Another project is finished! Some weeks ago I brought this traditional old ‘kitchen couch’ back with me after cleaning out Grandparents’ house. I figured a kitchen couch would do equally well in a bedroom. Unfortunately I have no before-pic, but it had its original pine look, was bit dirty, and was wearing some worn reddish fabric. I painted it with Farrow & Balls White Tie (Estate Eggshell finish) and dressed it in some bits of fabric I like (patterned upholstery fabric & three slices of corduroy). Here you can also see our final wall paint chioce! After trying out 11 different hues plus a few own blends we settled for Farrow & Balls Matchstick. The paint was very pleasant to work with, and above all, it is an amazing hue! The formerly Stockholm-white and dull room now shifts from a neutral beige to bright sunrise to inviting sand...Enough now, back to work. Have a nice week!

So, I had decided for beige walls in the bedroom (or we had, but my intended was onboard the black walls-boat and the wallpaper-boat aswell as this my latest proposal..) Isn’t beige the beigest word in English! Sounds terribly blah and weak. Well it’s not, it’s the new white and a loved child is given many names the Swedish saying goes so how about tan, cafe latte, camel, champagne, khaki, beach, oatmeal, sand and almond to mention a few. Anyhow, it’s one of the most difficult colours to find the right hue of. We bought and tried 11 sample pots. From Farrow & Ball, Alcro and Måleributiken mainly. None of them fitted this specific room. Too dark, too yellow, too red, too beige. The Stockholm-White walls, in all light-directions, transformed into a patchwork of beiges:

OK, so you got 11 small paint cans of imperfect beiges on your table. What would Pippi do? Yupp, make her own blend! So, I took five generous table spoons of the best match, Joa’s White (“J” in the pic). Added a spoon each of the two second bests (lovely colours but not perfects here); Stony Ground and Savage Ground (“FB”, “SG”) I stirred briskly. To lighten this blend a bit and introduce some red to balance out the yellow I added a teaspoon of Måleributikens almost-white powder-rose (left overs from painting the xmas candlestick-lamp) and a teaspoon of Alcro’s Strand (“AS” in pic) I finished off with one more touch of Joa’s white. Stirred it and served the wall. Wait to dry and another layer. Next day: Perrrrrrfect! :) So we took it (painted on a stick) to my fav DIY-store K-rauta. They put my sample under a machine and the nearest shade as per the NCS standard was 1505-Y30R.

The visual blackness is 15 %, and the colour strength (chromaticness) is 5 % (in scale 0-100). | y30r | indicates the ratio between the two chromatic properties y (yellowness) and r (redness) on a scale from 01-99 (0 means that color alone is yellowness as indicated by only y and 100 means that the color has only redness as indicated by just an r). So it’s yellow with 30 % redness. Hence a light, warm-grey-beige colour with a reddish-yellow hue.

1505-Y30R is one classic Swedish “latte colour”!!! Recommended in several Swedish house & home discussion boards! Widely popular. That’s what happens when you go Pippi Longstocking with Farrow & Ball paint..:D Am I complicated or what?!

Now I’ve only seen this paint without daylight, but sofar I join the chorus of praise for 1505-Y30R – it’s an excellent choice :) Need advice on beige paint? Just ask ;) And as for our walls, case isn’t closed…yet.

Update: In daylight, in this particular room, 1505-Y30R was far too pale, almost lilac. Next step was to research the NCS-colour system – which (theoretically) lead me to the hues S1005-Y30R, S1510-Y30R and S1510-Y20R. The first-mentioned colour was too pale, next too yellow, third too red/warm. Conclusion: the NCS – Swedish colour standard system – couldn’t help us here. And all F&B paints are inbetween the NCS-picks; with only “Lime White” being close to a NCS, S1005-Y20R. Lesson taught? Go for a ready-mixed hue. So we’ll buy a few more samples to get the right one:)

I just had the pleasure to echo that one shade of my favourite colour blue was selected Colour of the Year 2010! I’m in the middle of choosing a blue hue to paint the walls in my new guest and study, so the award and inspirational colours came very handy. I was discussing it here; I think blue stimulates creativity and bring calm and serenity – especially the ocean or sky hues.

The book on international colour trends 2010 shows many shades of blue along with the selected light airy one. In four of the five trend theme colour palettes there are blue hues. The book points out which direction the trend colours are moving and as for the blue hues, they are airy and optimistic – to lift the spirit and light the darkness. There are soulful teals and turquoises – sophisticated serene, subtle and understated shades – suggesting deepest space; a place of mystery, imagination and atmosphere. And, there are rich, clear ultramarines that speak of both the past and the future.

I’m looking for paint – a blue as blue as the sky or sea – and at Fired Earth I found some great hues. They are actually very 2010. The selection is amazing. From the look of the colour palette: I hereby appoint Fired Earth Paint Supplier of the Year 2010! :)

BUT, in-real-life, appearance was deceiving. There are only two light ‘Fired earth blues’ that are actually blue: Welkin Blue ( a great hue though it’s almost baby blue) and Zenith Blue – a dusky greyish blue. The rest of the light seemly blues colours are in fact greenish. Paint hunt goes on! Any advise someone?