neutral

From habitat plus - decorating and colour trends 2017

From white to black, neutrals underpin a scheme.

As we welcome colour into our lives, neutrals are also never far from our creative thoughts. As the foundation to any good scheme, these colours range from purist white, through ivory and chalk; from tea, stone and ash; to charcoal and deepest black.

The right neutrals for your fashion colours

• Choose your fashion colour first, then a neutral co-ordinate rather than the other way around.

• Use cleaner, whiter neutrals with deep or very bright colours.

• Subdued fashion colours can be given a lift by using a bright or whiter neutral.

• Deep neutrals will appear discordant or heavy when used with darker fashion colours.

• Resene neutral colours often contain multiple pigments which increases their ability to alter and shift their colour influence in a versatile way.

• Each neutral colour will create a multitude of colour shifts, from warm to cool tones, depending on changing light and shadow.

• Neutrals with colour codes beginning with N or BR may be greyer or browner than you might imagine.

• Neutrals with colour codes beginning with Y or G may be brighter, yellower or greener than you might imagine.

• Deeper neutral colours absorb bright light – both natural and artificial. They can appear rich, deep, cosy or heavy depending on other elements that are close to them.

• Carefully test neutral colours in the environment you want to use them.

• The ‘right’ neutral is the colour that relates best to the greatest number of other elements but can still be used as a standalone colour without appearing bland.

• To better assess the ‘colour’ of a pale neutral, hold the paint swatch up against a sheet of white photocopy paper.

• Use the A4 drawdowns in the colour library at your local Resene ColorShop to see the sometimes subtle differences between neutrals.

did you know...  that for the first time, the fashion colours fandeck includes two pages of top-selling ‘whites’ such as Resene Pearl Lusta and Resene Alabaster, as well as some exciting new neutrals like Resene Chalk Dust and Resene Fifty Shades?

Want to get your own free copy of future issues of Habitat magazine?

• Retail customers and homeowners: All Resene ColorShop and DIY Cardholders are sent a copy of each issue of Habitat. Sign up for your free card here - Australian residents - New Zealand residents.
• Specifiers: Sign up for Habitat here.

If you have an idea, project or story that you think would suit Habitat plus, we’d love to hear from you. Please drop us an email with your details and include photos if submitting a project.

Habitat plus are not mailed directly. They are available free from Resene ColorShops and resellers while stocks last and available for viewing online.