Paint on the Walls

Now for something a bit different from previous posts. It may not come as a total surprise that given my eye for color and light, I was intensely curious about wallpaper samples provided by the esteemed English paint house, Farrow and Ball.

These samples are simply astounding. What you cannot experience, dear reader, from these images is that these papers have actual texture; the texture created by paint applied as the design shape. I wonder how it is done exactly?

It's seems to be akin to a craft with sponge imprinting with heavy paint on heavy paper. One can feel where the lifting of the "sponge" leaves raised "ripples" of paint. Thus the texture is imparted.

http://us.farrow-ball.com/st-germain-bp-1415/st-germain//fcp-product/201415#








 http://us.farrow-ball.com/the-vermicelli-papers-bp-1525/vermicelli//fcp-product/201525

This "Vermicelli" wallpaper is equally intriquing to my sensibilities. I believe it is the sense of scale that renders the rather ornate micropattern into a more soothing effect at the macro level (image below). The coral color is also rather fantastic.

http://us.farrow-ball.com/paint-and-colour-in-decoration/see-all//fcp-product/500001

So this post must seem like an advertisement for F&B; but the products explain the long-standing nature of this company. I also particularly enjoy the above book, "Paint and Colour in Decoration" that I picked up in an interior design shop a few years back. The chapters organize the book into color families; and the photography within many stately homes in Britain shows off  F&B's product quite effectively. I recommend it.