Help me choose my Farrow and Ball

[Linguaphile]

I’m drowning in paint choice and need perspective! Trying to decide which neutral to use in our halls and entryway. Looking at Cornforth White, Ammonite and Strong White. Pics below (sorry, still an building site!). Am I barking up the wrong tree with greige? The house is quite modern. Should I be going for a really lovely crisp white instead? Or maybe something a bit moodier? Pics below of options and the flooring that will be there (entryway hasn’t been tiled yet—forgive the building site!). Any opinions appreciated!

I am not a fan of grey as it comes across as very cold. Out of those three strong white is the best with your floor in my opinion. It’s light enough to carry other colours and look fresh but not to similar in colour. Reasonable contrast to the floor.

Yes that was my worry—the floors are already gray so more on the walls would be quite cold looking! Alternatively what about a really crisp gallery white with railings on the two side walls of the entryway? Too much for the space?

We have cornforth and found it was one of the warmer greys.
People always comment that our house is cosy

Problem is, once you've got grey floor, you can't add colours with really warm tones as it ends up looking yellow or magnolia.

I don’t find grey cold at all, particularly the dark greys, I think they act as a fabulous back drop for colour. My hallway is painted not in farrow and ball but in Laura Ashley charcoal, I find it very cosy but my hallway is full of light so not all hallways could take it. I personally find white walls too stark.

Strong white goes very well in most settings I find. Especially if you've got a darker grey going on.

LOVE your staircase OP, fabulous!

Try James White. It’s a beautiful grey.

Thanks for the opinions everyone. I think James White is going to skew quite gray in the room’s light, unfortunately. The tile is a very warm grey, so I think I could go with a white without it looking magnolia, but the worry is more about it being too stark than anything I think! Cornforth was looking quite blue in our light... but maybe it was too small of a swatch? Does anyone else find that Cornforth skews blue-violet?? Thanks s is what it looked like in the hallway swatch.

I have cornfoeth white - it is definitely violet/blue grey - I love it and it always gets lots of favourable comments - it definitely isnt stark/cold

Strong crisp gallery white would look great.

I would go white but we have lots of art/stuff to go on walls which is why we always choose white. If you plan to leave the walls blank, I don't know. I'm leaning away from grey myself but it might just be because there's quite a lot of it about.

I also wouldn't agree Grey is cold, I'd say it's white that is. It can be very stark. There are plenty of warm neutral light greys that can add a touch of elegance and warmth.

I wouldn't go for grey with the great tiles. I really love white, but I know it's not a popular choice.

I love grey!

I would look at Little Greene rather than F&B. Since we were recommended it we have never gone back to F&B.

In my humble opinion the Little Green French Grey pale or mid would look lovely with your flooring!

It would help if you can say what kind of look you are going for. Looks very industrial with the grey stairs and no natural light. How will it look when finished?

We have ammonite in our bedroom and it's much greyer than I thought from the sample. I think for a hallway I'd maybe go towards the white in case all the grey is a bit too much. I find it does need brightening a bit with accessories (mustard looks great with it.)

Thanks all for the responses. Ianbeales it’s not really meant to look ok and feel industrial as such; it will have lots of warm light from wall sconces and more natural light than is in the photo of the hallway (the metal door at the back is temporary during the build). I lean toward a more Scandinavian style and like sleek clean lines but would also like it to feel sleek but cosy. Initially the plan was to use wood for flooring everywhere, but the budget just wouldn’t allow it, so we went with the warm grey stone.

I think I just worry that white in that space will fall a bit flat, so at least some sort of colour might be a good idea?

Gosh I really need to start proofreading, so many messages with typos! 🙈 ‘Not meant to look industrial’ is what I meant to say.

I had Cornforth White in my last house and it was beautiful. However, it was with warm oak flooring and white skirting etc. If you are having that grey floor then I am not sure it would go and think it could look like you were trying to find a colour match and failed.

Of your options, Strong White works best but I would actually look for a nice cream. That would achieve your aims better I think. I agree that James White would look good but I actually think you might prefer Wevet or Off White. However I would push it and go for Tallow. It would provide the cosy Scandi feel you are after and would look great with warm lighting. Just looked it up on their website and apparently it takes its colour from candles. Perfect for that Scandi feel where candles are central. Also, if you are not after the industrial feel then Tallow would be a great counterpoint to the hard grey stairs.

Also, in a high use area, go for modern emulsion as it wipes well. Estate emulsion comes off with a damp cloth. I found I needed 3 coats (both using modern emulsion or estate) but you do get a wonderful change of colour tone throughout the day.

Tallow would be a brave choice. It could really work worth a sample? I'd also consider slipper satin for a warm white

I have ammonite but with yellow, it’s lovely. Woodwork is all Wimborne white.

Out of the three definitely the latest shaded white

Or other that light

I also have skimming stone which is a lovely much warmer grey

I used to be obsessed with greys but after a couple of disasters with lilac hues, and having seen so many houses for sale with grey walls and carpets that look truly awful, I'm actually now steering myself away from more obvious greys.

I've found that creamy whites and ever-so-slightly greyish whites seem to look a lot more 'stylish' and less 'copy-cat' battleship than true greys. I really hate magnolia and yellowish shades but now have a beautiful creamy chalky white downstairs (just been discontinued though!) and it works really well with my grey accessories (I have a fairly 'scandi' look going on at the moment) but still seems bright and cozy at the same time.

If there's little natural light I'd be extra careful not to go too stark white (and bear in mind any colour you paint is likely to look quite different in artificial lighting).

Of the three you have there I'd go with the strong white