The details Bright light quality will also reduce contrast, so as well as going for a darker shade, opt for a larger contrast between, for example, your weatherboard and trim colours. Traditionally, timber trims and joinery are painted in white or off-white to off-set any bolder colours used on the cladding. A modern alternative for traditional houses is to go all white, and let the decorative elements of fretwork and balustrades provide the visual interest. If you have a modern house with aluminium joinery or are building from scratch and using aluminium, you will find that the standard range of powder-coat colours is limited and some are very distinctive. Distinctively coloured joinery limits what colour changes you or other owners of your house can make in future so a neutral coloured metal window may be best. Ask the joinery manufacturer for larger metal samples rather than relying on small samples from brochures or a website. In the garden Of course, paint colour choice doesn’t end on the walls of your house. Fences, decks and other garden features usually need to be painted too. Boundary fences can be treated in a number of ways. Many homeowners prefer to make a feature of the front fence, while letting side and rear fences be less showy. The colour of a front fence should be in style with your house, so you might go for a white picket or tongue- and-groove capped fence for an older character home, painted the same colour as the window trims. Or you may go for a smart slatted fence in moody black for a modern home. If you have planted garden beds or hedges near your perimeter fences, black or almost-black fence paint or stain, such as Resene All Black or Resene Pitch Black, is a good choice. Black fences will recede and therefore give the garden the appearance of being larger – your eye will find it tricky to tell the difference between the plant shadows and the edge of the property. Black also offsets the verdant greens and other foliage colours. If you use white or pale colours near plants, you may be in for higher maintenance as the paint work will show the dirt more easily. Far left: Resene Woodsman Crowshead fence. Left: Resene Spanish White screen with Resene Woodsman Crowshead deck and fence; designed by Flourish Garden Concepts. Right: Resene Sea Fog house renovated by Ardmore Architects. Resene Sea Fog Resene Crowshead Resene Spanish White Resene All Black | 31