Find monochrome magic at Paint & Paper Library

Paint Library’s sophisticated new collection, ‘Monochrome’, presents six nuanced pairs of black and white shades, tonally formulated to be used together in harmony.

So you can forget the harshness that can sometimes occur when using black and white together, as this paint palette makes it easy to achieve an elegant outcome.

Each white tone has been selected for its versatility: all six whites can be used as striking, independent, all-over shades, but appear equally effectively as beautiful, plain whites within a scheme of tonal similarity.

Each black tone has been designed to be used with its monochromatic partner, in lesser or greater proportion, to change the interplay of light and space in a room, while at the same time coordinating with existing materials and surfaces in the interior scheme.

See how to decorate with black.

Each white and black pair adopts the hue of the Paint & Paper Library ‘Original’ colour shown alongside it, so that each of the six options have varying undertones, including ochre, pink, warm grey, cool grey, blue and green.

Marketing Director, Ruth Mottershead, explains the thinking behind the new collection. “Many of the world’s most elegant interiors, old and new, have used black and white colour schemes to achieve maximal impact with minimum effort.

In truth, it’s a disarmingly simple principle, and the considered, subtle combinations in the ‘Monochrome’ colourcard avoid any unpleasant, harsh contrasts of pure jet black and bright, brilliant white.”

The collection launches this month and will be available via Paint & Paper Library’s stockists and at paintandpaperlibrary.com

See how to decorate with white.

Jacky Parker is a London-based freelance journalist and content creator, specialising in interiors, travel and food. From buying guides and real home case studies to shopping and news pages, she produces a wide range of features for national magazines and SEO content for websites


A long-time contributor to Livingetc, as a member of the team, she regularly reports on the latest trends, speaking to experts and discovering the latest tips. Jacky has also written  for other publications such as Homes and Gardens, Ideal Home, Red, Grand Designs, Sunday Times Style and AD, Country Homes and Interiors and ELLE Decoration.