New season paint colours to give your home an instant update

If you are looking for a neutral shade that is a bit more exciting than magnolia, consider painting your walls grey. With a wide choice of tones in light and dark shades, grey can complement most room schemes, whether traditional or contemporary. Edward Bulmer has recently released four new shades of grey and he explains the stories behind them.

Wash Stop (shown above): "I admit to this being a made up name from an old painter's bill charging to ‘wash, stop and paint three times in oil'. It seemed an enticing way to describe a colour like washing up water, given that it is actually an elegant, subtle grey that can be used for walls or trim."

Fine Grey: "A simple, clear colour requiring only white, ‘lamp' black and Prussian blue to create a pale steely grey with a clean modern look to it."

Inferior Grey: "The secret is not in the name! This is a mid-coloured black and blue-pigmented grey, which works well as a wall or trim colour. On walls, it is the grey to end all greys - a good weight of colour and wonderful tonality."

Lead Colour: "Lead is durable, malleable and waterproof, and is still used for flashing on traditional English roofs. It changes colour with weathering and if you could stop it at the moment when it has the most pleasing shade it would reflect our shade."

For elegant off-white and neutral shades, subtle pastels, bolder accents and sultry rich darks, family run company Mylands has launched 31 striking new colours inspired by London and its iconic buildings, districts and characters. Shades include the soft white tones of Maugham White No.2, which was created for a restoration project and named after Syrie Maugham, a leading interior decorator in the Twenties and Thirties who popularised all-white rooms. Another shade we particularly like is the bright yellow of Circle Line (shown above), which is inspired by the busy tube line on the London Underground.

Blue is the new a capsule paint collection from Little Greene. The range, which comprises 21 shades, encompasses a wide spectrum of tones, from confident indigo to calm linen hues.

David Mottershead, MD of Little Greene, explains why he is so delighted with the company's new collection: "Blue is the richest of colours and historically the most expensive to produce. In art, blue paint was reserved for depicting royalty, dignitaries and religious figures and still, to this day, holds the same luxurious appeal and hypnotic allure. Many people fear to use blue because of its reputation as being cold and masculine - we can show a new way with this carefully edited collection and make blue more useable than ever."

If you are after the perfect shade of blue, then this collection is the place to look. There are blue tones to suit all tastes, personalities and interior schemes - from lively and invigorating hues to sombre, moody tones. One of our favourite shades is the limited edition Ultra Blue (shown above), which is made in small batches using a single pigment: ultramarine. Originally extracted from lapis lazuli by the Venetians in the 14th century and having a value greater than gold, this pigment was, until circa 1520, exclusively reserved for the depiction of the robes of the Virgin Mary.

For more colour inspiration for your home, check out these 8 colour trends for 2015

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