 |
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Q. I am hoping to use Resene Quarter Napa or Resene Eighth Napa as the primary interior wall colour. I am hoping to do a panelled bedroom feature wall in Resene Foundry or similar. Can you suggest any other bluish charcoals that might work better with Resene Quarter Napa? Or would Resene Foundry sit nicely next to Resene Napa? Also - please advise a fresh white which might work well alongside Resene Napa for the trims (doors, architraves etc)? A. You might look at these blue based charcoals to see if they are the sort of colour you had in mind – Resene Tuna, Resene New Denim Blue or Resene Avalanche. You may find that according to the quality of natural light and the angles in the room that these colours may look either very black or they may show more blue. It pays to test them carefully. May 2015 |
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Q. I have just installed a new kitchen with white cabinetry and a stone (white/neutral) benchtop. I have an idea of an aqua glass splashback (or a red). Any ideas on a great colour for a splashback? A. How lovely to have a new kitchen - I'm jealous! Please check these gorgeous colours out to see if any of them appeal to you - remember all white kitchens make any other colour really 'pop' and sometimes you need a wall colour to bridge the colour gap between the white and the splash back colour – Resene Such Fun, Resene Kumutoto or a red – Resene Shiraz or Resene Code Red. May 2015 |
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Q. If your house was all Resene Wan White walls, what white would you suggest colouring the ceiling, doors and window frames? A. You might check these whites out – Resene Quarter Wan White, Resene Eighth Black White or Resene White. May 2015 |
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Q. Which COLORSTEEL® roof colour in a light shade would best match Resene Riverstone cedar cladding? A. There are limited options in COLORSTEEL® but you might look at this one – COLORSTEEL® Sandstone Grey as a light colour that might work for you. It has the same grey/warm tone that the stain colour has in it. May 2015 |
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Q. I am repainting my late 1950s Neil home prior to putting it on the market. I am looking for a colour scheme that is neutral enough not to alienate potential buyers and trendy enough to appeal to many. I have been looking in the grey spectrum. My Neil home is cedar weatherboard with a concrete base which is bigger at the back as we have a sloping section and there is a smallish concrete deck with steps up to the front door. The roof, which is remaining unpainted, is concrete tile which has never been painted which means it is dark grey and there is quite a lot of it visible as the pitch is quite steep. I have had the suggestion made that I paint the concrete base lighter than the weatherboards and the suggestion was Resene Grey Nickel for the weatherboard and Resene Double Black White for the concrete base and concrete decks etc. I also like a colour scheme I've seen in your exteriors book where it shows one exterior 4 ways. The image I like is of the older houses that have been altered - ‘born again’ - with Resene Atmosphere and Resene Athens Grey. I could use Resene Atmosphere for the concrete base on my house and Resene Athens Grey for the weatherboards. A. Greys are very popular at this point in time and present a smart modern look. If you house looks exactly the same as the one in the booklet - same style and architectural features including the roof - it could look just as good. Another option in the lighter main, deeper base of the house colour scheme might be Resene Black Haze (main) and Resene Foggy Grey (base). For a deeper weatherboard/lighter base option you might look at Resene Silver Chalice (main) and Resene Black White (base). Take your time and check out the large A4 real paint samples in the Colour Library at your local Resene ColorShop so that you can better judge the reality of the colours. May 2015 |
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Q. We are intending to paint the exterior of our house. It has three levels consisting of plaster and vertical cedar. The colour of the aluminium joinery is Desert Sand. The roof I think would be same although it looks a lot lighter. The house is 20 years old so both will have faded. I'm thinking a light colour for the plaster perhaps Resene Half Parchment and a darker colour perhaps Resene Napa or Resene Double Napa for the cedar, garage door and balustrading/pergola/front fence in Resene Mondo or Resene Gravel. A. It sounds good to me but I think it may be better to do Resene Double Napa for the cedar etc and Resene Double Mondo for the fences etc - this balances the colours well. May 2015 |
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Q. I want to use a pale sky blue for bedroom walls with a subtle sage undertone. Can you suggest which one would be best? A. If by 'subtle sage undertone' you mean a muted (greyed) blue with a slight green edge then it may not relate to the other criteria 'pale sky blue' that you have requested. I can offer several suggestions - pale sky blue and muted grey blue/green (hopefully sage enough) so you may check these out – Resene Cut Glass, Resene Half Escape, Resene Breeze, Resene Emerge, Resene Duck Egg Blue, Resene Dusted Blue or Resene Zumthor. June 2015 |
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Q. We are painting our nursery Resene Corn Field and want to know a complementary Resene White for the ceiling please? Other colours in the room are similar to your colour Resene Unwind. A. The main colour in the room - Resene Corn Field - will reflect a lot of yellow tone on to the ceiling at certain times of the day. You might check out Resene Half Rice Cake and Resene Quarter Pearl Lusta but don't be surprised if they look more yellow than you might expect. Alternatively you could use Resene White as it may pick up colour from the walls and end up looking like the colours I have mentioned. June 2015 |
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Q. The walls are painted in Resene Putty. What would be the lightest best match to this? A. The lightest version of Resene Putty is Resene Eighth Putty. Another very light colour (not exactly related but sympathetic) that you might look at is Resene Half Vienna - these colours are in an older version of The Range Whites & Neutrals - the one with the red paint swirl on it. You can see larger samples of these colours in the Colour Library at your local Resene ColorShop. June 2015 |
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Q. We are redecorating an interior that has Resene Half Spanish White on the cupboard doors/skirting/coving etc. We love Resene Black White but feel this is too cool for the Resene Half Spanish White. A. Resene Half Spanish White and Resene Black White are not the slightest bit happy being seen together. If you wanted to use Resene Black White on the walls then the Resene Half Spanish White could be replaced with something like Resene Quarter Black White. If the Resene Half Spanish White is staying then you may need to look at one of these warmer types of colours – Resene Half Bison Hide, Resene Half Napa, Resene Half Drought or Resene Quarter Taupe Grey. June 2015 |
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Q. I have a New Denim Blue roof, Silver Pearl aluminium joinery and cream/yellow bricks. I want to paint the window flashings, soffit and gables (these are currently white). I quite like Resene Silver Chalice and Resene Delta. A. Neither of the colours really work all that well with the colour of the roof or the bricks. Resene Delta isn't too bad with the Silver Pearl joinery. I think your better option may be to relate more to the roof colour. You might check out these greys as a start point – Resene Forecast or Resene Hit Grey. June 2015 |
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Q. We are currently building a new family home. We need to pick a paint colour for the interior walls. We think that we will have all the rooms the same colour. We have black window frames, ply floors and birch ply ceilings in the living rooms. There are a lot of windows in the house. What off white/neutral colour would you recommend? Someone suggested Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream or Resene Eighth Thorndon Cream works well with wood. We were also considering Resene Half Rice Cake. A. Either of the colours that you have mentioned may work. Resene Half Rice Cake is sharp - a little yellowish and clean compared to Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream (or Resene Eighth Thorndon Cream) which has a subdued almost green edged undertone. All colours undergo changes in different rooms at different times of the day (natural light) or night (artificial light) so it pays to test them in the environment. They undergo changes also when seen next to definite coloured elements in the house - be that the wood, flooring, drapes, upholstery, kitchen cabinets/worktops etc so that needs to taken into consideration. You might also like to test these to see if they are possibilities – Resene Quarter Villa White or Resene Quarter Ecru White. June 2015 |
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Q. I want to paint my house interior white and my kitchen cupboards are a light oak and benchtops are a light grey. A. You might look at one of these whites to see if they appeal to you – Resene Quarter Bianca, Resene Eighth Thorndon Cream, Resene Quarter Merino or Resene Black White. These options offer warm or cooler whites. They do come as deeper variants if you should feel the look is too stark. June 2015 |
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Q. I'm looking to revamp the exterior of our 1950s group house in a black shade. We can't afford to replace the bronze aluminium window frames. Which 'black' will work best? We are surrounded by bush. A. Perhaps you might look at black tones that have a warm undertone like these ones as a start point – Resene Double Masala, Resene Ironsand or Resene Bokara Grey. I strongly recommend that you use the reformulated Resene CoolColour™ versions of these colours to minimise extreme heat related problems. June 2015 |
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Q. I am painting my dining room/kitchen. At the moment the walls are Forest Green and I want to go lighter. My ceilings are Resene Spanish White and kitchen cupboards are Resene Triple Spanish White. I am thinking of painting the walls Resene Quarter Sisal. Will this look alright? A. At the moment both the cabinets and the ceilings may look like a light colour (compared to the Forest Green) but if you do change the walls to Resene Quarter Sisal you may not see any difference at all between the ceiling and the walls. Have you thought of staying in the Resene Spanish White palette (so it is all well co-ordinated and harmonious) and using Resene Quarter Spanish White? It will be much lighter than the ceiling is but it doesn't have the greenish cast that the Resene Quarter Sisal has so it won't make the cabinets and ceiling look too muddy in tone. Alternatively you could use the same colour as the ceiling so it doesn't look much darker than the walls. June 2015 |
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Q. I am having COLORBOND® Dune roof and Everyday Life Leisure bricks. I am choosing a colour for the front façade balcony and pillars rendering. I thought of dark brown. A. I like your idea of a dark brown colour and the following are two suggestions that you might check out to see if they appeal to you – Resene Bootleg or Resene Toorak – and perhaps a softer not so dark brown option as well - Resene Felix. June 2015 |
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Q. Could you tell me how I choose white paint shades for both inside and outside our Christchurch house? The house is north facing with lots of green bush and sea views. The morning sun is quite late on the house but evening sun until very late. I like the simplicity of pure white but don’t know whether I need to subdue this to get the desired effect - I don't want the house to stand out like a huge iceberg! A. Yes you may well have to subdue the 'iceberg' in order not to feel cold and austere. If you look at these 'whites' they may be the sort of 'I could be real white but I am not' colour that will work well for you – Resene Sea Fog, Resene Quarter White Pointer, Resene Half Merino or Resene Half Rice Cake. They are quite different to each other - this may not be apparent if you are only seeing them on a chart or on the computer so I suggest - if you can - please pop in to your local Resene ColorShop to view the A4 real paint samples in their Colour Library. Seeing 'big' is so helpful when it comes to judging colour. If you place a sheet of real white printer paper partially overlapping these 'whites' you will see the underlying tints and tones that are in them - this is very helpful. Then use a testpot on larger A2 card (available from Resene ColorShops) using two coats (all of the testpot) and leaving an unpainted white border all around the edges, and move it around all sides of your house to help you truly judge what natural light will do to the colour. June 2015 |
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Q. We are wanting to paint our interior walls a white - the hardest colour to choose I think. We live in a terrace and the north facing areas of the house are very light - lounge room, bedrooms - but the south facing rooms such as the dining room don't get as much light. Our style is mid century and we have timber furniture, dark brown timber floors and lots of pops of mid century colour in our furniture and in our new kitchen - orange, blue, green and red. We're not sure whether to look for a cool white or a warm white? Our walls are currently very yellow white and we hate them. Any thoughts on where we can start? Would obviously get colour samples to view and then a sample pot or two as well before we chose, but just wanted a starting point. A. I think you may be better with a warm white. My reasoning is that a cool white may be a visual shock to the system (might feel grey) after your current wall colour - very yellow/white - is painted over. Also in the rooms that don't get much light a cool white may feel chilly. Perhaps look at these ones to see if they will work for you – Resene Half Bianca or Resene Eighth Rice Cake. June 2015 |
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Q. I am recladding my four bedroom single-level house so I need new modern contemporary colours in which to paint my new pine weatherboards. The roof is COLORSTEEL® and I want to paint that as well. The joinery is new Silver Pearl. My fences are painted black. Can you help me choose two colours to match the silver pearl joinery that are modern? I quite like grey tones if that helps narrow things. A. Real timber weatherboards have some constraints in regards to the depth of colour that is recommended in order not to void the guarantee on the substrate. Generally it is not dark colours at all but those that have LRV of between 100-45% - not those darker colour between 44-0% LRV. Perhaps you could look at these colours – Resene Element (roof), Resene Gauntlet (this may be considered too dark a colour for the timber - please check with the painter and the builder and if in doubt information is available through BRANZ) and Resene Triple Sea Fog, or Resene All Black (roof), Resene Silver Chalice or Resene Double Black White. June 2015 |
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Q. We are doing a glass splashback for our kitchen and the supplier said we can use any Resene colour. Just wondering if you guys have anything that is metallic white or faint white with a bit of reflective bits. We are also wanting to do a feature wall in the entrance hallway and one side of the dining area. Our current wall colour is Resene Eighth Pearl Lusta and I was wondering if you have a good suggestion for the feature colour that is not too bold? A. Resene do have quite a lot of metallic colours. If you are after a super subtle whitish look you might pop in to the nearest Resene ColorShop to discuss Resene Pearl Shimmer. This is a waterborne pearlescent glaze, ideal for creating shimmery wall finishes and very soft sparkly finishes to add visual interest and diversity to any scheme. It is used over a base colour which could be the same as your main wall colour. I am not sure how this would be applied to the back of glass for a splashback but I suspect it would be a glaze coat first then finishing with a base colour which would be seen through the glass and pearlescent glaze. Alternatively you could use a standard metallic colour like Resene Silver Steel or a warmer sheen like Resene Bedrock. You can have almost any colour as a feature colour in the entrance hallway - the choice is 100% yours. It has to be something you adore, that works well with the flooring and the wall colour. Plus it must feel as though it relates to other colours that you have in the house so it 'belongs'. Choose with your eye and heart involved and you won't go wrong. June 2015 |
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Q. I am painting my open plan kitchen/dining area in Resene Half Bison Hide, and the trim Resene Eighth Bison Hide. Do you think a glass splashback in Resene Wasabi would be a good feature colour? A. If you really adore Resene Wasabi then why not? If you would like to compare several colours that are a bit similar to Resene Wasabi you might look at these ones – Resene Pacifika or Resene Saratoga. They are a little greener (not so yellow) and one of them might be an alternative that would work well with Resene Half Bison Hide. June 2015 |
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Q. Which paint colour suits to walls with a white marble floor? A. You are very lucky - all colours will work with white marble floors. I suggest you look at your furniture, curtains and any other coloured elements that you have and find colours that look really good with them. June 2015 |
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Q. We have a cold dark south facing room that is at present very dark blue and a dark dirty yellow colour. We would like a more neutral colour. We like white/blue/purple. A. The colours that you mention aren't neutrals (apart from the white) and in a cold dark south facing room both the blue and the purple may make the room colder. In this type of room the white may look dim, grey and cold also. Is this what you want? If you want to make the room appear light and warm (and this is difficult because of the lack of warmth and light in a south facing room) I suggest you rethink your options and consider soft warm tones like the following – Resene Quarter Dutch White, Resene Orchid White, Resene Eighth Drought or warmer deeper versions of this colour or Resene Half Albescent White or warmer deeper versions of this colour. June 2015 |
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Q. I am renovating a house. I'm putting on a Grey Friars roof on with Grey Friars bargeboards. Half of the house is grey/brown brick and I am putting weatherboards on the other half of the house and would like some colour advice for these boards and the gables. I'm keen to paint everything just one colour. I have brown aluminium joinery. A. You might look at either of these colours - they have a soft grey/brown undertone but are lighter than the bricks so they should look smart and provide contrast – Resene White Pointer or Resene Quarter Truffle. If you felt they weren't quite deep enough they both come as darker variants. June 2015 |
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Q. We are planning on painting the exterior of our house and are looking for ideas on colour choices. The corrugated iron roof is Grey Friars and the aluminium windows are anodised bronze, so I am looking for something to suit both of those colours. I am keen to modernise our house and bring it out of the 1980s, but am also wanting to play it safe and have something that is neutral, going to last and be appealing to potential buyers. There are three areas to paint: the Hardiplank®, the bottom part that is not Hardiplank®, and the guttering and boards at the end of roof. A. Have you considered using a warm grey/beige colour so that the anodised bronze windows don't 'feature' as strongly? And perhaps a lighter variant on the bottom part of the house and on the roof line fascias, carport fascias and posts to create a little more contrast? Check these out to see if they appeal to you – Resene Napa, Resene Quarter Napa, Resene Triple White Pointer, Resene Half White Pointer, Resene Taupe Grey or Resene Quarter Taupe Grey. June 2015 |
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Q. We have a Shale Grey roof with Resene Sea Fog on the walls. We want a darker feature colour but cannot work out what will go the best. Also we have a rendered front gate. Would you suggest the feature colour being on the rendered gate also or just on the house? A. It depends how much darker you are wanting to go - you might look at Resene Gauntlet or Resene Friar Grey. Have you considered using a lighter variant of the Shale Grey that you have on the roof? In the latest Resene The Range Whites & Neutrals fandeck there is Resene Half Atmosphere (Resene Atmosphere is the match to Shale Grey) which may appeal to you. Alternatively you could use Resene Triple Sea Fog - deeper than the main house colour but tonally related. It is a personal choice as to whether you use the deeper colour on the gate/fence and the house - I suggest lighter fence/darker gate might be better. June 2015 |
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Q. I am painting my house exterior. I like strong contrasting colours and was wanting grey tones but my windows are brown aluminium which I don’t think will work. So I have come up with a Resene Bright Charcoal roof with Resene Half Thorndon Cream walls, a black door and garage door. I also have black feature boards at front of house which are staying black. A. The colours that you like will create a strong black and white look. Your main colour, Resene Half Thorndon Cream, may seem more like Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream due to bright natural light stealing some of the depth out of it. Bright light does that. You mention the brown aluminium windows but none of the colours you mention work to integrate them. Are you wanting them to be a feature that stands out? If this isn't what you have in mind them I suggest you consider using these types of colours – Resene White Pointer - main colour - a bit more depth and a bit of brown in the grey, Resene Nocturnal - roof colour - a warm toned charcoal that may help tie in the brown joinery on the house. If you want a black for both garage doors and house doors you might look at this 'black' which has a lot of warmth to it - Resene Blackout - again to help with a harmonious integration of the brown aluminium windows. If you can pop into a Resene ColorShop to view A4 real paint samples of all of these colours to compare them with each other it may make choices much easier. June 2015 |
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Q. We are planning to repaint the four townhouses in our complex and resurface the driveway. At the moment the two houses at the front of the block are a yellow cream with white wood detail and grey garage doors and gutters. The two back houses are a moss green colour with yellow detail and burgundy gutters and bottle green garage doors. The driveway is pebble concrete. Ideally we would like to leave the gutters on both sets of houses 'as is' but potentially paint everything else. Can you please suggest some colour palettes that are modern (not heritage or federation 90s colours) and that will complement the existing gutters? A. If the guttering stays as it is now it may limit the colours that might be able to work on the town houses. Will it matter to you and the other owners if they are the only element on the town houses that doesn't co-ordinate 100%? Perhaps instead of two radically different palettes of colour for the town houses you might look at using lighter and deeper versions of one particular contemporary neutral colour - this creates a simple but harmonious look. This is an example of what I envisage – Resene Tea (front town houses) and Resene Quarter Tea (back town houses). The same detail colour on both sets of town houses - Resene Half Rice Cake could be used as well as the same garage door colour on both units - Resene Quarter Ironsand. By using the same colours for detail trims and garage doors - for both front and back units - hopefully it will work with the existing guttering colours and tie the houses together. Alternatively if the owners of the units prefer to keep quite different looking colour palettes then perhaps these colours may appeal – Resene Half Stonewall (front town houses) and Resene Triple Merino (back town houses). All trims - same colour - Resene Half Merino. The garage door of the front and back town houses could be finished in Resene Grey Friars. June 2015 |
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Q. I have recently purchased my first property, which is a small 49m2 south-east facing inner city apartment in Auckland's CBD. The apartment is on the 14th floor, gets a little bit of direct sunlight at midday but generally it is not sunny. The view/outlook is towards other apartment buildings, which are about 20m away from the exterior lounge window. The walls are Resene Tea at the moment and I think that this is too dark and looks a little masculine. I want to repaint the walls with a warm white, which would brighten up the apartment and make it feel warm. I plan to put new relatively modern-styled furniture in the apartment which will be a mixture of bright colours and solid dark wood. What type of warm white would you recommend I use for the walls? A. You might check out these warm whites to see if they appeal to you – Resene Bianca, Resene Rice Cake, Resene Half Albescent White or Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream. If you paint up testpots of any of these colours I suggest you paint all of the testpot onto A2 card (available from Resene ColorShops) leaving an unpainted border all around the edges and that way you can move it from wall to wall and watch what happens to the colour at different times of the day and night. The unpainted borders allow you eye to see a large enough piece of sample colour and you can judge it against the white border to ascertain the depth of the colour. June 2015 |
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Q. We are currently looking at painting our lounge/family area. At the moment it is a colour similar to Resene Tea and there is a bright red feature wall. The trim/architraves/doors/ceiling are all Resene Quarter Tea. What we are thinking of doing is leaving the Resene Quarter Tea and painting the walls a lighter white colour as it is quite a dark room. We had been looking at using Resene Quarter Pearl Lusta and put a testpot on the wall. We thought we would check to see if you recommend another colour. We were wondering what type of white would wear well as this room will get a bit of wear and tear. A. Have you considered doing the ceiling (one of the main sources of light reflection) the same colour as the walls? It would certainly help with making the room seem lighter and brighter. In any space that gets a lot of wear and tear the palest colour always comes off getting grubby quicker. Perhaps you might consider using a scrubbable type of paint like Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen waterbased enamel as it is tougher and can tolerate more washing. Most wall paints are standard acrylics and they can be sponged but end up looking shabby quickly if there is a lot of wear and tear happening and you keep cleaning the same places frequently. If you decided not to go with Resene Quarter Pearl Lusta you might look at using Resene Eighth Tea for walls and ceilings - it will work well with Resene Quarter Tea on the doors and woodwork. June 2015 |
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Q. In our new kitchen the walls are Resene Caraway, the cupboards Resene Alabaster and a granite benchtop which is mostly black and white flakes with touches of rust. We are struggling to find the right colour for a splashback. We have samples of Resene Double Caraway, Resene Arrowtown, Resene Half Arrowtown and Resene Stonewall but they look very green when painted onto glass. A. The samples you have checked out are olive toned colours - so yes a sludgy green may be apparent in them. Another thing that you may be unaware of is that of the two types of glass used for splashbacks only one is totally clear and shows the colour behind it true to reality. This is low iron oxide crystal clear glass - not standard float glass which has a definite green cast to it. I think you could check out greyer types of colour – Resene Stonehenge, Resene Quarter Fuscous Grey or a metallic colour – Resene Pure Pewter or an exciting rusty red/brown colour – Resene Desperado, or the default option – Resene Caraway - same as the walls but even more important to make sure the glass is the 'right one'. June 2015 |
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Q. We are repainting the exterior of our home. We have a COLORBOND® Surfmist roof, and COLORBOND® Deep Ocean aluminium windows. What colours would you recommend for the walls? I was also thinking of making a feature out of the front and garage doors by using a different colour from the walls. Is this a good idea or would it be better to only do the front door? The side timber gate will be painted in COLORBOND® Deep Ocean and the fly-wire door will be removed. A. I think that featuring the front door as a special colour is a great idea but I would be inclined to use Deep Ocean or Surfmist for the garage door to simplify the exterior palette of colours. You might check out these colours as possible options for the main house colour – Resene Half Merino, Resene Rice Cake, Resene Half Arrowtown, Resene Double Ash or Resene Taupe Grey. Ideas for the front door – Resene Explorer - lighter version of the window joinery colour, Resene Pohutukawa or June 2015 |
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Q. We have purchased a new house and would like to update the interior paint to a coastal type colour scheme. We have been wracking our brains trying to come up with something that is more on a neutral palette, but then again we don't want it to be boring. Essentially what I would greatly appreciate help with is a set of perhaps three or four coastal colours, and which room they would be best placed in the house (e.g. bedrooms, kitchen lounges). I like the idea of the entrance/lounge area being a pale silvery grey and the kitchen being a blue. A. These colours may be worth considering - Resene Triple Sea Fog - possibly bedrooms, Resene Half Sea Fog - any ceilings, painted woodwork etc, Resene Half Delta - for the brightest/largest space, perhaps the entry/lounge, Resene Sorrento - kitchen and Resene Half Smalt Blue - rumpus room. You may have to change drapes, mats, furniture etc to co-ordinate with your new colour palette. June 2015 |
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Q. Our house is painted externally in a COLORBOND® colour (Monument Grey). We have an entrance area that is more indoors than outdoors and we are hoping to paint this area with something like the Resene SpaceCote Flat using the same Monument colour. Is this possible? By the way, we have just finished painting the rest of the house in a white Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen, the finish is amazing and we couldn't be happier! A. I am very pleased that you are very pleased with Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen - you are right - it is a wonderful product. In answer to your query - there is a Resene match to COLORBOND® Monument - it is called Resene Nocturnal and it is available in Resene SpaceCote Flat and just in case you need to know this - there is a half tone version of the colour also - Resene Half Nocturnal and both colours are in the latest The Range Whites & Neutrals fandeck. June 2015 |
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Q. I’m an abstract artist. I do paintings on canvas. I’m thinking of using Resene paint on the canvases. Do you think this is a good idea? Will the paint stay on the canvas? It won't chip and flake off? If it is fine to use, which types of paints should I get? A. A huge number of artists use Resene paints for their projects. It is used a lot on canvas back drops in the theatre as well. The Resene testpots are a product called Resene Lumbersider - a low sheen. You can also use any of the other acrylic paints such as Resene Zylone Sheen. Once the paint has dried it is difficult to remove. Of course if the canvas you are painting is constantly folded or twisted (using force) you may notice that both the paint and the canvas start to look a bit 'tormented'. Some artists dilute the paint with water to achieve a softer wash of colour so I suggest you do some tests on smaller canvas sheets. You can prep canvas with Resene Quick Dry to prime it. I think you will be surprised at how useful Resene paints are. I personally have used the testpots on heavy calico cloth for cushions in the past. June 2015 |
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Q. I want to paint the living room and a wood panelled wall white. The wall opposite is normal, not a wood wall. Which white would you recommend? I prefer to move away from cream yellow tones. A. You could check out these whites - they have no yellow or cream tones in them at all – Resene Double Alabaster, Resene Black White, Resene Quarter White Pointer, Resene Wan White or Resene Half Barely There. Deeper variants or lighter variants of these colours are available also. June 2015 |
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Q. I have Resene Half White Pointer on my walls and want a nice grey for the doors in our house. Have looked at Resene Rakaia, but think it might be a little too purple. We don’t want anything too dark though. A. You are right - Resene Rakaia has a delicate mauve undertone. All greys carry colour undertones - too warm a grey flashes yellow, red/violet or green and too cool a grey tone flashes blues or blacks. Because of the soft grey/beige tone in Resene Half White Pointer you could look at the following greys to see if they appeal to you – Resene Eighth Stonehenge, Resene Mountain Mist, Resene Silver Sand or Resene Cloudy. June 2015 |
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Q. We have confusion in the choice of colour in painting our lounge/dining room. It will flow to a new kitchen that I want to have a dark benchtop (black/chocolate/charcoal) with white cabinets. I am looking for a very light spice colour. We would like it to be a warm colour. We both do not like the grey tones. A. I have just been into my spice storage drawer to investigate very light spice colours but there isn’t much variety in very light spice colours is there? Mostly mid to deep tones of brown, gold, red or tan. You could check out these colours - they are not exactly spicy but are light and warm - to see if they appeal to you. It all rather depends on the colour of the flooring in the lounge, drapes and upholstered furniture - as well as the quality of light - as to whether they will work well or not. You could try Resene Eighth Sisal, Resene Eighth Akaroa, Resene Eighth Canterbury Clay or Resene Quarter Doeskin. All of these colours are available as deeper variants also. June 2015 |
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Q. I am painting a kitchen/dining room. Kitchen cabinets are New Denim Blue. I am thinking Resene Tana for walls and Resene Rice Cake for ceiling, doors and window sills. The aluminium joinery is also New Denim Blue. The room does not have a lot of natural light. A. The colours you are considering are nice but if the room doesn't get good natural light it will make a difference to how the paint colour is seen. All colours seen in an interior have the potential to look twice as deep as you might imagine - so coupled with a dim room and dark coloured kitchen cabinets the Resene Tana may look as dark as Resene Double Tana - is this what you want? I suggest dropping down to a much lighter version of both colours – Resene Quarter Tana or Resene Quarter Rice Cake. June 2015 |
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Q. We are redecorating our lounge and are considering using Resene Double Pearl Lusta on the walls with a feature wall in Resene Canvas. Our lounge room has three large beams across the ceiling which are currently painted Resene White. We are wondering whether to paint these white again or consider a contrasting colour. A. If you considered the beams a feature of great importance and beauty and you wanted to draw attention to them and have people notice them or to divide the room into segments then you could use a contrasting colour. A word to the wise - all colours in an interior look a lot deeper than you might expect so you need to test colours:
June 2015 |
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Q. I'm painting my walls in Resene Half Linen in main living areas and Resene Half Truffle in the bathrooms. What colour would suit the door and door frames? Ideally all the doors should be the same. A. You might look at either of these two colours as they work well as neutrals to tie the two main colours together harmoniously – Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream or Resene Half Rice Cake. June 2015 |
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Q. We are painting the interior of a new house in Resene Merino on skirting boards and frames and Resene Double Merino on walls. On the advice of a colour person she suggested Resene Stack for the doors. I thought this looked too dark and have asked the painter to change it to Resene Half Stack. Should the colour just look lighter as it appears to look on the blue side? A. I am unsure why the colour person you were dealing with suggested Resene Stack to you – were they trying to co-ordinate with flooring, drapes, upholstered furniture or powder coated window joinery? This is information I don't have but Resene Stack or even Resene Half Stack may have too much coolness (you might call this blue) to work for you because Resene Double Merino has quite a yellow/grey stone undertone. I suggest you go back to the colour person and ask about using greys like these ones – Resene Half Taupe Grey or Resene Half Friar Grey. If you look at larger A4 real paint samples of the colours from the Colour Library at the Resene ColorShop it may help you see what works. I suggest you take samples of all relevant elements with you - carpets, hard flooring, kitchen cabinets and work tops, curtain fabric samples etc so you can get the best idea of how everything will work together. Colours chosen in isolation may be too random and unrelated to tie in harmoniously with all the other colours in the house. June 2015 |
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Q. I am building a new house and am looking for a white to be used throughout. It needs to go with timber because quite a few of the internal walls will be lined with ply. I also want to use some of the colours in the Karen Walker paint chart – Resene Half Washed Green for our bookshelves and possibly Resene Foggy Grey somewhere. Not looking to have a separate trim colour as it is a modern house and we are not wishing to emphasise the trim. Lots of green outside but I am in Taranaki so it can get cold or sterile. Would Resene Half Thorndon Cream or Resene Rice Cake be good options or do these not fit with the other Karen Walker colours I have mentioned? A. Resene Half Thorndon Cream is quite subdued with a little greyish green undertone and keeps the other two colours you mention - Resene Foggy Grey and Resene Half Washed Green - looking shadowy. Resene Rice Cake is a sharper/crisper starchy white and makes the Resene Foggy Grey and Resene Half Washed Green look a little more developed as colours so you notice them more. The warmth of the ply may need the contrast of the Resene Rice Cake to work well. Ideally the colours should be picked in unison with flooring, kitchen cabinets, work tops and tiles etc so that you know that everything works well together. You haven't mentioned any of these elements so I am not able to definitively say what will be best. My recommendation to you is that you take the time to test colours well so that you know what the natural light in different areas does to the colours. If you apply all of the testpot (2 coats) to A2 card (available from Resene ColorShops) leaving an unpainted border all around the edges and move it around from wall to wall/room to room. This way your eye focuses on the reality of the colour and it is large enough to judge what it is really like with all the other elements in the house. June 2015 |
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Q. I have a 20 year old batten and board house needing paint to protect the timber (deteriorating). I have been advised not to use stain as there is a lot of timber and maintenance for this option is too high. The roof colour is COLORSTEEL® Karaka and the joinery is the same. The timber decks and handrails will stay natural. A. If you were to use a darkish slate grey you will end up with a greater maintenance problem due to the dark colour attracting heat and causing problems with extreme movement of the timbers and the need to repaint on a shorter time frame. I suspect a light to mid tone colour may be needed not a dark one. The recommendation for paint colours on timber surfaces requires a certain LRV% - light reflectance value - of between 45-100. This information is on all Resene paint colours. You can get more information in regard colours for ply and batten timbers from BRANZ. Perhaps you might like check out these options - they meet the criteria and they look nice with Karaka – Resene Quarter Stonehenge (LRV 48%) or Resene Double Truffle (LRV 44%). June 2015 |
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Q. We are repainting the second storey plaster areas of our home. The rest of the exterior is red brick, and the roof is Karaka. We want to keep the LRV >40%. I have thought about Resene Linen, Resene Half Grey Olive or Resene Tana. Would you suggest another colour? A. When you are choosing a new colour that is light compared to what is already on the house it is important not to 'knee jerk' to the far extreme but to try for a light to mid tone so the changeover is well balanced. The greater the LRV number the lighter the colour. Resene Linen (LRV 56%) may be too light - colours on an exterior look half again as light in bright natural sunlight - so it may look like Resene Half Linen. Resene Double Linen is a bit deeper and still has a good LRV 46%. Resene Half Grey Olive (LRV 46%) may look lighter also but - again - Resene Grey Olive is a bit deeper and has a LRV 41%. The same applies to Resene Tana. You might check out Resene Double Ash (LRV 44%) and as a greyer-green alternative perhaps look at Resene Quarter Tapa as it may pick up the colour of the grout between the bricks. June 2015 |
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