Paint is not always just paint

I love interiors almost as much as cooking (which if you're my friend on Facebook, you'll know is A LOT). Thankfully I have an uber-talented friend, LWC, a designer who is my guide and style guru when it comes to all things interiors (and cooking for that matter). Whether it's furniture, arranging space, colors, design, fabrics, picture hanging... you name it, her impeccable taste always knows best. She's my go-to person in more ways than one.

When I lived in NYC, in addition to taking me shopping for my first apartment, she gave me a stack of her business cards so I could browse around the famous D&D building-- NYC's premiere design center with 120 showrooms. What a treasure trove of decorating! Furniture, fabric, decor, lighting, everything that you could possibly think of was there. Unfortunately at the time (or, who am I kidding-- even now) I couldn't afford to purchase. But oh, did I like to look. I would take notes and snip ideas from catalogues that I would put into a "wish book" that I still reference when doing up my own house.

LWC recently turned me onto this amazing paint and paper company: Farrow and Ball. I know you're thinking, paper and paint? But, oh-- if you love design and decorating, you'll love this company. I actually got to go to one of their shops when I was in London a couple of weeks ago, and oh the delight. The most beautiful paint colors and wallpaper patterns. Paint is not always what it seems. It has the ability to transform a room-- whether you use color or just add a fresh coat of a neutral. It can clean up a space and add interest (for those who've followed this blog for a while-- both of you, you'll remember my Chicago apartment make-over a few years back...). If I had a plethora of rooms to paint and paper, I would have placed an order right there. As it turns out, I was looking for some paint for a little DIY project (a cabinet makeover that I am HATING-- more on that to come), and picked up some sample pots (I love sample pots) to test out. Of course, you really have to be committed and love the color-- F&B is not cheap-- about $80 (50GBP) for a 5 liter can of paint. But the options are divine. Plus, their website is super cool-- if you pick a color, it will give you suggested "color schemes" to go with that color. Brilliant for the person who is a little afraid of color and tends to stick to neutrals (in design and in dress). Plus, who except the uber-talented (like LWC) can tell the difference between the 20 different kinds of white that you can choose from?

I'm not yet sure if I'll be brave enough to paint my new cabinet... but if I do, these are the two colors I'm considering for the inside of the cabinet. I like gray lately, so leaning toward the Oval Room Blue since it has more of a gray undertone. We shall see!