Habitat plus - washday blues

And greens, and even pink! Many of us these days have very streamlined laundries, cleverly hidden in cupboards.

But if you’re blessed with a good-sized room for your washing machine and dryer, it can be a great place to play around with paint colours. As a rule it’s not a room seen by visitors or a place in which you, hopefully, linger so if you feel like trying out some more colours, this is the place to do it.

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Deep and rich colours for small laundries

1.Although Resene Copyrite is a very sedate neutral and somewhat sober in personality, in this laundry it appears warm and welcoming. It’s a shade that becomes deeper and richer when used in smaller spaces that aren’t blessed with lots of natural light. The ceiling here is painted with the very popular Resene Alabaster, a light, bright white with just a hint of black. It’s a pleasingly understated backdrop for almost any other colour and helps to lighten any small room.

Country cottage laundry with hints of bright storage buckets

2.This scheme evokes the feel of a country cottage and uses a watery blue that’s in keeping with the function of the room. Resene Ship Cove is a blue with touches of grey and violet, while the delicate tones of Resene Half Sea Fog are used on the ceiling. Brightly coloured storage buckets add just the right level of vibrancy – and of course they’re very useful.

Dark colours can make the laundry look larger

3. It’s a myth that you should only use pale colours in small rooms. In fact, whites can make a room like this feel like the inside of a chilly bin. Dark colours, like this deep marine blue-green Resene Tarawera, enliven the room and because dark colours recede, it makes the room look larger. In keeping with the green undertones, the sharp and deliciously fresh Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream looks right at home on the ceiling here.

4.Some like it hot pink, and this freewheeling and fun-loving Resene Rouge certainly does the trick. Jazzing up what is normally a utilitarian room, it complements the coloured bins and the retro wall poster. A surprisingly complex neutral, Resene White Linen is a perfect choice for the ceiling. Generally speaking washing clothes isn’t usually much fun, but this laundry will always have you smiling!

Resene Quarter Thorndon Cream

Resene Rouge

Resene White Linen

› Return to Habitat plus 03 - interior colour schemes

Updated 2/17

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