Colour Study: Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath

Inspired by Willow Crossley's Living Room, painted in Farrow and Ball's Elephant's Breath (what a name!), here is another colour study...

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath living room

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath is soft, calming, warm neutral...here's the lowdown! Colour toning paint suggestions: (from top) Farrow and Ball All White, Slipper Satin, Elephant's Breath and Charleston Gray

Farrow and Ball

{For information on my other Colour studies, click away...

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 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

Elephant's Breath bedroom

Farrow and Ball's paints are chalky, matt and delicious BUT are notoriously changeable in different lights. 

Bedroom in Elephant's Breath (Farrow and Ball)

This acts as a positive (enormous depth of colour, and instantly recognisable) but also makes some of colours pretty tricky to predict.

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath kitchen

I've tried to eliminate this unpredictability as much as I possibly can for you by sourcing images that best reflect the results you should expect in different conditions.

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath kitchen

In soft (by which I mean overcast!) daylight, Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath can appear greige - a gentle mix of grey and beige...

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath in dark Victorian hall

However, give Elephant's Breath even a glimmer of lamplight and it can go in two different directions....

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath in artificial light

either a bruised lilac shade....

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath bedroom

or a peachy brown...

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath under light bulb

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath under light bulb

Under cool, white halogen-type light, Elephant's Breath looks grey with delicate lilac undertones...

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath kitchen

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath under halogen lighting in Victorian hallway

It's the unknown line between these variations that means Elephant's Breath gets VERY mixed reviews from shocked home-owners who haven't realised that this paint has a mind of its own!

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath bedroom

Farrow and Ball's description Elephant's Breath as 'an interpretation of this famously named colour by John Fowler. Use as a colour in its own right, or as part of a 'stone' scheme.' 

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath

What? What does that even mean?

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath under dado rail in Victorian hall

'Stone' is usually a euphemism for warm, brown-based neutrals, which will work beautifully with natural materials, think rattan, linen and wood, but less well with cool greys...

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath on bathroom tongue and groove panelling

It's worth being aware when looking at images like this...

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath kitchen

...that special lighting techniques will have been used, which may give a false impression of the real colour.

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath kitchen

Even though the room has the lights on, more cool light will have been added from an off-picture source to give an additional effect.

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath panelling

This image below demonstrates what I mean. In the first room, the Farrow and Ball paint appears as a warm gray but if you peer carefully into the second, you'll see that in places, the paint takes on a definite lilac hue.

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath undervarious lighting conditions

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath is dark enough to work well as a floor colour...

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath painted floor 

or as a darker woodwork foil to an airy room...

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath woodwork

but still light enough to be used as an exterior wall paint colour. Here is Elephant's Breath with a Farrow and Ball Charleston Gray front door...

Front door is Farrow and Ball Charleston Gray with Elephants Breath house exterior walls.

Front door is Farrow and Ball Charleston Gray with Elephants Breath house exterior walls.

So whether your room is flooded with natural light, for a warm grey...

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath bedroom

...or whether your intended room will need artificial lighting, which make Elephant's Breath lean towards a richer purple-toned brown...

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath bathroom

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath 

...or, if you're looking, like me, for a new front door colour (the stark outside light giving a pale taupe finish to this front door in Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath)...

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath front door

...you'll end up with a sophisticated, modern, yet pretty and warm space....

Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath kitchen

...with Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breath.

Images via: Willow Crossley, Wealden Times, idhomes, broad oak, woodwork, adam rogers, turquoise textiles, houzz, Bibsnbraces, BibsnBraces, paradise design, claire mcfadyen, klausandheidi, dcdesigncenter, unknown, inspired living, unknown, Hill Farm, The Wall Panelling Company, g, Willow and Stone, Willow and Stone, Beautiful Homes, Stone and Chrome, chalk farm home, murdoch joinery

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