The future is looking brighter

From the Resene decorating blog

Pops of bold bright colours are a trend, but how do you make these hues work in your own home?

They say fortune favours the brave, yet if we’re talking about bold interior colour, there’s an art to it. As is the key to so many things in life, success is all about finding balance.

Think of bold brights as the icing on your décor cake. We all love icing and we all love cake, but you have to get the ratio right. For maximum liveability and longevity, your bright hero hue(s) should be the standout element to which your eye is drawn, not an overwhelming presence you can’t escape. Here’s how to do it well.

Match making

Avoid ending up with a room that looks like the circus has come to town by developing a colour palette with an established hierarchy. Select one or a couple of alpha hues to combine with a handful of less-dominant others you can layer to make it easy to live with. These will often be neutrals like white, cream, black, grey and beige.

Tapping into the theme of individualisation that’s trending strongly for interiors, go for what you love and a look that’s true to you. You might choose to base your selection on an up-to-the-minute colour (paint being a fantastic way to embrace it, as it’s inexpensive to add and easy to alter) or a classic hue that sets a specific mood.

The experts at your local Resene ColorShop can advise you, but when doing your research, remember that when picking partners for bold brights, offsetting them with their lighter, dustier counterparts often results in the perfect combination – sherbet pink Resene Glamour Puss with light pink Resene Paper Doll, or mid-toned violet Resene Dancing Girl with more delicate Resene Rolling Fog, for instance. You could aim to combine cool colours with cool and warm with warm, or you might like to opt for hues in the same tonal range, such as a solar orange like Resene Sunshade, a persimmon orange like Resene Touche and a peach-mango like Resene Consuela.

Brights can often compete with each other for an effect that’s just too busy, but if you do want to combine them, one trick is to make sure they share the same saturation. A letterbox red like Resene Bright Red with a muddied yellow like Resene Fuel Yellow will only make the latter look dirty or washed out while a bright-and-clean yellow Resene Supernova will bring the ‘wow’ factor.

Pop it like it’s hot

Once you've mastered the art of colour selection, consider placement. A feature wall is a tried-and-true option that works in any room. Try a standout such as flamboyant green Resene Wham, magenta-and-violet Resene Centre Stage or maritime blue Resene Captain Cook tied in with the rest of your scheme by way of accents – a vase painted in the same colour and complementary cushions, perhaps, or a coffee table in glorious Resene Half Resolution Blue paired with a pendant light in the same hue overhead. Resene testpots are just the right size for these colourful moments.

Love a bold colour but don’t want an entire wall of it? Just add a few pops here and there. Your front door is a key contender. To gain a true representation of what the colour will look like in situ, paint some offcuts of timber or other material similar to that of your door. Protect your choice from the elements in Resene Enamacryl for a gloss finish or Resene Lustacryl for a semi-gloss finish. You could also subtly continue this colour into your interior for pleasing visual continuity, allowing it to reappear on an interior door, or in your artwork, soft furnishings or painted planters.

Go all in in your dining room by painting each of your timber dining chairs and the table a different primary bright. On the flipside, painting the inside of your drawers, cabinets, or pantry is a lower-risk approach that’ll give you a little boost every time you pull them open. Use Resene Interior Paintwork Cleaner to ensure kitchen surfaces are free from grease, then seal smooth surfaces with Resene Waterborne Smooth Surface Sealer if needed and finish with Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen tinted to your preferred colour.

Let’s play

One place in which more can often be more? Children’s rooms. Kids don’t care for convention and many naturally gravitate towards exuberant shades. Use glossy Resene Enamacryl to really make the colour pop and to make surfaces easy to wipe clean.

At the other end of the finish spectrum, Resene SpaceCote Low Sheen lets you use any colour you like as a chalkboard – simply wipe it clean with a damp cloth. Resene FX Chalkboard Paint can also be tinted to a range of playful brights, too. Take it up a notch by applying Resene FX Magnetic Magic as a basecoat so your little ones can create and play with both chalk and strong magnets.

Another fun flourish is to paint the floor of your playroom – try slip-reducing Resene Walk-on tinted to a lime green like Resene Citrus or an explosive magenta like Resene Candy Floss.

Top tips:

• Colours can appear much more intense on a wall as opposed to a small swatch, and the light in a space also affects the final result, so aim to make a well-informed decision by using Resene testpots or A4 drawdown paint swatches to test the shade in your space. Both can be ordered online or from your local Resene ColorShop. Or view the large swatches free in the colour library at your local Resene ColorShop to help you narrow down your favourites.

• To stop bright door and window trims from looking grey or dirty, choose a white with a yellow undertone to go with a warm bright, and a white with a cool undertone for a cool bright. Try Resene Quarter Villa White with Resene Galliano or Resene Half Barely There with Resene Mariner.

• If you do feel like splashing a single bright colour on all four walls in a room, go for it – then stop. Adding additional brights to the space can diminish the singular effect, plus your hero colour may appear slightly different depending on the other shades in the space. Instead, use understated timber and neutrals to celebrate and maximise its beauty.

March 30, 2020

Visit your local Resene ColorShop for more colour ideas and all the expert advice and products you need for a superb finish on all your decorating projects.

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