What colour would you use (with F&B Babouche)

[LenBast]

We are painting our sitting room F&B Babouche- bright yellow.

https://www.farrow-ball.com/paint-colours/babouche?gclid=CjwKCAjw7c2pBhAZEiwA88pOF2YjFaN8-cqRfVoCMASnTJsBSwWpxtdQEQrYUjYfJPAODf9zUSUHJhoCmyAQAvD_BwE

It's a biggish room in an old house, nice and light. Woodwork will be white, floor is oak boards.

There is a fireplace in the room with a wooden surround that is currently painted weird green and can't be stripped back, so I need to paint it. What colour would you go for? The lady at F&B suggested Railings but I don't know whether that's a bit deadening. Generally I like a lot of colour and pattern, Lulu Lytle, Rita Konig kind of look.

Thank you!

Oh I love Babouche @LenBast , we have it in our porch and it's such a happy, welcoming colour.

Our porch is only a small area, so it's only contrasted with white (doors, woodwork, shoe storage and shelving), a gold framed mirror and oak flooring too.

What colour is the furniture you'll have in your room? I agree I'm not keen on Railings either, I know it would make a striking contrast but it's just not me either.

I've been pondering other colours for our bedroom and keep coming back to Parma Gray, but for a fireplace I do also like Calke Green (which could well be the weird green you speak of!). I think either of those would be a nice contrast.

Before we paint our fireplace next month, we're going to buy a few test pots, paint a few sheets of A4 with each colour then blu-tac them to the fireplace for a few days each so we can see them in all different lights and time of day.

Could you post a pic of the fireplace? I'd go bold and go for Cook's blue. If you look on the farrow and ball website there's a photo of a kitchen with each door painted a different colour. I don't personally like the kitchen, but you can see Babouche and Cook's blue either side of the cooker. I think it could look gorgeous! If you want something less of a statement, photo number 21 on the Babouche page is a grey wall ( pavilion grey) with a Babouche fireplace. Have a look at that and imagine yours as the inverse. That would also look great and not as weighty as railing imo.

These are the colours side by side, with white and oak tones I think this would both feel fresh but have the classic undertones of the style you like, as it's a classic colour combination.

Thanks so much, both of you. I love the idea of either Parma Gray or Cooks Blue.

@BeautBastard How do you put the colours side by side like that?

Green Smoke? I love green so I'm always up for green...

Ah I've discovered how to do the colours next to each other

@LenBast what colour are your sofas?

Can't you paint the fireplace the same yellow?

I know yellow and blue "work" but it is a bit Ikea / Ukrainian flag for me.

Then add other colours and pattern into the room with soft furnishings, art and rugs.

Ooh, I like Cook's Blue against Babouche, good one @BeautBastard .

My immediate thought was railings. I know that you said that you didn't like it, but with all the color from the sofa, art, cushions, it might be the just what the room needs.
I read a designer tip that every room needs a bit of black and have been doing that - a simple black-shaded lamp, for example - and it does make a big difference.

Exactly what I was thinking. I was going to suggest dark green - LG Obsidian Green, maybe - until you said it already was green. I still think a very dark green/brown could work.

@LenBast Both the designers you mentioned use a lot of pattern, so I don't think there's a huge danger of it looking like a flag tbh once your other patterns and accessories are in place, plus all F&B shades are quite muddied which gives them that softness along with the richness (although if you want to make a statement with your decor "I stand with Ukraine" isn't a bad one 😂) But choosing an even more neutralised shade would take you away from that even further - All the colours in the upholstery in this photo would work - the blue is probably more Lulworth Blue which looked lovely when you put them next to each other in your earlier post, and then the green is close to Calke Green as @CarrieMoonbeams has suggested. The red is similar to Incarnadine.

Mumsnet seems to not like me posting from my laptop as those photos need to be clicked on to be seen properly. But my final suggestion is pink - a bit more unusual but with the right things balancing it out would look traditional and modern at the same time. That's the marmite option though!

I'm really grateful to everyone for posting on this thread- I've found it incredibly useful so thank you.

Sofas are a mix- one old brown leather one, a green armchair and a wooden bench thing. We will have a lot of pictures up as well.

I'm currently thinking that Green Smoke is the front runner but I've actually liked everything that's been suggested.

If you do decide to go dark Railings has a lot of blue undertones and I think more of a v dark navy.

Off Black is closer to dark grey/black without the undertones.

I'm a big fan of yellow with pink. It's a bit 'out there' for some, but can look super cool. We have railings in our lounge, I'd think babouche would make it a bit bumblebee.

If you haven't already, have a look at some of the videos Patrick, from f and b does, he talks colour combos.