Farrow and Ball Giveaway

Yes, it's here! The wait is over.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Farrow and Ball here at Modern Country Style. I've been effusing on Facebook about today's giveaway and FINALLY I can reveal all.

Here it is: the most awesome Farrow and Ball Giveaway I've ever seen.

Yes: E.V.E.R. S.E.E.N..

Up for grabs are thirty sample pots of Farrow and Ball paints to be divided between ten winners.

{So that's, um, three each. Yes, I am a maths genius.}

Plus one of those ten lucky winners will also receive 

5 litres of Farrow and Ball paint.

(The winner will be able to choose their colour 

after testing out their sample pots if they prefer.)

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is the following:

1) Head on over to Farrow and Ball then pop back here and let me know in the comments your choice of colours for the three sample pots.

2) Subscribe in some way to Modern Country Style.

(Google FriendConnect, email, RSS....all up there at the top of my sidebar)

3) For further entries, leave a link in the comments to where you have blogged about this giveaway or mentioned in on any social media site.

If you need further inspiration, then check out some of my Farrow and Ball Case Studies, which showcase some of their delicious colours in lots of different lighting conditions.

Farrow and Ball White Tie

Farrow and Ball Light Blue

Farrow and Ball Pigeon

Farrow and Ball Blue Grey

Farrow and Ball Powder Blue

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe

Open to all subscribers in the UK or the US.

I'll announce the winners in two weeks time.

Good luck!!

          

Case Study: Farrow and Ball Down Pipe

Welcome to the delicious world of 

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe.

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe

Before we get going, have you check out my other Farrow and Ball Case Studies?

Farrow and Ball New White
Farrow and Ball Old White
Farrow and Ball White Tie
Farrow and Ball Blue Gray
Farrow and Ball Middleton Pink

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath

Farrow and Ball Pigeon

Farrow and Ball Hardwick White
Farrow and Ball Green Blue

Dulux Heritage Stone Green

Farrow and Ball Lamp Room Gray

Farrow and Ball French Gray (interiors)

Farrow and Ball French Gray (exteriors)
Farrow and Ball Mouse's Back

Earthborn Gregory's Den

Farrow and Ball Light Blue

Farrow and Ball Powder Blue

Farrow and Ball Hay

Officially, this Down Pipe was designed to help 'imitate lead on exterior ironwork and to help 'lose' plumbing against brickwork.'

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe

However, Farrow and Ball Down Pipe has become a rising star: morphing in recent years from being ultra functional to uber-hip. If you're looking for the perfect grey that's dark and sultry without sucking the life from a room then this is the one!!

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe

There are just two tips I'd give if this colour is calling your name:

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe

1) Farrow and Ball Down Pipe needs plenty of light to look its best;

if your intended room is not blessed with natural light then think carefully about how you'll provide this artificially.

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe

2) Down Pipe could look sombre all on its own-some, make sure it's 

surrounded by pale or bright colours. Abigail Ahern is an absolute genius at this.

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe

In lots of the images sourced for this post, the colour looks identical - a sooty charcoal - but this is where I hope the fact that I've worked with all the colours I showcase on Modern Country Style really comes into its own.

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe

{For more details, pop over to the gorgeous Relics blog, including great information about using Farrow and Ball primers - worth every penny.}

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe

So while these super-styled images all appear the same, I happen to know that under fluorescent lights Farrow and Ball Down Pipe looks like this:

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe under flurescent lighting

See how green it becomes? Magic!!

And under halogen lights, it takes on a bluey-green hue:

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe under halogen lights

This is what I love about Farrow and Ball paints. To choose the right colour for the right room becomes a truly personal process. What looks perfect in one place will change beyond recognition in another. 

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe

I guess that's where the sample pot delicious agony comes in..... 

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe exterior paint

My favourite blog for fantastic paint tips and information is the Relics of Witney blog. Have you seen it yet?

Images via: Abigail Ahern, Angel and Blume, Baston and Lark, Farrow and Ball, Living etc, All The Best, mine, mine, mine, mine, Elle Decor, Snapdragon

Case Study: Farrow and Ball Powder Blue

This week, my flowers, I have not one, but TWO Farrow and Ball Case Studies...

If you love Farrow and Ball, Modern Country Style is sooooo the right place for you. 

When I posted photos of my latest wreath, 

I had a bajillion emails about our front door paint colour. 

Farrow and Ball Powder Blue front door

The colour is Farrow and Ball's Powder Blue.

Here it is at night time.

Farrow and Ball Powder Blue front door at night time

If you're about to paint your front door, it's always worth taking the extra time to think about how much light your front door gets. Ours is south facing, which means that it gets strong sunlight all day. 

Farrow and Ball Powder Blue front door with festive wreath!

Paint colours that look strong on interior walls fade into nothingness on south facing front doors. Insipid and bleurgh.

{Their official names, you understand..}

So, while Powder Blue is a stronger colour than I'd personally choose for inside the house, it was perfect choice for our front door.

{For a fuller look at choosing your perfect front door colour, check out this awesome article. Yes, it's written by me for the Relics of Witney blog, the best interiors shop in the world...ahem, in my humble opinion!!}

Farrow and Ball Powder Blue 

I wanted a very muted bluey-green for our front door. 

And Farrow and Ball's Powder Blue fits the bill perfectly.

Farrow and Ball Powder Blue painted furniture

You won't find this colour on their current paint card but any of their discontinued colours that catches your beady little eyes can still be easily ordered.

Farrow and Ball Powder Blue bedroom

When I put together a case study, I source as many pictures as possible of the paint colour, so as well as the images of our front door, here are plenty of room images featuring Powder Blue, showing what a strong colour it actually is.

Farrow and Ball Powder Blue bedroom

If you're looking for that elusive gentle greyed-turquoise for your front door then Farrow and Ball's Powder Blue is definitely the way to go.

Farrow and Ball Powder Blue front door

For all you paint geeks, have you checked out these posts?

Farrow and Ball New White
Farrow and Ball Old White
Farrow and Ball White Tie
Farrow and Ball Blue Gray
Farrow and Ball Middleton Pink

Farrow and Ball Down Pipe

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath

Farrow and Ball Pigeon

Farrow and Ball Hardwick White
Farrow and Ball Green Blue

Dulux Heritage Stone Green

Farrow and Ball Lamp Room Gray

Farrow and Ball French Gray (interiors)

Farrow and Ball French Gray (exteriors)
Farrow and Ball Mouse's Back

Earthborn Gregory's Den

Farrow and Ball Light Blue

Farrow and Ball Hay

Wednesday post? 

Two words....Down and Pipe. 

Lush, lush, lush.

Images: Mine, Mine, Mine, Apartment Therapy, Providencer UK, House Beautiful, House Beautiful

Something's Gotta Give House: The Details

And now, just in time 
for your weekend of blissdom, 
comes the last part of this 
Something's Gotta Give fest.

Today, let's look at a couple of small touches that make a her-yuuuuuge difference to the house.


It would be easy to go on for weeks and weeks with all the beautiful touches that this house uses to create its glorious whole but I've stuck to two big scheme ideas and two li'l detail ideas to keep it simple and, I hope, more inspiring.


Numero uno.


Consistency of furniture: Although at first glance, the furniture choices may seem rather random...the African-style stool in the Living Room, the formal round dining table.....

BUT look at the wood. ALL of it is dark. ALL of it contrasts with pale surroundings. From chair arms, to side tables to sideboards.

It doesn't matter if your furniture is a bit of a hotch potch...but it DOES matter if there is no common thread that links it all together. My TOP TIP  would be to stick to either light, or to dark wood.

Secondly, the lighting.

There is absolutely no shortage of lamps in The Beach House. Think of their electricity bill!! All around, there are main lights, wall lights, table lamps and standard lamps so that the mood can be changed at, literally, the flick of a switch.

How easy-peasy-japanesy it is to do the same in any house. Don't rely solely on overhead lighting. The light is often harsh. 






I love, LOVE, L:O:V:E lamps. So much versatility at so little cost.
This weekend, if you have a moment, and fancy a treat, buy an extra lamp and see what I mean.

What's coming up next week?
A Farrow and Ball extravaganza.
Culminating, next Friday, 
with the coolest giveaway in the world.


Yes, you heard it here first.
;-)

Something's Gotta Give House: Get The Look

So then, we've had our tour of the 

Something's Gotta Give house

...and now for the breakdown.

I mean breaking the decorative elements down. 

Not an emotional kind. 

Although I can quite see why that would happen upon leaving this beautiful film set. You wouldn't be the first and I'm sure you won't be the last. 

{I shall be passing tissues around.}

Here are some of the elements that I feel hold this house together perfectly. 

Yes, we're at that time when we talk about 

HOW TO GET THE LOOK!

First, let's peruse at the BIG picture, 

and then on Friday we can check out the little bitty details.

The first point HAS to be the harmonious colour scheme. Can you imagine stepping from one of these pale, softly-coloured rooms into a scarlet bedroom in this house? It just wouldn't happen. 

Here, Nancy Meyer has gone with:

white,

cream, 

blue, 

and brown.

Each room has a slightly different reworking of this range but all the rooms pick up on the different colours. 

Where's the blue in the dining room, I hear you cry?

Have you checked out the fabric on the chairs? See the little touches of blue?

Of course, within this tight palette, it's possible to include flashes of other colours...in the artwork, particularly.

The second BIG PICTURE point is consistency of style. Each room is decorated classically but with small nods to the beach location:

that stripy beach-towel rug,

the artwork on the walls,

the light and airy atmosphere.

Just perfect.

It doesn't matter what you're style is. But if you want to have a this feeling of gentle flow between rooms then try to stick to one style and one palette. Try it and see!

Thank you so much for reading.

Have a great day.

Something's Gotta Give: Dining Room

Let's take a look at the 

Something's Gotta Give Dining Room, 

shall we?

Compared to the other cavernous rooms in The Beach House

{does anyone have a bedroom that size?}, 

the dining room is positively teensy. 

Small but perfectly formed.

To make the most of the space, the dresser has been built back into the wall, creating the look of a large piece of furniture without taking up inches.

I love the fact that the director, Nancy Meyer, insisted that this house should be so user-friendly. The rooms all flow incredibly easily into one another.

And when I say house, I mean, of course, film set. 

It's hard to believe that this is all a mock-up, isn't it?

Look how beautifully the table is dressed. 

Even for a fairly informal dinner. 

Those candlesticks in the centre are a gorgeous touch.

Speaking of dressing tables gorgeously, the winner of the New House Textiles tablecloth is Lizzie Bradbury. 

{Lovely Lizzie, I'll be emailing you in two shakes of a bee's knee.}

And so, we come to the end of our 

Something's Gotta Give House tour. 

But, never fear.....

On Wednesday, I'll be taking a closer look at how you can make this look work for YOU.

{Yes, even on a smaller scale!}