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Thursday 3 February 2011

The latest Farrow & Ball paints: colour combinations for a (beautiful) new Age of Austerity

Some very inspiring images (and what I think they tell us about coming interiors trends)... 

Picture courtesy of Farrow & Ball

Picture courtesy of Farrow & Ball

Picture courtesy of Farrow & Ball

Picture courtesy of Farrow & Ball

Picture courtesy of Farrow & Ball

Picture courtesy of Farrow & Ball

Picture courtesy of Farrow & Ball

I was completely wowed by the images that accompany the launch of paint company Farrow  Ball’s new colours. Of course, it goes without saying that Farrow & Ball produce amazing failsafe paints. Almost every room in my house is painted with their shades and I’ve never had any regrets – more than can be said for some of the non-F&B rooms!

Colour-wise the combinations shown here are unexpected, but still easy on the eye. And there’s a reassuring amount of green, which I think is going to be huge in the years to come, as we try to find substitutes for the greenery that is lacking from our now predominantly urban lives.

But what I really admire most is the canny eye that has put these unusual colour combinations together in such cool, yet real, settings. The look reminds me of institutional, civil service type buildings from the Thirties to Fifties. In such rooms there might be a nice old mahogany desk, with a black bakelite telephone, a large utilitarian tea urn, a plain metal ‘coolie hat’ light-shade, plus some incongruous exposed pipe-work, and walls painted mushy-pea-green. It's a look I've always devoured when watching old British films.

To try and get to the core of what makes these pictures so great, I suppose they are an antidote to years of swish, glossy, seamless finishes and suggest a future when we will have to (re)embrace the austere idea of ‘make do and mend’ – but still manage to have beautiful homes. I for one am well up for it – especially after looking at these inspiring images.