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What colour would you suggest??


Nicos
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Our longere in Normandy has dark oak stained beams everywhere which seems traditional for this locality.

As the walls are painted white, the darkness created by the woodstain is lifted somewhat. However- it does look quite stark and I wondered if cream would soften the overall feel. There are so many creams on the market- which would you choose?? (I want to buy in UK for interior decoration)

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 I have just used 'Sand White' (very slightly creamy) and chalk white (very slightly beige/grey tint) http://www.crownpaint.co.uk/pdfs/emulsion.pdf

Crown have lots of these shades that give the lightness of white with just a little hint of a shade.  Farrow and Ball also have a good range, but slightly dearer. Tallow or House White would be my choice http://www.farrow-ball.com/productlist.aspx?cid=PC&language=en-GB

NB. Knowing what Sand White looks like on a wall I can say it is nothing like the on line shade card - best to look at a real shade card IMHO !

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[8-)]the bigger problem is how much light enters your room-if as a lot of french houses windows are small and due to depth of wall or thickness ,then a lighter colour is necessary, otherwise you will have a darker room. again some people want this and also at night when you have your lights on which are tungsten bulbs you will get a completely different appearance due to metamerism.

 

I would recommend you buy 2 different shades as you will need at least 2 coats and paint 2walls with the different shades before deciding as it is generally very surprising the difference you obtain

Then you can use 1 colour as first coat and the other to finish.

I spent over 45 years as a paint chemist and it is always a dispute on whether your colour vision is good and you have an understanding wife!!!!

 

otherwise you will end up painting the walls many times!![8-)]

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[quote user="powerdesal"]  I think Dulux used to do a "barley white" which I remember as slightly warmer than stark white.
[/quote]

Yes !  That's the one.  Years ago we brought some back from England when we were in the Perche with beams and walls we had done in ciment blanc.  When the walls needed painting over that Barley White was just right.

 

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Oh dear, I must make the decision on what shade of white again soon as well. Last time, I painted about eight swaths of sample paint on a wall of different shades of white. I asked my husband which he preferred and all he could say after a few minutes was, you have got to be kidding. White seems to have more variations than any other colour. [:)] 

Ab, that is a very good suggestion about painting an entire wall, that is what I will do. As you said, it is hard to be certain with a small area painted. Problem now will be narrowing it down to two. [:)]

Good luck Nicos.

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[quote user="Nicos"]Our longere in Normandy has dark oak stained beams everywhere which seems traditional for this locality.[/quote]

You don't have to keep the beams dark you know.[:)]

Plenty of French people paint their beams in pale colours. Their parents/grandparents may quiver with something approaching horror, but it really brightens the rooms up.

The ones in my living room are a golden colour (they were black, but I had them sand blasted).  I wouldn't discount painting them in the future though, if I get fed up with that look. The beams in my hall were painted white after being cleaned, because there's less natural light in the hall. They look fine, and the hall is much brighter.

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I'd love to have the main beams sandblasted back to their original colour but can't cope with the idea of all the mess just for now.

All the timbers running between the beams are that colour too!

For now the idea of a quick coat of paint on the walls seems so much easier whilst we work out the long term changes.Nothing like putting your mark on a property is there?????

Our neighbours have painted their walls red,orange and purple!!!

I like the idea of 2 different shades though-thanks![:)]

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Paint between the ceiling beams. Definitely! We did this (white but off-white would've been better) when we first bought our house and it made an enormous difference to the room. And cream is much warmer and gentler than white... but as to which cream... [Www] I have vast quantities of cream swatches so I'll look out the colours that we like. The depth of the hint of cream which will work could be somewhat dependent on whether you have any exposed stone walls or other strong, dark features - like the beams. A slightly "stronger" shade helps balance darker or stronger features. Another thing to do with longeres (which is more or less what we have) is put large mirrors - 1m x .6m say - on walls opposite doors and windows. That helps reflect the available light around and makes the house feel much wider. You do get used to seeing yourself all the time... or, in my case, ignoring myself. [:P]

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The original colour scheme throughout our house was white walls and wood - beams, panelling, stairs etc.  When we came to repaint the walls, it soon became obvious that the white was not brilliant white.  We eventually found that B & Q Calm Colours - Antique White was the exact match. It is a slightly creamy off white with none of the starkness of brilliant white. 
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The paints we're using at the moment are from Dulux's Warm colours - Twisted Bamboo and Quilted Calico shades - there are four shades to each colour. They're creamy and light but have an earthiness to them that I think works with stone, wood, etc. I prefer a chalky finish - anything with a silk-y finish just looks wrong. Well... it doesn't appeal to me, anyway...[:P]

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Has anyone tried varnish stripper or oxalic acid to lighten the dark beams without the mess of sandblasting? I'm going to try this next week when we go over next week but would be interested if anyone has tried this. Some of our beams are between 15 and 18 inches deep and the dark colour does make the room look dark overall.

We used an off white shade in a Chalky Finish emulsion, (if I remember the brand name I'll update this post but it is available in B&Q ) on the ceilings but you could always try limewash. Mike Wye and Old House Store sell pigments that can be diluted as far as you wish to create light colours. www.mikewye.com and www.oldhousestore.com.

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I like the idea of the chalky finish- we have used this in England with some of the Fired Earth colours and they have a feel of depth about them. There is one wall in France around the fireplace which hasn't been triple/quadruple insulated which looks fantastic.

We've never had to consider the stone/floor tiles/ joists combination prior to selecting the wall paint before! ...Oh ..and what's all this about grouting floor and wall tiles with dark brown or bright orange?????[:-))][Www]

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