Farrow and Bell recommendations please

[Girlred]

We've just moved into a new house. It's an old house and needs painted very badly. I've a painter coming next week to paint the whole house as we are away for a few days at a family wedding, so it was too good an opportunity to miss. But I haven't a clue how to pick colours and we're not really sure what we want to do with the decor so need to keep it pretty neutral. I do like the grey shades popular now but our doors and frames, skirting boards etc. And kitchen , dining table are all oak which I want to just leave for now. Can anyone recommend me nice Farrow and Bell creams and greys that are warmish, I don't want anything too pale or whitish. The painter gets a great discount on farrow and bell so we're going to stick with that. I'd appreciate any advice as I'm clueless about decoration.

Hi, if you have a look on the F&B website and look for warm (red based?) neutrals, that will give you examples of that particular colour 'family' then you can choose according to the light in each room. From memory it also suggests the best colour for woodwork too....

Go on the website and just have a look at the colour schemes they suggest, as @Bluesheep8 says it suggests complimentary colours for woodwork etc. We have peignoir in DDs room which is a gorgeous warm pinky grey, I want to do my bedroom in it too but as it's north rather than south facing I'm not sure it would work the same. F&B can also give you a colour consultation in your home which might be worth it if you've got time as the paints look very different in different lights.

We did our Victorian house in Skimming Stone throughout. It is warm, more on the beige / stone side but with some greyish notes I think. We like it!

Bedrooms in 'borrowed light' which is a pale tranquil blue and isn't cold (think it is either warm or neutral according to F&B).

Thanks for the replies, think I'll be losing a few hours of my life on the website looking for ideas tonight. I hadn't even thought of looking online!! Skimming stone definitely looks a possibility for at least a few rooms.

We have a lovely warm off white Dimity in our hallway and Ammonite a pale grey in many rooms, with lamp room grey, pigeon as features.

We’ve also got pavilion grey but it’s a little cooler.

We have White Tie in a lot of rooms. It's a warm cream but not yellowy or whitey!

We are doing all our woodwork in white tie, that's a lovely shade of off white.

And another vote for skimming stone and dimity, we only have copies of these though. Also have elephants breath which is skimming stone's darker sister, iyswim

An interior designer (at a party!) once told me that you can't go wrong with Clunch on the walls and Pointing on the woodwork. I've ignored this advice though and gone for the greyer shades. We've used a lot of Cornforth White, which changes dramatically with the light from a flat gentle grey (north facing room) to a lilac-y grey (south facing room) to a very light, whiteish grey (top floor, lots of the light comes from a cupola). I also really like Elephant's Breath for a very easy to live with beige/grey, and Dovetail, which is a darker version (and can look really quite purple in some lights). Definitely try testers first in the rooms you are thinking of - I can't believe some of the colours i've used in different rooms are the same, the difference light makes is so dramatic.

Can I be a bit random and recommend Little Green paint instead? Better colour selection, more finish options and generally better paint. I like ‘clockface’ but it may be a bit dark.

Dimity is a lovely paint. Really warm cream without being yellow. Love the texture of f&b too, recently did a room in my house in little greene and I wish I'd stuck to F&B! It's just lovely paint.

If you're on instagram, have a look at the f&b page. Lots of inspiration with photos of rooms painted in the different colours (it may be the same photos as on their website - I've not looked at that)

Hi, i have pretty much tried half of the F&B neutral and grey shades in my quest for the perfect shade. Slipper Satin if you want a warmish light cream that's not too red or Lime White if you want a slightly darker shade. If you want a light cream with a little red in it then try Dimity. A good classic grey is Pavilion as it changes tone in different rooms/different light. If you want to save money then Johnstones/Leyland do a colour matching service to F&B and the colours are a very good match. £50 for 5 litres as opposed to £74 at Farrow and Ball.

String is a favourite of mine

Thanks so much for all the advice everyone, I've settled on skimming stone and cornforth grey in quite a few of the brighter rooms now. I just need to choose a warmish cream neutral for a large darkish kitchen and hallway with lots of oak. Would clunch, diminity , slipper satin or string be best? ( just picking the colours recommended on here, lol!). I want to brighten things up but I do want a good hint of colour too.

Slipper Satin is nice and what you've described. Clunch and String are pretty strong colours.

I forgot about slipper satin, we have a copy of that in another room-I'd vote for that op

I just need to choose a warmish cream neutral for a large darkish kitchen and hallway with lots of oak

Tallow

String is more beige but I love it

Thanks for all the replies, I've looked at all the colours recommended and picked quite a few. I'm considering both tallow and string again now as don't want to have whole house grey shades and they seem more creamy/ beige based.

If you go on instagram and # the colours lots of ideas will come up.