So many shades of grey in the world, but the owners of this sleek contemporary Northland house like the view in black and white.

At ground floor, they’ve gone for a stacked Devonshire stone wall, alabaster-pale; above it, an upper storey of dark vertical aluminium cladding, as black as midnight on a moonless night.

And they didn’t stop there. In collaboration with designer Chris Fraser, of Habitus Mode Architecture, they colour-matched the joinery with the inky cladding using Metropolis ‘Coal Dust’ powdercoating. Maintaining the coordination, the ground-floor windows and doors have a deep fascia in the same colour.

Fraser says it makes design sense. “We don’t like the windows standing out as an object.”

It’s not the only way to go, of course. Plenty of new home builders prefer a contrast in joinery colour, or opt for neutral, silver-like finishes.  But you have to know where to stop.

Builder Rex de Baugh, who constructed this home, says he recommends a maximum of three exterior colours. More than that, he says, “and there’s just too much going on”.

In this case, that coal-toned finish is from First’s economical ‘Popular Colour’ range, while all the sliders, fixed and awning windows throughout the house are drawn from First Residential Series. Nice and simple – and black and white.