ONE PERFECT: GREY

"SLATE III" FLAT EMULSION | October 31st 2008

Grey"Grey can be the most romantic of colours", writes Gavin Houghton, former art director of World of Interiors  ...

From INTELLIGENT LIFE magazine, Autumn 2008

Every issue of Intelligent Life magazine features our choice of the "perfect" item, be it a balm (spring 2008), a rose (summer 2008) or lamp (winter 2007). For the Autumn issue, Gavin Houghton chooses the finest interior paint colour: grey. 

Grey can be the most romantic of colours. A wall painted in this chalky-textured "architectural" shade from the London-based interiors company Paint & Paper Library subtly evokes the faded glories of the French empire, while retaining enough creamy warmth to work in a modern setting.

As a backdrop it has real range, counterpointing Louis XIV gilt, Deco chrome, tropical lime greens and brash oranges with an equal, if quiet, panache. It's a well-bred paint, too: David Oliver, the design director of Paint & Paper Library, based it on an 18th-century colour, then remixed it using modern pigments to achieve its almost magical depth of colour. Appearing dove grey in incandescent light, milky grey in sunlight, its shifting nature is all part of the intrigue--and the romance. 

 

Slate III: £17.50 (€21.80) for one litre, from Paint & Paper Library, 5 Elystan Street, London SW3; +44 (0)20 7823 7755

Picture credit:  Damien Blottiere

Styling: Mary Fellowes 

(Gavin Houghton is former art director of World of Interiors, and one half of the interior designers Eicker-Houghton)

 

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Comments

It reminds me those draft

November 24, 2008 - 19:21 — recovery software reviewer (not verified)

It reminds me those draft gray architectural renderings. Just add some thin dark-gray wireframe, polygons – and you'll have a 3d-in-a-room feeling. The idea is worth trying it someday…

Interesting perspectives on

August 20, 2009 - 12:55 — Chicago painting (not verified)

Interesting perspectives on Grey, I never seen this color as a romantic color but now I do. It's amazing how much a simple association can do, no wonder interior designers are so perfectly creative, they really know how to get inspired.