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.
Q. We want to paint our bricks/roof and fascias etc. The joinery is a beige colour. We are unsure if we should go a light or dark colour on the bricks (dark might be better with the joinery)? A. The beige window joinery does curtail your freedom to choose any colour. You could try – roof and fascias in Resene Ironsand with bricks in Resene Stonewashed. Or Roof in Resene Settlement with bricks in Resene Triple Stonehenge. February 2020 |
Q. Which colour should I paint my house?? We want to stay away from white. The garage door is Grey Friars so I was thinking about painting the deck the same colour and wood staining the fence but can’t come up with a nice colour for the house. A. You could paint the deck Resene Grey Friars or lighter Resene Half Grey Friars. I recommend that you use the CoolColour reformulated versions of these colours. It will help to reflect heat off the surface of the timber. It won't stop all possible problems associated with deep colours on timber but it does help. Some colour ideas for the house for you to consider – Resene Thorndon Cream, Resene Orchid White, Resene Truffle or Resene Tea. Some stain colours for the fence that you may like to try are Resene Waterborne Woodsman Treehouse, Cedar or Sheer Black. February 2020 |
Q. We are thinking of using Grey Friars for our COLORSTEEL® roof. What colour would you recommend for the exterior walls and for the aluminium windows? It is a large building. A. Grey Friars is a lovely steel blue/charcoal which works really well with a great many colours. The following are some options that may appeal to you – Resene Half Silver Chalice, Resene Truffle, Resene Triple Black White or Resene Half Thorndon Cream. The powder coated windows could be the same as the roof colour or – for a more neutral and flexible option – you could use a white like Appliance White. February 2020 |
Q. What is the best colour to use for a ‘white look’ painted brick new home? A. The 'best white' is the colour you like the most. The following are several 'whites' that you might check out to see if they appeal to you – Resene Black White, Resene Half Rice Cake, Resene Half Sea Fog or Resene Quarter Bianca. February 2020 |
Q. We have an older house that is clad in stippled plaster and has bronze/brown aluminium window frames. There is also a 6 foot high concrete block and iron fence going around and around garden and pool and concrete paved areas and paths against the house. We have chosen Ironsand for the roof and are thinking Resene Quarter Truffle for the walls and the block fence as the house is quite shaded and textured and we don't want it all to look too cold. Would this be a suitable colour to use to lift the house while still retaining a hint of colour in the sun? A. Resene Quarter Truffle is really nice but I would possibly suggest using Resene Half Truffle instead. Once outside and on a large area the lighter tone may end up looking like a slightly darkened off white. If you want a hint of colour I would suggest using the half strength. Another one that is quite nice is Resene Eighth Pravda if you want to look at something else also. February 2020 |
Q. What bright vibrant orange would you suggest to pair with Resene Quarter Scarpa Flow please? A. Two options you could try are Resene Outrageous or Resene Pizazz. February 2020 |
Q. I am looking to match the Resene Double Foundry with a COLORBOND® colour for our guttering. A. Unfortunately there is not a direct match in COLORBOND® however you wanted a colour that was sympathetic to Resene Double Foundry then you might look at COLORBOND® Monument. February 2020 |
Q. As I have dark wood floors and ceiling what is a good white to ensure brightness but also warmth to my house? It is for my lounge space. A. Some whites to try would be Resene Rice Cake and Resene Bianca. February 2020 |
Q. We have painted our home in Resene Eighth Pravda. The downstairs hallway is darker. Can you please suggest one or two shades lighter? Also what are options for a crisp white ceiling? A. Resene Eighth Pravda is such a lovely colour. For your hallway you could try Resene Quarter Truffle or Resene White Pointer. For your ceiling try Resene Quarter Wan White or Resene Eighth Black White. February 2020 |
Q. We have a new build and are looking for a cool coloured look. We have lots of windows and sun. The kitchen is white with silver flecks on the benchtop. We have grey carpet and European oak tiles with black window frames. We are going to buy a grey lounge suite and white/oak furniture. We are looking for a white colour paint to go with this and had been considering the Resene Black White family. A. Our Resene Black White range is really nice and works with a lot. My only concern is which white the kitchen is, this could be a deciding factor for what you do on the walls as you will want one that complements the white of your kitchen. Have you selected that yet? In the meantime here following are some suggestions for you to try: Option 1: main walls in Resene Half Black White and trims and ceiling in Resene Eighth Black White. Or option 2: main walls in Resene Wan White and trims and ceiling in Resene Quarter Wan White. February 2020 |
Q. We are renovating the home that we just moved into. The exterior is in need of staining, and has previously been coloured a dark brown/grey colour, so we'll need to stain with something similar. We are thinking Resene Shadow Match. What we need is complementary colours for the baseboards, bannisters, bargeboards, roof (steel), front door and gates. We are looking to modernise the house for resale so something appealing and fairly neutral would be good. A. I think Resene Shadow Match will work great for this. I feel that an off white will work really well as your contrasting colours for all areas excluding the roof and then doing that in a mid-grey. This will be appealing for resale as well by keeping it quite simple and modernising it a lot. Try option 1 – roof in Resene Gunsmoke with baseboards/bargeboards/bannisters/front door and gates in Resene Sea Fog. Or option 2 – roof in Resene Gauntlet and the rest in Resene Black White. February 2020 |
Q. I have a large lounge/dining area-open plan – with wooden timber windows plus some walls. My goal is to lighten the rooms with paint. I will be laying a brown toned carpet. I am thinking white ceiling and off white walls. A. The following colours may be just what you are looking for – Resene Quarter Blanc, Resene White Linen, Resene Quarter Albescent White, Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream or Resene Merino. They are all quite different to each other. In order to see the unique undertones of colour with in each one it would be helpful to pop into your nearest Resene ColorShop to view the large A4 colour swatches in their Colour Library. If you view them with a true white – i.e. Resene White – and some possible carpet colours it may make choosing a wall colour much easier. February 2020 |
Q. I am after a recommendation for a warm white for our kitchen. We will have a feature wall of Resene Quarter Periglacial Blue and high gloss white Melteca cabinetry. A. The following are some warm whites that are definite enough as a wall colour to complement what you have – Resene Wan White, Resene Sea Fog, Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream or Resene Half Albescent White. February 2020 |
Q. I am renovating a weatherboard house. The exterior has been painted in Resene Half Tea with Resene Double Alabaster trim and a grey roof. I didn't think of the interior when I chose the exterior colour. Now I’m under pressure from the painter! I feel I should be bringing the exterior colour through into the interior. Should I? The house is being completely renovated – everything – floors, ceiling, walls; new bathroom and kitchen. The house doesn't get a lot of light. I like a light contemporary country feel. A. The interior of a house doesn't have to relate to the exterior. It is a personal choice – yours – not the painter or me. But if you were to use Resene Double Alabaster on the ceilings and wooden trims that could be enough to tie the interior and exterior together. The following colours might give you a bit of inspiration – Resene Sea Fog – perhaps as a main colour to create lots of light with the Resene Double Alabaster ceilings and smaller amounts of these very pretty pastels to add personality to the interior – Resene Quarter Moonbeam, Resene Meditation, Resene Tuft Bush or Resene Half Halcyon. Resene Double Alabaster (trim and roof colour) Resene Meditation February 2020 |
Q. Could you please give some advice on a colour scheme for our house exterior? We want to paint it a warm grey but not with any blue or purple undertones. We’d like a rich grey but not too dark as some of the house is south facing. The roof is Grey Friars (which we’ll keep that way). Advice for trim and door colour also appreciated. A. The Grey Friars on the roof is a steel blue/charcoal so does this mean you don't want to use a tonal variant of that colour because of the blue undertone? The following greys are warm because they have yellow or brown/green undertones – you might check them out to see if they appeal to you – Resene Grey Area, Resene Masala, Resene Kensington Grey, Resene Delta or Resene Half Tapa. If you use a white that isn't too stark for the trims it will make the grey on the house look well balanced – try Resene Black White or Resene Wan White. You don't mention whether you want a bold coloured door colour or a very deep moody colour so the following are both types of 'look' – Resene Twisted Sister, Resene Hive, Resene Jalapeno, Resene Noir, Resene Double Cod Grey or Resene Twilight Zone. Resene Grey Area Resene Twilight Zone February 2020 |