Best F&B colour for a north-facing front room

[Celia1978]

Calling all Farrow & Ball fanatics! (Doesn't have to be F&B actually, I just have that paint chart in my house so I could look at any suggestionsâ?¦)

Hoping to buy a house that to be honest does feel quite dark/small. Looking at the measurements I KNOW it's not small but current decor is very dark which doesn't help and the house faces north which doesn't help either.

What are good bright/light colours that will increase the feeling of space and bounce the light around a bit but that aren't so cold we'll feel like we're sitting in an igloo?

I'm quite into greys - are there any that are warm/light feeling or will they basically all start seeming a bit municipal car park in a room that doesn't get sun?

Thank you!

Try the Dulux webiste, they catagorise their colours by warm, calm, fresh and rich. Maybe the F&B website do something similar?

I tried most if the F&B colour chart in my north facing living room and could find nothing that achieved the brightening/space enhancing effect I was looking for. The greys were the worst...they all just looked cold and uninviting.

I have opted fro Dulux Timeless. It was a close run thing between it and Dulux Just Walnut. It's not the look I want for the room necessarily but it's the one that works best with the level of natural light.

I'm opting to add colour and interest by increasing my art collection instead (paint would be a hell of a lot cheaper though, even at F&B prices!)

Fire earth bianco and light umber are both very good colours for brightening and warming

I went a bit mad and used Babouche - I love it but not to everyone's taste - I used London Clay for the woodwork.

We have Elephant's Breath in the other (dark) front room but tbh I don't love it, it's a bit too dark

Elephant's breath was almost exactly the same shade as I was trying to get rid of (I discovered upon applying a sample to the wall) and it definitely didn't work in the room.

Ammonite was an 'almost' and was by far the best of the F&B grey tones but I still didn't feel like the room could carry it off.

Pavilion grey! It is amazing

We have just painted our dining room middleton pink. Think we have to be very careful what we put with it to avoid it looking sickly/ girly but with the wood in the room, pleased with the colour. It was french grey and it was like snogging a death eater! (However, painted south facing big window TV room blue grey and it's perfect) I am amazed how a colour can be so different in diff rooms IYSWIM. We went through £50 million of tester pots but don't think theres another way!

Thanks everyone. Will be ready with the tester pots!

We have north facing living room and have used Little Greene's Mirror. In daylight it takes on an almost green hue - lovely and fresh and light. In lamplight it's quite a warm grey if there is such a thing. We love it.