Monochromatic Matters

Colour is a great asset to use in any home, whether you’re pulling in bold accents into a room, pairing two colours to make an unusual combination, or even going for a daring monochromatic look. A monochromatic scheme can create a strong, bold look in a room, really giving it some presence. Here’s a few beautiful monochrome rooms to give you some inspiration.

Blue Monochromatic Room from Domino via Pinterest

This dark blue room is a feast for the eyes; everything is soft, deep and dramatic whilst the blue makes it feel sophisticated and contemporary. The key with monochromatic rooms is to make sure you have enough texture in the space to give it depth, like the velvet sofa and of hint of purple from the plant. For a beautiful navy paint colour, Fired Earth’s Carbon Blue is a lovely true blue and would have a dramatic impact on the walls. For a sumptuous navy velvet, take a peek at Osborne & Little’s Mikado Velvet collection, they have a whole range of shades but a perfect one for this look is number 6990-08.

Pink is a great colour to use in a monochromatic look and creating the perfect sophisticated setting is all about finding the right shades of pink. Heavily playing on light and dark tones will help add a contemporary element to the space, too much of one pink and it might become a little marshmallow-y. Below they’ve used a dusky pink for the wall and a maroon-pink for the ceiling and for the furniture which really holds the space together.

Pink Monochromatic Room from Domino via Pinterst

There is a huge range of pink or pink-toned paints around at the moment, just make sure you stick to the same type of pink, for example finding a dark and light blush pink. A beautiful pink is Tuscan Pink from Zoffany, with lovely earthy tones to it. To add a spark of interest to the pink scheme, this Atlas fabric from Zimmer + Rohde has beautiful pink tones as well as an abstract landscape-style pattern that would make a stunning pair of curtains in an all pink look.

Atlas Fabric from Zimmer + Rohde

This beautiful green room creates its depth with the use of white to add structure to the space; the sharp white picture frames pop against the green wall, and the off-white rug has different green embroidery to give floor a strong sense of personality. Green makes a great monochromatic room colour choice as it can be naturally given texture and depth with the use of plants, like below different cacti have been added for points of interest and richer impact.

Green Monochromatic Room from Domino via Pinterest

I love De le Cuona and all their pieces, but they have some beautiful fabrics that would really work with a mossy green monochromatic room, take a look at Mistral in Drizzle and Primitive Linen in Fennel. For a similar green grey paint colour, Farrow & Ball’s Blue Gray and Cromarty would complete the look.

Grey seems to be a never-ending popular colour, so if you love it take it one step further by using deep dark hues in a room, from the paint to the furniture and adding in interesting juxtapositions of light hues against the dark.

Dark Grey Monochromatic Room from Apartment Therapy via Pinterest

When using such a dark colour for a monochromatic space, make sure to select materials that’ll allow light to bounce of them, therefore avoiding a black hole effect. This Cascade wallpaper from Zoffany has an amazing ribbon effect, which will not only add a strong design element but pick up the light as well.

Cascade Wallpaper from Zoffany

For a really luxurious looking monochrome room, you can’t go wrong with an all Teal room. The peacock colour makes a strong statement, and if you love glamorous interiors, it’s perfect for you. Below they used gold accessories to draw out the richness of the teal; with such a strong colour like teal, just using at as feature wall in an attempt to ‘tone it down’ can sometimes have the reserve effect, and actually making the bold move and painting the entire space in the colour will create a simpler, sophisticated look. For a triumphant teal, Farrow & Ball’s Vardo has the impact you’re looking for, and for a beautiful fabric to go alongside, the teal version of Anthology’s Vivid fabric will make the perfect pair.

Teal Monochromatic Room from Apartment Therapy

A monochromatic room can be an amazing, stylish and unexpected way to decorate a room; so you want to create an impactful space, have a think about trying out a monochromatic room using your favourite shade.

 

 

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Colour Me Happy

The interior world has been dominated by neutrals for a long time, but now we are beginning to see colour come back into our homes, on the walls, floors, furniture and accessories. People are becoming a little gutsier with their choices, and we are singing their praises. While there is nothing wrong if you like a simple palette for your home, but by adding in accents of colour it’s a way to add life into the scheme as well; and we’re not just talking about electric, bright colours necessarily, but the involvement of deeper, darker tones that can complement a neutral backdrop while giving your home warmth and a welcoming sense. That being said, with our fear of colour slowly lifting, and the experimental phase creeping through, there are some fantastic colour combinations out there that’ll add a sense of individuality and just the right amount of quirkiness to your home, and give it an exciting atmospheric feel; I’ve picked five of my favourite colour combinations to show you that keeping your home classic and stylish doesn’t mean shying away from bright and beautiful.

Orange and Blue Combination, Image from Cote de Texas via Pinterest

An absolute favourite combination of mine if orange and blue, but it’s all about finding the right shade of each. The perfect blue in my eyes to combine with an orange is a dusky one with a hint of green grey in it; the best accompanying orange, a pastel-toned, soft orange. Imagine a crumpled, vintage orange velvet that’s become a little faded from the sun and has a few dust marks on it, that’s the perfect orange. The key to combining colours in your interior is to be open to the wide spectrum of tones, hues and shades; blunt orange and a primary blue will look harsh together, constantly fighting for attention and eventually giving you a headache, but the soft tones of the two shades in the photo above, show that the right shade can create a serene and relaxing space. For a beautiful shade of blue, try Farrow & Ball’s Light Blue and for that dusty orange, Edward Bulmer Natural Paint’s Brick is a great choice.

Dark Green and gold is a rich combination, it’s has an historical, timeless yet completely current sense to it. The strong stature of a dark green wall placed together with an iridescent gold counter, table or lighting fixture gives an interior a grand sense of glamour. The natural forest foliage and natures prize procession blend together to create the most sophisticated of combinations; both in traditional and contemporary settings. A dark green kitchen with aged gold hardware, taps and accessories, is a look that’ll forever be timeless. The kitchen below uses contemporary details to keep the space feeling current, while the dark tones are contrasted against the pale wood floor, showing off the depth and tones of the colours. For a beautifully dark green, you’re spoilt for choice, try Farrow & Ball’s Studio Green, Fired Earth’s Malachite or Sanderson’s Amsterdam Green.

Green and Gold Combination, Image from Apartment Therapy via Pinterest

Pink has been a big interior trend for a few years now, and I can’t help but to have been suckered in by it; it’s turned the idea of pink from being innately girly and babyish, to a shade that is quite sophisticated, current and cool. From deep pinks to blush to pastel, there are plenty of ways to involve the colour into your interior, and a winning combination for me is to pair it with blue. Pink and blue will look fantastic together in a whole range of depths and shades, but the key fact to remember is to match the weight of both colours; a deep blue with a deep pink, or a pastel blue and pink, so that one doesn’t get lost against the other and appear a little wishy-washy. The image below beautifully shows off how colour blocking the two shades in the same space gives a modern and playful feeling. Take a look at Paint & Paper Library’s Temple and Blue Pearl for a beautiful pink and blue look.

Pink and Blue Combination, Image from House & Garden via Pinterest

A thick, deep grey mixed with a golden, rich yellow is an interesting way to create a contemporary, alternative-glamour styled room. By avoiding the lighter, pastel yellows and heading for the deep and dark there is a vibrancy that becomes even more apparent when paired with a deep grey. The combination offers a modern approach to using yellow; a bold, strong look as opposed to a nervous neutral tone veers far from the magnolia and straight into the eye-catching and characterful. Below, the grey surroundings could have been easily paired with a classic blue or green, but yellow gives the bathroom a fun and playful presence that are still balanced out by the sombre nature of the grey and the traditional features in the room.  For a spicy yellow, take a look at Farrow & Ball’s or Babouche, paired with Purbeck Stone or Worsted.

Yellow and Grey Combination, Image from Miles to go Before I Fall Asleep via Pinterest

My final colour combination is one that I think has received a bad rep over the years, purple and green. For a long time all I could picture when it came to this mixture was the garishness of royal purple and lime green; a noughties interior design ghost that was desperately in need of an exorcism. However, just like with very brave colour combination, it’s all about finding the right shade. For the green think forest or olive, and for the purple head in the direction of deep violet or lavender, more natural hues of both colours help to create softer, more romantic interiors. In the image below, the colours are soften by the use of velvet, adding texture to the palette. For a dusty lavender, Fired Earth’s Cleopatra’s Nose has an atmospheric hue. For the green’s think about Card Room Green, or Calke Green from Farrow & Ball.

Purple and Green Combination, Image from Hum Ideas via Pinterest

Learning not to be afraid of colour is the first step to creating beautiful and interesting interiors; the second step is finding out what works for you and your home. Once you’ve found your perfect combinations your interiors will be filled with life, colour and happiness.

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New Farrow and Ball Colours!

The wait is over and Farrow and Ball have finally released their nine new colours. The new collection ranges from dusty pastels to warm neutrals and bolder colours, some bright and some dark. The colours are designed to integrate with Farrow and Ball’s existing collection as well as stand on their own, and just as you would expect from the company the colours are rather lovely and have that same English heritage feel about them but with a contemporary twist. So without further ado here are the nine gorgeous colours in all their glory!

‘Drop Cloth’

‘Shadow White’

There are three elegant neutrals in the new collection, Drop Cloth, Shadow White and Cromarty, each with their own distinct set of shades and hues. Shadow White is a wonderful soft white and Drop Cloth its slightly darker mate. The two colours work perfectly in sync with one another and are a suitable palette for those wanting a contemporary look in their home. The colours are a modern alternative to the already existing neutrals in Farrow and Ball’s collection as they have less yellowy tones in them, but also avoid grey tones, the ‘of-the-moment’ colour, making Shadow White and Drop Cloth contemporary classics.

‘Cromarty’

Cromarty is a great colour choice if your room is in need of a neutral tone but you enjoy a subtle hint of blue as well. As the light changes throughout the day so will the colour of Cromarty giving you a quietly diverse paint colour.

The pastels in the collection have a sophisticated and muted tone about them, making each of them suitable canvas colours for a room, as they work in the same way a neutral does but with a fresh hint of additional of colour.

‘Peignoir’

Peignoir is a dusty pink full of romance, but in a way that doesn’t overload and become sickly. It carefully maintains a dusty cool ambience and avoids the fatal ‘dated’ look, allowing Peignoir to settle in the contemporary category.

‘Worsted’

Farrow and Ball have carefully curated their new collection of colours not to be completely different from their existing set but to be the perfect companions and counterparts to one another. Each new colour has been created with older colours in mind to create a wonderful balance between the old and the new. Worsted is the middle-ground shade between Purbeck Stone and Mole’s Breath, and the subtle distinction between the shades can make all the difference in your interiors.

‘Yeabridge Green’

The discovery of the Yeabridge Green has a rather sweet backstory, the colour was found at the 18^th century Georgian farmhouse when the house’s original gun cupboard was removed. Its avocado tones make the colour very ‘now’ while its backstory gives it that heritage vibe, creating a seamless balance between past and present.

The remaining three colours from the new collection are beautiful, bold colours. Vardo is a bouncy blue that has its spirit levels up in the skies. It’ll be great for giving a room that extra bit of oomph it may be lacking and rebooting a tired interior.

‘Vardo’

For a slightly deeper shade, the Inchyra Blue is glorious. It dips into many different colour families, blue, green, grey and whatever way you want to interpret it the outcome will always be a wonderful, strong colour that will make a statement if you want it to.

‘Inchyra Blue’

The final colour from the collection is a dark and moody chocolate brown, Salon Drab. It’s a beautifully rich, thick colour that is well suited for the all-four walls dark colour trend, it will create a wonderful cosy atmosphere without compromising on elegance, well suited for both heritage and contemporary properties.

‘Salon Drab’

So there you have it the nine new colours from Farrow and Ball, their timeless nature will allow them to combine with the existing colours effortlessly and we have a feeling the some of them may fast become your favourites!

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Coming Soon… New Farrow & Ball Colours!

Farrow & Ball are releasing 9 new colours on 1st February, we’ve seen them and they are lovely!

Stay Tuned!

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A Passion for Panelling

Panelling is a wonderful and practical way to add character to a room and can transform a plain wall into a beautiful backdrop for your furnishings.

Some homes have the great advantage of still having their original panelling but if you haven’t inherited any with the house, there is no reason that it can’t be added. If you choose the right style of panelling for your home and get the colour and the execution right, it will look as if it has always been there.

The wonderful wooden panelling at Sawston Hall would have originally been installed to help insulate rooms from the cold stone walls. It also adds a lovely depth of colour to the rooms.

Painted panelling makes a room lighter which can be easier to live with. It also offers endless colour options so you aren’t restricted by a backdrop of wood. This lovely room is painted in Farrow and Ball French Grey and the colour has been applied to the walls, cornicing, skirting boards, door and door frame – everywhere other than floor and ceiling – which creates a calm, unified look.

This beautiful hallway in a Victorian country house was given some detail with simple panelling framing the wall areas below the picture rails, which were painted in with the colour of the walls.

Bathrooms can benefit hugely from panelling and is especially useful when incorporating a roll top bath as a simple ledge can be created on the top of the panelling for your soap dish, shampoo and cup of tea.

The style that you choose for your panelling is really important and will alter the feeling of the room. This lovely panelling from the Painted Wall Panelling Company has a distinct Arts and Crafts feel to it and creates a wonderful ledge to display accessories.

You can make a really bold statement if you choose contrasting colours above and below your panelling. Your eye is naturally drawn to where the colour changes so the height of your panelling needs to be considered carefully. If you choose a dark colour for your panelling, make sure your skirting boards are in the same colour as the panelling or you will end up with a white stripe at the base of your panels.

It is fine to panel around your windows if they fall below the height of the panelling that you choose. This delightful bathroom makes a feature out of a pretty window by painting it the same colour as the panelling. Panelling by The English Panelling Company.

Finally artwork looks great on panelling and if your pictures are larger than the panels , it can still work to hang them across the panels. These pictures work really well against the panelling as they have been centred across the panels. Panelling by The Wall Panelling Company.

All the rooms featured here have a traditional feel. However, panelling can look just as wonderful in contemporary settings – we will be bringing you a feature on this soon, watch this space!

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New from Farrow and Ball

Farrow and Ball launched three delightful new wallpaper designs yesterday, each one in a range of their own colour combinations, and the results are stunning. The designs are inspired by French fashion designs and they seem to me to conjure up a charming taste of the past.  To celebrate the launch, we have created schemes combining the new wallpapers with paint colours, fabrics, trims and flooring. They are on display in the Farrow and Ball Cambridge showroom but if you can’t make, here is a look at our work.

The wallpaper above is the beautifully delicate Feuille and we have combined it with warmer greys and delicious bluey purple hues to create a fresh, inviting and feminine scheme. The schemes uses Ammonite, Purbeck Stone, Brassica and Charleston Gray.

This amazing Paisley wallpaper is a wonderfully traditional print that also manages to seem very modern. We have created two schemes to show how contrasting looks can be created using the same design in very different colour combinations. The scheme above uses a background colour of Railings which is a deep inky blue black with a dash of Charlotte’s Locks orange and the light touch of Dimpse and Strong White. This scheme is deep and mysterious and only works if the dark colours are in the significant majority with just a confident dash of orange and light greys.

The second scheme using the Paisley wallpaper seems reminiscent of summer tennis parties and a gin and tonic on the terrace. The background is Pavilion Blue and is combined with Green Blue, Nancy’s Blushes, Calamine and Blackened. The key with this scheme is to keep away from creams – use Pavilion Blue or Blackened on woodwork or ceilings, cream or off white seems to destroy the beauty of the delicate colours in the wallpaper.

Finally the wonderful paper Tourbillon. I think it has just a hint of Art Deco about it, but I could be wrong. Either way, I chose the divine Calamine colourway and combined it with the very grown up (and close to my heart) Brinjal in a gloss finish, plus Smoked Trout, Calamine and Raddicio.

If you would like any other details of the schemes, please let us know.

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The colours of 2014

Whilst we are just still in the season of rounding up 2014, can I add one last offering of my own which is some great paint colours we have used, discovered and reacquainted ourselves with during the last year. Here are 10 of my favourites.

1. Fired Earth, Elizabeth’s Parrot

This is a fantastic shade of green which reminds of the colour of fresh green basil. However, the inspiration for the shade is far more glamorous as it is inspired by the beautiful Helmut Newton photograph of Elizabeth Taylor in her swimming pool with, you guessed it, her parrot.

www.firedearth.com

 

2. Abigail Ahern Bleeker

Dark colours in interiors are oh so in at the moment which is giving us lots of lovely shades to choose from. No one does dark colours better than Abigail Ahern and of her very tempting range I have chosen Bleeker because it is sophisticated and elegant but also warm and inviting. Be brave and use it liberally.

Direct from Abigail Ahern www.abigailahern.com or from Rockett St George www.rockettstgeorge.co.uk

 

3. Gold

I’m serious. Lovely lovely gold, particularly on the ceiling. Getting the look right is almost entirely dependant on using the right product and I would highly recommend specialists Gold Leaf Supplies who know what they are talking about. This beautiful room, with its lovely gold ceiling by Leslie Hayes Interiors and is taken from Decoist.com with thanks

http://www.decoist.com/2013-07-31/golden-accent-leafing-modern-interiors/

www.goldleafsupplies.co.uk/

 

4. Farrow and Ball Railings

I rediscovered this beautiful colour when looking for a black for a monochromatic scheme (so easy to get this look wrong). This black is deep inky blue and so is softer than pure black and if you use one of Farrow and Balls lighter neutral greens (such as Hardwick White or Old White) you get the lovely black and white monochrome effect with lots of class and softness.

www.farrowandball.com

 

5. Zoffany Fig Grey

An ever useful colour because it is so beautiful. It looks quite purple in the picture shown and indeed it does have those warm base notes but it is also a very modern grey so can be used in both contemporary and traditional settings.

www.zoffany.com

 

6  Marston and Langinger Peacock Blue

I treated myself to a tester of this paint when I was placing an order just because it looked so luscious and it was everything I hoped for. It has just a tinge of Teal in the blue and it is perfectly named because it absolutely could be found in the feather of a peacock. I haven’t used it in a project yet but I live in hope.

www.marstonandlanginger.com

 

7  Farrow and Ball Setting Plaster

This is one of my all time favourite pinks and so there are few years when I don’t use it somewhere. This picture is from a grown up girl’s bathroom that we did a few years ago but I am shamelessly using it in my round up for 2014. What is so lovely about this colour is that it manages to be both feminine and classy at the same time, because I think, it has no hint of bubblegum about it at all

   

www.farrowandball.com

8 Marston and Langinger Bayswater

I refuse to put together a list of 10 paint colours without including a glorious yellow – greys may be the colour du jour but I would personally never turn my back on a joyful rich mustardy yellow (there’s no primrose about Bayswater, thank goodness) which can be coupled with an off white woodwork colour and gilt picture frames – heaven.

www.marstonandlanginger.com

 

9  Sanderson Graphite

Go on then, I’ll give you just one contemporary, urban, fashionable deep grey because they are rather fabulous. Sanderson Graphite is for grown up grey lovers and it is super smart. Use it bravely and it won’t let you down.

www.sanderson-uk.com

 

10 Paint Library Paper 3

Finally, the architectural colours from Paint Library proved another winner this year – my job would be so much harder without this range. An old favourite that is still wonderful and fresh is Paper 3 which has understated class and great versatility. Use Paper 2 if your room is gloomy or Paper 4 if you are flooded with light. Often I find Paper 1 on the woodwork works brilliantly with Paper 3 on the walls – you see how useful this range is?

www.paintlibrary.co.uk

Wishing you all a wonderful colour filled 2015!

 

 

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Merry Christmas!

We wish you a very happy and restful Christmas break and a healthy and prosperous 2015, from all of us at Angel and Blume.

The images are taken at the beautiful chapel at Sawston Hall, decorated in Farrow and Ball Archive, Joa’s White and Pointing. With thanks to Stephen and Clare Coates. Photography by Simon Whitmore.

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Farrow and Ball Cambridge event

Our lovely Farrow and Ball showroom in Cambridge is having an Exterior Paint Shopping Party this Thursday 9am – 7pm. You can use the paint in the store to paint up a garden pot or trowel and take your finished work home with you – alternatively you can enjoy a nice glass of prosecco and a cupcake and ponder their lovely range of colours at your leisure. Hope to see you there!

 

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Decorating with Colour by Ros Byam Shaw

I recently received a review copy of Ros Byam Shaw’s fabulous new book ‘Decorating with Colour’ (thank you to Lauren and the team in the new Farrow and Ball showroom in Cambridge) and I am still pouring over the pages and admiring the wonderful imagery. As with ‘Living with Colour’ which is its predecessor, this book is packed full of great ideas, understandable explanations on how to use colour and wallpaper, and inspiring uses of the beautiful Farrow and Ball colour palette. I firmly recommend a copy of this book if you are looking to make any decorating decisions at home, or if you just love looking at beautiful homes.

 

  

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