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Colour theory · answered by Fini

What colours go with Rock Salt?

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Rock Salt is a light off-white (LRV 82), not a mid-tone — use it as the soft white of the scheme and layer Paint & Paper Library Slate IV, Mylands Artichoke and Dulux Sapphire Springs 1 beneath it for depth.

Rock Salt is one of Dulux's soft off-whites — at an LRV of 82 it's up in near-white territory, so the useful question isn't 'what goes with this colour' but 'what does this white sit over'. It's the top layer of the scheme; the character comes from what you put underneath.

The easiest structure is a three-step ladder. Rock Salt on ceilings, trim and the biggest walls. Then Paint & Paper Library Slate IV (LRV 67.5) — a warm grey-green with an olive lean — one step down for panelling, a companion wall, or the woodwork if you fancy trim deeper than walls. Then Mylands Artichoke BH.13 (LRV 27.6), a muted, earthy olive, as the mid-depth note on joinery or a cupboard run. Three steps, each clearly deeper than the last, and the whole thing reads calm and deliberate.

For the anchor, Dulux Sapphire Springs 1 (LRV 6.4) is a deep, inky slate-blue that gives the scheme a proper full stop — a feature door, a vanity, the back of shelving. Against all that softness, one very dark moment does a lot of work.

The 'but what about warmth?' question: because Slate IV and Artichoke both lean warm and natural, this scheme takes warm materials happily — oak, terracotta, linen, aged brass. Rock Salt itself won't argue; off-whites this light mostly take their cue from the room around them.

Practical advice: paint two coats on big A3+ boards and check them morning and evening, including in the darkest corner of the room. Next to a brilliant white, Rock Salt shows its softness; next to Slate IV it reads almost pure white. Judge it against its actual neighbours, not in isolation.

Colours from the answer

LRV 82
Dulux
Rock Salt
LRV 6.4
Dulux
Sapphire Springs 1
LRV 27.6
Mylands
Artichoke BH.13
LRV 67.5
Paint & Paper Library
Slate IV

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