But white is safe. When it comes to decorating a house, white makes sense for something clean, crisp and often clinical - but never risky.
Never did I imagine that there is more than one type of vanilla, but that was quickly confirmed by the three pages of the various whites and neutrals on a Resene colour chart.
I can understand what Resene’s colour specialist Bonni Monthe means when she says customers often feel daunted when pondering the perfect white.
The days of the tasteful and simple vanilla are long gone and the culture of white has transcended into a new integrated multi-coloured age.
Just for the record, there are more than 50 whites and neutrals to choose from on the colour chart, and even those can be mixed with a slight tint to create a different colour.
“These days when people want to paint white they are usually interested in a more complex white,” says Bonni.
She says the strengths and depths of whites are altered by what else is in a room.
“Colours are affected by what’s around them. With different backgrounds a basic white can look completely different. If you are renovating or painting a home you really need to test a colour first. Buy carpets and curtains as a first step.”
In fact, once she was put to the test and asked to code the colours painted on several different walls, after furniture had filled the room. The colour specialist got 50 per cent wrong.
“Fluorescent lighting brings out the green in whites while other colours can be found through different lighting or furnishings,” says Bonni.
Alabaster is regarded as a plain white and the most popular, while black white - white with a smidgen of black tinting - is also a popular choice.
Bonni’s top five Resene whites and neutrals are tea, Spanish white, half tea, half-Spanish white and a quarter tea.
People are steering away from greys and apricots, and towards warmer neutral colours and whites with different tint strengths.
Whites create an illusion of space and have a cleaner look. She also says painting a home white is the preferred option by families for long-term affordability.
Bonni runs free colour consultations every Saturday at the Botany Resene.
