Slightly moody and never obvious, the best paint colors in the UK look as if they were created against the soft gray light of the British Isles. Here are five English paint lines we love.
Above: Little Greene is a paint manufacturer founded in 1773 as the Little Greene Dye Works of Collyhurst Wood, on the outskirts of Manchester. Known for depth of color, Little Greene paints have a complex pigmentation that provides character and definition. The company’s water-based paints have a low-VOC rating, and its oil-based paints are made with sustainable vegetable oil.
3. Paper and Paints
Above: Founded in 1960, by Robert Baty and currently owned by his son, Patrick, Paper and Paints of London specializes in color palettes for historic buildings, including Kensington Palace. Mixing paints from Little Greene (see above), they create colors to match traditional settings. In the US, they’ve worked with institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Colonial Williamsburg foundation.
4. Ecos Organic Paints
Above: Ecos Organic Paints are water-based and free of all solvents, VOCs, and toxins. When the Louvre had some touching up to do on walls near the Mona Lisa, Ecos was selected. Odor and fume free, the brand has also been singled out as ideal for allergy sufferers. Go to Remodeling 101, to learn All You Need to Know About VOCs in Paint. Photograph by Joanna Henderson.
5. Earthborn
Above: Another small, eco-friendly paint company, Earthborn, has developed Claypaint, a special clay-based formula with an ultra-matte finish that absorbs and softens the light in the room. Earthborn paint is available only in the UK and Europe.
6. Plain English
Above: UK kitchen outfitters Plain English teamed up with interior designer Adam Bray to develop a collection of 12 colors that are bolder than what is typically associated with the company’s understated, Georgian-inspired designs. With names such as Dripping Tap, Draughty Passage, and Scullery Latch, the palette (available in eggshell, gloss, and matte) is inherently English. The collection is exclusive to Plain English clients. See more in Bespoke Color from an Accidental Decorator.
7. Farrow & Ball
Above: The best known of the English paint lines, and the one most available in the US, Farrow & Ball was founded by John Farrow and Richard Maurice Ball in Wimborne Minster, Dorset in the 1930s. Several years ago, Farrow & Ball developed a new, water-based formula for its paints, reducing the solvents in its products to low and zero VOC. Colors are derived from natural pigments as well as other natural ingredients, such as china clay, lime putty, and linseed oil. And the company doesn’t use harmful ingredients like ammonia or formaldehyde.
This error message is only visible to WordPress admins
Error: No connected account.
Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to connect an account.
v5.0
×
Join the Remodelista Family of Websites
Become a Member at no charge
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
Or Subscribe for Maximum Value!
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
×
Sorry! As a registered member you get 10 free posts from our archive (posts more than a year old) every 30 days. You have reached your limit for this 30-day period. If you would like to access unlimited posts from the archive (ad free, too), become a subscriber today, and keep reading as many articles as you want.
Full Access Individual Subscription
Benefits include:
Unlimited access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive the full-text daily newsletters
All features that Members have access to
Annual subscribers pay just 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Sorry! You have reached your limit of three (3) free posts from our archive every 30 days. You can increase this to 10 posts by joining as a free Member, or read unlimited posts with no ads by becoming a paid Subscriber.
Subscribe to the Remodelista family of websites
For $5/month ($59.99 paid annually) you'll enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home and all the benefits of Membership.
Annual subscribers pay 50% off the monthly subscription price of $9.99
Become a Member at no charge
When you register as a free Member of the Remodelista family of websites (Remodelista, Gardenista, and The Organized Home), you gain access to all current posts plus 10 archived posts per month, our internal bookmarking tool, and the community bulletin board.
Congratulations on becoming a Subscriber to Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Unlimited access to all three sites
Ad-free browsing environment
Unrestricted access to 30,000+ archived posts
Receive any of the newsletters, including the the full-text daily Remodelista and Gardenista newsletters
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Congratulations on joining as a free Member of Remodelista, Gardenista and The Organized Home! You now have access to many great features across the sites:
Access to all posts published in the past year
Access 10 archived posts (older than one year) per month on each site
Use of our internal bookmark tool, so you can save products, posts, and other pages for quick reference
Access to our community bulletin board so you can ask and answer design-related questions
Unlimited access to the Product Catalogs, Design Travel sources, and Architect & Designer Directory listings
Choose from our ten newsletters to keep up with the latest on the sites
If at any time you want to become a Subscriber and enjoy unlimited, ad-free access to all our content, just go to the My Account link and choose Subscribe.
Have a Question or Comment About This Post?
Join the conversation