Regular readers may remember that we gave our living room a black feature wall a while back and although I’ve loved it and all its inky blackness, the problem has been with the rest of the walls. I didn’t feel confident enough – or that I would want to – have black emulsion on all four walls, but living with children and pets means the neutral colour on the other walls just doesn’t stay clean! I’m forever discovering a new dirty smudge to try and remove or paint over.
So after a bit of deliberation, we decided to go mid-dark all over and fashionable Stiffkey Blue from Farrow & Ball seemed an ideal choice choice:
Inspired by the north Norfolk beach where the mud and cockles are this shade of blue, it is a deep hue that looks different in certain lights. In the daylight it is rich and warm (yes, blue can feel warm!) and at night it’s all moody and cosy.
Farrow & Ball paint is a firm favourite with many home enthusiasts and interior design bloggers that I follow, but this was our first time using it. So did it meet expectations? Well, yes. We found it easy to use, the consistency being neither runny nor too thick and the pigment even. After we rollered on a couple of coats, cutting in around the edges of the room with a small brush, it had worked its magic and transformed the room, giving it not only a new look but a different feel. This particular shade of blue really enhances all the wood we have in our living room, too – it all seems to glow with warmth now. 
I was finding it difficult to imagine the colour behind our grey sofa and hoped the two colours would work, but I think they partner beautifully. I even felt like an extra pop of colour could be introduced and so when I saw some lovely cushions at Matalan recently in gold velvet, they seemed ideal.
The room isn’t quite finished yet as I want to add some wall art above the sofa (two or three prints or perhaps a small gallery wall) and I would really like to change the curtains soon, perhaps to something with a gold geometric pattern – roman blinds would look good here too in the angled bay.
The big question in my mind, though, is whether to paint the skirting board and picture rail, either in Stiffkey Blue or a contrasting shade (shown here with woodwork in Brassica). Rather than keep that traditional white. I’m very, very tempted.
Food for thought! What would you do?
Of course I’ll keep you updated as the room progresses, but for now I’m really thrilled with our choice of paint and can see us using Farrow & Ball on our walls and woodwork again in the future.
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