Greige

[skeggijon]

I'm currently in 'discussion' with OH about the colour scheme for our house, although there's lots to do before decorating - just had a new combi boiler fitted, waiting for electricians to come and give quotes for a full re-wire, then the windows and top half of conservatory need replacing and we want to re-instate the minton tiles that have ben removed from the hall. Oh and a new bathroom.

OH in favour of bland with splashes of colour, whilst I'm much more in favour of going for heritage colours appropriate for a Victorian Villa. She said I can do that in the workshop if I want!

[bearded bloke]

Mainly depends on your room size (including height) furniture & flooring Jon, quite a lot of Victorian decoration can make rooms oppressive unless they have really good natural light.

[skeggijon]

True BB. Our villa was built in 1851, so has big rooms and very high ceilings, which I think could do with being 'drawn down' with strong colours.

[Nicos]

John- in our previous house we went with various shades of heritage cream ( ish).
the mat/chalky finish gave a lovely feeling of cosy old, but refreshingly light/modern...and yep- big splashes of colour commonly known in the trade ( I watch TV! ) as accent colours.

My main colour in this dark, very old house is a variation on pale custard with accent colours of burgundy/red, creamy oranges and yellows and warm browns of various depth of colour.
When the sun shines, the inside of the house glows even though there are very, very few windows.

A friend of mine is very blue/purple based but says my colour scheme makes the house look much warmer and friendlier than hers. That's one heck of an admission!!

[skeggijon]

Mmmmmm custard!

[bearded bloke]

Pretty much what Nicos said ^^^ avoid white walls & ceilings as the only white pigment they had for water based coatings was lime, which although white in it's natural state becomes discoloured when binding agents were added, hence the addition of small amounts of ochre &/or sienna pigments to give soft tones.

If you have plaster moulded panels on the walls, select a suitable "period" wallpaper, from that pick a neutral colour for the walls, a contrasting colour (or gold) for the moulding & paper just the panel itself, this can also be done to any paneled doors in the room, but not in hallways, remember that at that point in history wallpaper was hugely expensive.

While on wallpaper, if you plan to hang flock (or even simulated flock) use a felt roller NOT a smoothing brush.

[Potstubsdustbins]

#12 BM funny you should mention that ..it was the first thing that came to my mind on reading the thread.

Back in the 70s the hardest colour to obtain when buying a bathroom suite was ...........white. Now it would seem the only colour available is ...white. Thank goodness.

One of the problems we face now is going to a damaged bathroom item and finding a coloured suite. Yes we can get the colour replacement item but you wouldn't want to pay for it you'd need a new mortgage.

My advice to anyone would be stick with a white suite aligned with good quality chrome brassware and use your tiling if you want a splash of colour and always buy an extra square metre of tiles at the time of purchase.

[Scarlet]

True BB. Our villa was built in 1851, so has big rooms and very high ceilings, which I think could do with being 'drawn down' with strong colours.

I lived in a Victorian house and used Farrow & Ball paints. Their colours are gorgeous and as the paint are chalk/or flat matt the colour is a little more subdued. If you have the picture rails it's only 3/4 of the wall that has the colour.
Now I'm in an old farmhouse, again I used the farrow & ball paints and used lime whites and stones. The rooms are too low to take anything dark. I love reds and oranges but I couldn't get away with those colours here. They just don't fit.
I'm with custard nicos, ive a pale egg custard in my kitchen which is the only room that has a "colour"

[skeggijon]

^^^ my plan was to just have the colour between the high skirting and the picture rail. I've used Farrow & Ball in the past and been very impressed with them.

[Nicos]

F&B...yep- that was the paint we used. Lasted well too.

Just had a thought Jon...it's no wonder I feel hungry all the time!!!!

( like the time I used to wear vanilla scent...hmm...there's a link in that isn't there??)

[skeggijon]

Pretty much what Nicos said ^^^ avoid white walls & ceilings as the only white pigment they had for water based coatings was lime, which although white in it's natural state becomes discoloured when binding agents were added, hence the addition of small amounts of ochre &/or sienna pigments to give soft tones.

If you have plaster moulded panels on the walls, select a suitable "period" wallpaper, from that pick a neutral colour for the walls, a contrasting colour (or gold) for the moulding & paper just the panel itself, this can also be done to any paneled doors in the room, but not in hallways, remember that at that point in history wallpaper was hugely expensive.

While on wallpaper, if you plan to hang flock (or even simulated flock) use a felt roller NOT a smoothing brush.

We were looking at getting some suitable wallpaper printed. We're lucky that we have a pretty much open budget to make the house exactly the way we want it - within the limitations of the building of course.

[bearded bloke]

No chair rail Jon ?

[skeggijon]

Only in the drawing room.

[bearded bloke]

Shame, or you could have painted below & papered above.

See if you have a Brewer & Sons near you, if so ring them & ask where the nearest specialist wallcoverings depot is, they have a massive supply network including many period specialist companies.

[Snadger]

When wor lass was having one of the bairns in hospital I thought I would paint the living room in Tango orange for her coming oot!

She nigh on killed me!