50 ways with taupe

Delighted as always to link up with Show Off Your  Cottage Monday at House in the Roses

Do you have a room where you've never quite got the colour right? My tiny sitting room has been every shade of yellow over the last 12 years or so - it's been painted more times than the Forth Bridge! My most recent attempt at getting the right shade resulted in this...

                                                            ... a little insipid 

                                     and just too .. well .. yellow

What I've been searching for is a medium neutral that has some warmth but doesn't overpower the reds and cream soft furnishings...

...and will complement my yellow fireplace tiles 

My son mentioned a meeting he was having recently with designer Kelly Hoppen. Hah, I remarked..."50 ways with taupe"... knowing Ms Hoppens predaliction for this neutral  shade.  Little did I expect him to repeat this to the the UKs number interior designer herself. I feel mortified just thinking of it. Worse he then want on to tell her about the cushions I make - jeez, talking about bigging up Mum! Fortunately, Kelly was extremely gracious and lovely. In fact I should thank her because it got me thinking about taupe as a potential neutral for my sitting room.

There are so many variations on taupe. Some of them were just too cold but umpteen test pots later the colour I have settled for is Farrow and Balls Cord - a warm mid neutral.

What a yummy colour it is. Cord is a delicious caramelly taupe that makes my walls looks soft in light daylight...

And a rich butterscotch in shadow...

It sets off pictures beautifully

And positively glows with warmth at night...

I'm chuffed with the result - I don't intend to paint this room for a long time now!

I flirt with many makes of paint but I always come back to Farrow and Ball. It's appropriate therefore that I'm linking this post to Sarah's F & B giveaway over at  Modern Country Living . Sarah offers loads of advice on using F&B Paints on her lovely blog - do go pay her a visit.