Cottage people - what paint colours do you have? Need inspiration

[Cobblersorchard]

We are mid renovation and I am sick to fucking death of it all 😩

We have just painted the South facing dining room in Dulux Heritage Stone Green. Looks bloody lovely so I’m pleased with that. But I now need to look at the rest of it with some urgency.

Most of the house is in Slaked Lime which feels a bit grey or Earthborn Mittens which is perfectly ok but a bit dull. We would like some muted colour but to keep it light.

So what have you got?

Sitting room faces South but is quite dark and has beams. This is currently painted in Mittens.

Hall is small and North facing but has a big doorway with lots of glass so not too bad. Current Slaked Lime. Just always looks grubby.

Half landing and stairs to do, it’s tiny and goes in to the dining room. Very dark, no windows. This might have to just be repainted in a fairly bright white. It’s also Slaked Lime.

1 bedroom to do initially, it’s over the sitting room with a small dormer window (thatched roof). South, very high ceiling in the middle but low sloping at the sides. It gets very dark in winter but reasonably light in summer. More Slaked Lime in here (previous owner obviously liked it 😂).

I just can’t seem to find anything I like.

I painted everything in Dulux Egyptian Cotton as a sort of 'holding' colour, as it went with stone flags and wood, but it actually looks all right, and I haven't got round to changing it.

But a friend who does lots of renos said, Slaked Lime, before I'd even finished saying, What colour should...? I think it's A Thing.

This article seems to have some good ideas. https://www.katewiltshiredesign.co.uk/blog/a-guide-to-choosing-the-right-shade-of-white-paint

Elephants breath, muzzle, ammonite and sulking room pink here. All F&B, three dogs and wests welll.

I've just done a first coat with Heritage Rosemary Green and it looks amazing. Can't wait to get the second coat on.

https://www.duluxheritage.co.uk/en/colours/1780037/rosemary-leaf

Not at all muted but our cottage sitting room was painted roasted red and it looked fabulous (since moved house) so don't write off bold colours.

One of the bedrooms currently is Soft Fauna 4 which is really love as a light, airy bluey green shade.

https://www.dulux.co.uk/en/colour-details/soft-fauna-4

https://www.dulux.co.uk/en/products/dulux-colour-tester/cccId_1915143?size=30ML&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwiaa2BhAiEiwAQBgyHnI5GQXaT4HFsbYnB0iteFrPRNzUvXU0VfAh2L0679YwZ9d1bF3QnBoCwhQQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

@Ineffable23 I agree we are painting our cottage front room Hopper www.littlegreene.com/hopper love a good strong colour

My sitting room , west & north facing with beams is duck egg blue and cream with a brighter rug.

The hall and stairs are dark so painted in Dulux Timeless, with an aubergine wall with lots of pictures.

I've just done a bedroom, windows to south, east & west, in Dulux Tranquil Dawn - a sort of muted sage green, with lots of white woodwork and neutral carpets. It's lovely, the calmest place I've slept. 🙂

We have a north / south house. It’s not a cottage but having previously lived in an east / west it really confused the hell out of me. All the shaded whites/ slaked limes etc etc just looked grim. Just looked mucky. Not like in my previous house where they were ‘off’ in a sophisticated way.

If that is just not working try the beige/ yellow/ red tone based whites. Like a magnolia which sounds awful but if it works it works. Dimity, joas white, even as far as string or cord.

Most whites nowadays are green/ blue/ grey leaning and that really doesn’t work in north/ south.

Low ceilinged cottage here and we've gone for colour! I love the rooms with colour much more than the neutral ones we did when we first moved in - terracotta, greens, rich yellows and blues. It's easy to assume that lighter colours will reflect and make the room lighter but they can often just look grey and boring. Think about how it will look against rich textiles and warm lamps on a winter evening.

Thank you, yes this is it exactly. The windows, apart from 1 dual aspect room, are all either true South or North.

Timeless looks nice in the kitchen which is dual aspect, North and East but very low ceiling. The kitchen is sage green. That room works well (we have done this one).

The green-grey in the dining room that we have just done also works.

But the Slaked Lime just looks grubby to me, so it’s good to know that’s not just in my head. I will look at warm options. I suspect the Mittens is warm, that looks nicer but reminds me too much of our last house which was a magnolia throughout new build. I want something different to that if possible.

Maybe something biscuit or nutmeg vibe. I will target warms!

I’ve gone for off-whites in my cottage - beams in most of the rooms; I feel like too much wall colour looks awkward and too sophisticated for what would’ve been a very simple rural 1820s house, probably only ever whitewashed.

Fail: F&B White Tie, looks sad, dirty and nicotine-like north-facing

Wins: F&B Dimity, soft and warm and tones well with wood and flagstones.
Dulux Natural Calico - husband described it as looking like cappuccino froth. Interestingly I used it in a more modern East-West house and it looked a horrible beigey magnolia…the grey light in my north facing room tones it to a soft off white without actually looking grey.
F&B Pointing: same as above, can look a slightly too clean gaudy cream in a more modern house, but greyer north facing light turns it into the perfect soft but not too yellow white.