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Hallway colour crisis

336 replies

TailorTack · 12/03/2026 07:33

Well this was the colour I wanted. Tailor Tack. For our tiny little entrance, stairway and upstairs little landing. Can't even call it a hallway really because we have no hallway. I wanted to make it look lovely. But we couldn't justify the cost of F&B.
So based on me wanting a pale white pink, DH bought Blossom White Dulux and we've just spent the week prepping and decorating, it has taken 5 days, using precious annual leave time to do it whilst DC are at school and out of the way.
It's nothing like it looked online or in the colour chart pamphlet, or in the tester patch.
Online and in the Dulux colour chart it looked a very pale chilled out pink.
In my hall it is.....basically bright lilac.
It's not the colour I wanted at all😰
DH has hit the roof and said "You do this every time! We decorate a room after weeks on end of looking at different shades of different colours, then when it's done you always say you don't like it!!!". Which I can't deny. But the colours never look the same on the walls as they do on the charts, or even the tester pot patches!
Oh, forgot to say, we started off painting it what looked like a lovely sedate green on the colour chart but it looked like grey sludge on my walls so we abandoned it 1/4 way through and that caused a row in itself. And a waste of money.
I wanted a nice, very pale, calm, muted white pink.
What I've got is bright lilac, maybe you could call it bright but pale lavender.
It literally looks NOTHING like the Dulux images of the colour on their website.
It looks nothing like other images of it online.
It's done now and I will be able to live with it though I am upset because I wanted to love it. I wanted to walk in and love the colour that greeted me. Instead I think "urgh, don't like it".
DH likes it!
DD 10 is skipping around saying it's the best colour ever!!!
But DS 14 absolutely HATES it. He literally hates it. He's saying "I love our house, why have you painted the hallway bright purpley-pink?!?! It's horrible!".
This morning DH said to DS "Is the colour growing on you?" And DS said "I can't even talk about it" whilst looking mortified.
I feel really bad for him.
Should I lump it, having both spent a week of AL working on it? And just tell DS he'll have to live with it?
Or change it and risk a massive fall out with DH? He won't take any more AL to do it all over again so it'd be me on my own. And he'll argue about the time and cost involved.
And if I buy another 7.5 litres of a different colour paint, I may as well have just paid more for F&B and got Tailor Tack in the first place😪
We have an absolutely tiny little house with a tiny little hallway. I wish we could move to a more spacious house but we can't. So I thought 'Okay, just make the best of what we've got' and I was trying to create a beautiful entrance/stairs/landing. I've seen tiny houses on Pinterest/Instagram that still look lovely if they're decorated absolutely beautifully and tastefully. That's what I was trying to achieve but have failed.
So
Leave it be, or go through the pain of changing it?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
17
Goustooffer · 12/03/2026 12:17

He has definitely mixed it wrong

TailorTack · 12/03/2026 12:15

Notweirdatall · 12/03/2026 09:50

We’ve had the same experience with dulux actually. We were looking at a wheat shade, which was fine in the tester pot but when we painted the whole room had a lilacy/ rose hue.

We asked Dulux about it, and from memory, were told that it was to do with curing of the paint. It settled down after 6 weeks or so and we’re now totally happy with it. Maybe look it up, but I think it may be a known dulux thing!

Well that's very interesting. I mean, you would never expect to see lilac in 'wheat'!
And interesting that it settled after 6 weeks....
Is the lilac/rose completely gone from your wheat colour now?

OP posts:
Woodfiresareamazing · 12/03/2026 12:14

TailorTack · 12/03/2026 08:41

I DID

Did you do this with a tester pot?

It sounds to me like it has been mixed wrong...

MissyB1 · 12/03/2026 12:12

Will attach a photo of Tailor Tack in my bedroom, it definitely came out pinker than I imagined.

Hallway colour crisis
wherearethesnacks · 12/03/2026 12:12

Try a brighter white bulb before repainting, one listed as 4000k in colour. It might look better with it than the usual yellow white of 2700k or 3000k.

Springisnearlyspring · 12/03/2026 12:10

It looks wrongly mixed. Blossom white isn’t lilac. I’d get a tester of blossom white and paint it on and take pics and go back to shop.

dairydebris · 12/03/2026 12:08

Aluna · 12/03/2026 11:57

I’m not trying to police anything.

The point is that if you assure OP that Tailor Tack colour match is en exact match and it’s not and she doesn’t like it, you’ve just wasted more of her money.

What other people notice is irrelevant they won’t even know what the shade was supposed to be; other people probably won’t notice her hall colour as it is.

I agree with this.

They are not exact matches.

They are often good enough matches.

Personally I think it depends on how particular you are.

It sounds like the OP is particular.

I get a great deal of pleasure from looking at the colors on my walls, how they change in the light, how they work with furniture or flowers or views outside.

Personally I just save up for the color I want, or in a pinch just do top coat in chosen color.

Little Greene is my favorite 😍

Aluna · 12/03/2026 11:57

ThiagoJones · 12/03/2026 11:51

You can’t police what other people say on a public forum.
I have had F&B Green Smoke colour matched (amongst others), and while it was very slightly different due to the quality of the pigmentation, the vast majority of people wouldn’t have noticed. I’m sure the OP can make her own mind up.

I’m not trying to police anything.

The point is that if you assure OP that Tailor Tack colour match is en exact match and it’s not and she doesn’t like it, you’ve just wasted more of her money.

What other people notice is irrelevant they won’t even know what the shade was supposed to be; other people probably won’t notice her hall colour as it is.

TinyCottageGirl · 12/03/2026 11:51

TailorTack · 12/03/2026 11:11

Oh that's so interesting, you are clever....the pretty-pink link you've posted is literally what's on my walls!
But the tin says blossom pink and the guy who did it stuck 'blossom pink' label on tin.
Do you think he could have still made a mistake?

Gosh that really does look like whats on your walls (from pics anyway). I would definitely take this up with Brewers, buy another test pot for the correct one. I don't think you would have to paint white over the top and could probably get away with one coat straight over the top as the colours are so similar. 2 coats would be safer though, I reckon could do that over one weekend. Good luck OP

ThiagoJones · 12/03/2026 11:51

Aluna · 12/03/2026 11:46

Will people please stop saying this as it gives a completely false impression.

I use Brewers and I have used Johnson’s intelligent Matt and it’s not an exact match. No colour match is ever an exact.

I can give examples: Green Ground came out like pea soup - too yellow; Dimity came out bogstandard beige; Slipper Satin, which should be a subtle cream grey came out sludgey beige etc.

You can’t police what other people say on a public forum.
I have had F&B Green Smoke colour matched (amongst others), and while it was very slightly different due to the quality of the pigmentation, the vast majority of people wouldn’t have noticed. I’m sure the OP can make her own mind up.

upsofloating · 12/03/2026 11:50

steelseries · 12/03/2026 11:48

Hi @TailorTack. This exact thing happened to me. Brewers mixed the wrong colour. Only realised when I Came home after work and my decorator had finished.

i complained to Brewers quoting the right clause in their T&Cs and they refunded my paint costs AND my decorators costs to come again and re-paint.

Brilliant. Do this, OP.

steelseries · 12/03/2026 11:48

Hi @TailorTack. This exact thing happened to me. Brewers mixed the wrong colour. Only realised when I Came home after work and my decorator had finished.

i complained to Brewers quoting the right clause in their T&Cs and they refunded my paint costs AND my decorators costs to come again and re-paint.

Happyjoe · 12/03/2026 11:48

It's ok. Tbh, the pale pink that you wanted looks like fresh, bare plaster.

Aluna · 12/03/2026 11:46

Foodie68 · 12/03/2026 11:40

You can get farrow and ball colours matched with Johnstones trade intelligent Matt at Brewers decorating shop. Colours are an exact match.

That colour is completely different so if that was a match it’s not right

Will people please stop saying this as it gives a completely false impression.

I use Brewers and I have used Johnson’s intelligent Matt and it’s not an exact match. No colour match is ever an exact.

I can give examples: Green Ground came out like pea soup - too yellow; Dimity came out bogstandard beige; Slipper Satin, which should be a subtle cream grey came out sludgey beige etc.

TinyCottageGirl · 12/03/2026 11:46

It is very cool, making it look lilac I agree. Setting plaster by F&B is lovely, we got Dulux to make us a match of it (much cheaper). I would suggest next time using a test pot to see how the colour goes in that lighting etc.
It's not bad at all, just more lilac looking than light pink.

LlynTegid · 12/03/2026 11:42

I don't like it but it is a hallway not a lounge or bedroom where you are there for more than a few minutes.

onetrickrockingpony · 12/03/2026 11:40

Lilactimes · 12/03/2026 11:39

doh! Just seen this @onetrickrockingpony Calamine does look much darker than I'd expected. !!

If the sun comes out I'll try and take a second picture and see what that does haha

Foodie68 · 12/03/2026 11:40

You can get farrow and ball colours matched with Johnstones trade intelligent Matt at Brewers decorating shop. Colours are an exact match.

That colour is completely different so if that was a match it’s not right

Lilactimes · 12/03/2026 11:39

onetrickrockingpony · 12/03/2026 11:36

no problem. mad how the other two look brown in that picture. They are F&B Calamine (top) and and Pink Ground (bottom).

doh! Just seen this @onetrickrockingpony Calamine does look much darker than I'd expected. !!

onetrickrockingpony · 12/03/2026 11:39

Lilactimes · 12/03/2026 11:37

@onetrickrockingpony - that looks really great. Is the top one Sulking Room ? I put that on a wall in my room once - meant to use setting plaster. Didn't hate it but didn't love it. Middle one is lovely.

Calamine (top) and and Pink Ground (bottom). But the jpeg for those two look so much darker than in person. The Tailor Tack is fairly accurate.

There's a touch of purple in Calamine.

I agree the bottom looks EXACTLY like Setting Plaster in the pic.

Lilactimes · 12/03/2026 11:37

onetrickrockingpony · 12/03/2026 10:56

Hi OP - here is Tailor Tack as the middle sample in a North East bedroom on a bright yet grey day. The current white walls are basic universal white, for comparison.

@onetrickrockingpony - that looks really great. Is the top one Sulking Room ? I put that on a wall in my room once - meant to use setting plaster. Didn't hate it but didn't love it. Middle one is lovely.

InWithPeaceOutWithStress · 12/03/2026 11:37

I always use Johnstone for farrow & ball colour matching. They have a huge machine that does the mixing so the proportions come out right. Your husband was being a bit mean but I would leave him be and repaint the walls myself if I was that driven to it. Do it over the course of a weekend. Your son should absolutely help if he’s complaining so much!

ThiagoJones · 12/03/2026 11:37

Soontobesingles · 12/03/2026 11:33

I think this is a case of being overly perfectionist. I fully understand the desire for a home to be warm and lovely, and have tried to do this in my own home - but paint is never going to look exactly as on the tin/website; the shade and light in the room, the colour you are painting over, the curve of the wall etc will impact the vibrancy and intensity of the colour. If you really cannot live with it, I would choose a much more neutral shade - Dulux cotton white, and add pops of colour with artworks and light fixtures.

I don’t think it’s ’overly perfectionist’ to not want a colour you hate on your walls. Im
sure the OP wouldn’t have minded so much that it didn’t match the sample if she still liked the end result, but she doesn’t. We spend lot of time in our homes and it’s fine to not want to look at a colour that you actively hate on your walls.

onetrickrockingpony · 12/03/2026 11:36

TailorTack · 12/03/2026 11:14

That's so lovely of you, thank you!😊
I do really like TT.....

no problem. mad how the other two look brown in that picture. They are F&B Calamine (top) and and Pink Ground (bottom).