When thinking of colour trends, there is a focus on the striking changes in bold fashion colours, clothing and cars, but even wood stain colours evolve with the trends.

Traditionally, wood stains were typically brown, dark brown and light brown — all variations of the original timber colour itself. Then with the desire to go 'natural', timber stains became lighter and cleaner so as to have minimal effect on the timber colour, while still providing protection. At the same time, the introduction of CoolColour technology meant that black wood stains and paints would stay cooler than the traditional version of the same colour and newer more stable substrates could take darker colours. This resulted in a flurry of black painted and stained exteriors, with Resene Pitch Black being a very popular choice.

The black stain trend while popular outside, didn't prove to be so popular inside as it tended to look too heavy. Instead, the whitewashed stain tones associated with a Scandinavian look washed into many homes and buildings. While some loved the white walls, white cabinetry and whitewashed floors, others found it was too much white. Gradually as the market moved away from beige and into greige, a growth of grey has been seen inside and out. And so too with wood stains.

The whitewashed look is now joined by a greyed off version, Resene Colorwood Greywash, which adds black to the whitewashed look for a softer lived-in greyed-off stained look. Resene Colorwood Greywash can be used on everything from interior wooden flooring, to walls, furniture and more. It's available in two standard finishes or a unique greywash intensity can be created by applying tinted Resene Colorwood stain first, then overcoating with Resene Colorwood Greywash. View the colour options in the Resene Colorwood colour range brochure or online on the Resene website.