When Farrow & Ball approached me with the question if I would like to try out their new ‘Colour Consultancy Service’ I had to think twice as colour is not really my best friend when it comes to considering decorating choices for my own home. Maybe I am just lazy, but with a piece of the original concrete wall in sight in every space of my home, I just always went for a simple white without even considering the different shades there are to choose from.
Things have changed over the years and after replacing the overall white furniture by blackish and metal pieces and considering to add the dark floor throughout my whole home, I thought it would be a great idea to have another person look at my place and get a different input on how to create a new balance between dark and light.
So it happened that on a Saturday morning Linda van der Ham came to my home with a huge Farrow & Ball book filled with colour cards. After a coffee and a chat Linda took me through some colour questions to define the type of colour I love most, no surprise I’d say my love for monochrome colours came to the table, with an explicit dislike for the more yellow white.
In-home colour consultancy
This type of In-home colour consultancy is a great way to see the effect of using colour, in my case different shades of white and grey, directly on your wall. I was asked to chose the spaces I wanted advice for and took the opportunity to discuss a hallway idea I have for some time.
Hallway
My hallway is about fifteen square meter and I was thinking off giving a square block consisting of the bathroom and some cupboards a different colour. Explaining what using the same colour on doors and walls can do for a space we went for ‘Blackened No.2011’ a beautiful soft grey, historically made with a pigment made by collecting the residue from burnt lamp oil, don’t you just love that! The idea is to paint both walls and doors in the same colour while using a fresh white for the rest of the hallway, including the ceiling: ‘Wevet No.273 named after the old Dorset term for a spiders web, a fun name to use in my hallway as people are often kind of disorientated because of the many corners.
kitchen
Facing west my kitchen is the space that only during the afternoon gets some sunshine and with the beautiful industrial cabinet, the metal trolley and table plus a black backsplash it is a space that really needs some attention. The dark floor I laid temporarily is beautiful and gives a great French touch to the space but also makes the space even more darkish. I decided to take a final decision about the floor after re-painting the walls, and I am curious to see if the colour ‘Wevet’, which is the same used as in the hallway will soften up the space. For the backsplash Linda advised a soft ‘Off Black No.57’ to give it more depth.
Bedroom
‘Wevet’ looking like becoming the main new white in my home we also chose this colour for some of the bedroom walls where it will perfectly fits the concrete wall as well. Behind the bed and my clothing rack Linda came up with a different white: ‘Great white No.2006’ described as a bright white which is neither yellow nor cold, I experience the colour to be white with a touch of pink, but I guess that’s my personal view maybe.
Colour advise
I was really happy with the Colour Consult, as choosing colour takes time and it can be difficult to choose a new colour scheme for your home. Having a specialist over for a few hours and discuss your ideas can give you new insights either you have a new home or have been living in it for years. Soon after the consult I received a final report with the colour advise including colour cards, finishes and the amount of paint, including prices, I would need for each room. Really handy when ordering the actual paint!
A full consult is for about four rooms and can be done in an hour, I had a fun morning and it was great to see my home through the eyes of someone else, thank you Linda for coming to my home!
If you want a colour consult for your home as well you can contact Farrow & Ball on +44 (0) 1202 876141 or have a look here: Farrow& Ball
For the Netherlands contact Interfurn B.V. +31 (0)10 7171800 or sent email to info@interfurn.nl