Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper

I have been renovating my first house and wanted to avoid the standard builders white in every room. Everyone's heard of farrow and ball so I started my journey by visiting a showroom and picking the brains of the very knowledgable staff. Armed with a colour chart and some samples I got the bug and raced home to purchase this book from Amazon. As we all know Amazon is usually a lot cheaper than the store price. This book is beautifully written, heaps of stunning photographs and invaluable information including how to pair colours and how to work out how many cans of paint needed for room sizes. My house is now painted and I still read this book as its just lovely. Visitors always pick it up and browse too so o will be leaving it out as a coffee table piece. If you are umming and ahhing about it, I urge you to purchase as it tells you everything and more. My only slight grumble is that a colour chart like the ones in the shops would be a welcome addition but really it's just a small grumble :)

I realise how sad it is to write a review about a Farrow and Ball book but this really is inspirational. Having tried FandB paints back in the summer I was converted and this book although more graphic than content helps visualise a defining look. The book is beautifully designed with contrasting brown paper sections. The latter are especially interesting and feature helpful information (coverage, sheen etc). Of course you could get most of these details from the FandB website but there is something nice about having a book to browse when looking to design a room.

A different remit to the Ros Byam Shaw books about Farrow & Ball interiors, this is "How To Decorate" and not just drool over colour schemes. The book feels different too, more chunky in appearance. It has a formal and simple layout for colour schemes and advice about the "how to" and what effect the famously subtle gradations of tints and colours have in juxtaposition, different light conditions and types of room, hallway etc. The layout has a vintage look that recalls the Fifties or a time of parcel paper, string and cardboard labels when a seven year apprenticeship was required to become a painter and decorator. It still is?? I like décor books for inspiration mostly, I am not an expert on the practical side of painting houses. However it is probably quite helpful and informative for those who seek advice and inspiration. The effect at first perusal is of a rather subdued and puritan book but a further study shows many stunning interiors, very artistic and clever with 'controlled bohemian' (not easy to control bohemian) something of a signature look. Not sure it is possible to get exact representations of colour in photos and some of the special mock ups, for the neutrals especially, make them all look a bit on the chilly side when F&B fans know they are not.

I have loved Farrow & Ball paints for years and love their range of colours. This book is terrific in showing how certain colours look in different light. There are lots of hints and tips of how to get the best results.

Excellent book containing loads of useful information, lovely photographs to inspire, and very helpful hints on which colours to combine on walls, woodwork etc. I love F&B paint and I used info in this book to decorate a bedroom and the kitchen. Delighted with the result. I would not have thought of using anything other than white on the woodwork, but using suggestions from the book has made all the difference. Basically you can't go wrong.

Undoubtedly a quality produced coffee-table style publication, this is more for the eye of the interior designer than your average DiYer, IMO...e.g. there are just 2 pages that tell you how to paint! If you want to understand colours and enjoy perusing the interiors of other homes, then this could be the book for you. It is not a technical manual that shows you how to decorate, just the things you need to think about in terms of colour schemes, the style you want to achieve, the environment, e.g. modern or period, how light affects colour, e.g. north or south facing etc. The picture caption detail can be hard to read in a poor light, in my experience, and the publication could benefit from a ribbon book-mark to keep your place, IMO. From the back cover: 📝 ‘Transform your home with paint and paper To celebrate the 70th anniversary of this iconic company, Joa Studholme and the Farrow & Ball creative team share their expertise to demystify the nitty-gritty of home decoration. With advice on everything from the creative potential of floor paint to how light affects colour, ‘How to Decorate’ is set to become the definitive interior design sourcebook.’ 📝 ‘THE FARROW & BALL DIFFERENCE’, from page 226: ‘What makes Farrow & Ball different? We can all see something very special when a room has been decorated in our paint ~ there is a certain depth of colour and sophistication ~ but why is that?...’ Based on FARROW & BALL products, history et al, it does include a handy table on page 222, listing the INTERIOR FINISHES with USE, SHEEN, COLOURS AVAILABLE, TIN SIZE AVAILABLE & COVERAGE notes. Page 98 ~ ‘COVERAGE’…is all about understanding how much to order based on the size of room, paint type etc. This also covers WALLPAPER by explaining: 📝 ‘…The best way to work out how many rolls of wallpaper you need is to ask your paper hanger’. Alternatively, Farrow & Ball can help your estimate your requirement, although our advice is for guidance only.’ ooOoo ~ FARROW & BALL® ~ HOW TO DECORATE ~ AUTHORs: JOA STUDHOLME & CHARLOTTE COSBY ~ PHOTOGRAPHY: JAMES MERRELL, ROBIN KITCHIN, JAMES BOWDEN & JUSTIN BARTON ~ PUBLISHER: MITCHELL BEAZLEY ~ 2016 ‘Printed & bound in China’ ooOoo The chunky hardback tome measures around 23 cm x 26.5 cm x 2.5 cm and opens to 268 high quality, shiny finish pages. The title is embossed on the front cover and the matte shade for the spine area follows through to the main PART opening pages inside. To see if it is the style for you, the current 'LOOK INSIDE' facility above gives a good insight into the layout, including the INTRODUCTION & the CONTENTS, the latter dividing the pages into 3 main PARTS, namely: 1. WHERE TO START 2. THE MANUAL 3. THE DIRECTORY …with each divided into various subsections. As previously mentioned, each PART opens with a matte finish set of pages that matches the across spine, lightly textured colouring on the cover. A short GLOSSARY is on page 258, followed by a list of ‘FARROW & BALL SHOWROOMS’, pages 259-261, current at the time of publication. Then follows the alphabetical INDEX, pages 262-265, italicised for captions, before the ACKNOWLEDGMENTS, on the last page, with notes about the authors & main photographer completing the book. If it does prove to be the style of book for you FARROW & BALL: RECIPES FOR DECORATING , is the companion book, published back in March 2019.

I just started an interior design course and this book has been incredibly useful in my journey so far. To anyone studying, dabbling in interior design or even just wanting to redecorate your own house, I seriously suggest this. It's a great base that you will find yourself going back to even as you progress more and get more knowledge.

Love it. Very useful advice. Not just an inspirational coffee table book. Plenty of content. Good purchase. There is a newer version just come our in 2019 I believe. I haven’t seen that so I can’t compare. This doesn’t feel dated though

Acquistato come regalo per una ragazza a cui piace molto il mondo dell'arredamento, l'ha apprezzato tantissimo. Il libro è fatto molto bene, è pesante e ben strutturato. Contiene tantissime foto per spiegare meglio le descrizioni, che sono molto dettagliate ed esaustive. Il libro è davvero molto interessante ed utile per chi vuole consigli su come utilizzare i colori nella propria casa, unica pecca attenzione alla lingua, che è inglese. Se non avete problemi con questa, ve lo consiglio assolutamente.

Buchideen halten, was der Titel verspricht

Farrow & Ball es un referente en pinturas. El libro dá muchas ideas de como aplicar el color y de como con el color transformas el ambiente.

Beautifully illustrated.

I learned so much about paint colors from reading this book. Good info about pure colors, tone and shade. The author provided many photo examples of how to use two or three colors in a room. This is a reference book for me. I love the book. Louise