I used Ammonite: it came out as a soft, true grey in both aspects, but it has a tiny amount of red in it, which stopped it from looking or feeling cold in the north-facing kitchen with a low ceiling.īy contrast, I painted a south-facing bedroom with Blackened, and it looked like a shade of white, but in a north-facing bedroom, it looked a pale, washed-out blue. I had a very open eco-home which had north and south facing aspects which had to be painted in the same colour. It all breaks up the uniform feel whereas if you do the whole thing it’s instantly calmer and larger.

Think about painting a small room and how the wall are one colour and the door frames another, then you break for the window frames and the door. It’s also really calming because you’re not distracting the eye. It’s the way the Georgians did it – but you don’t have to have a Georgian house for this look. It will blur the edges of the room, make it look bigger and, crucially, show of your furnishings really well. Walls, woodwork and ceilings all in the same shade. The easy way, especially with the paler shades, is to take the gallery route. That will dramatically cut down the choices you have to make as there are several shades in each so you can find the two or three that work for you. Now, as I said earlier, it does make a different where you put these colours but as Joa Studholme, creative director of Farrow and Ball, says, you will be naturally drawn to one of these groups. Which isn’t me but this group includes Railings, Down Pipe and Pavilion Grey all of which feature strongly in my house. These are bluer than the others and will have a grittier feel that is suited to minimal living. Dimpse walls and downpipe floor are part of the architectural greys from farrow and ball

Farrow and ball setting plaster