This is one of our favourite books at the moment – we’re dipping in & out of it all the time!

It’s entitled, Farrow & Ball – Decorating with Colour.

It’s beautifully written by Ros Byam Shaw with stunning photography by Jan Baldwin.

We tour around Europe, visiting some truly gorgeous homes that incorporate Farrow & Ball products into their decorating schemes.

There’s no doubting that Ros is an expert when it comes to this much-loved British brand, this being her second book in collaboration with them!

Her first book concentrated solely on English houses, but in this tome we’re also treated to peeks inside the homes of Farrow & Ball lovers in France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Denmark, Norway & Switzerland.

There’s a great variation in the types of property & spaces featured – from country farms to urban villas. They have broadly traditional, rustic country and contemporary styles – but in truth they’re truly eclectic, their owners skilfully mixing items from many styles & eras.

They’re furnished with antique, vintage, retro and industrial pieces.

In addition to having owners with great taste, they all have one more important thing in common…

…the magic touch of Farrow & Ball.

We love Farrow & Ball ourselves – the tradition, the integrity, the colours, the eccentric names!

This book is a must for anyone who shares this love – or for anyone who likes beautiful interiors.

We like the fact that each photograph is accompanied by a short descriptive passage that helpfully includes the specific paint shades used in each space.

The author also shares each owner’s story, the property history, architectural highlights and details about certain pieces of furniture & art works.

The book is divided up into broad sections which cover the decorating principles relating to Classic, Contemporary and Country.

Towards the end of the book there’s also practical information about products, finishes and colour groupings that work well together.

The author also takes us inside her own home – and a beautiful home it is too – with a modern, country, rustic style. We love the house and could really relate to the section where she talks about the challenge of a poorly lit space – in her case, an inner hall. She plucked up the courage to paint this space in Farrow & Ball ‘Mahogany’.

It’s counter intuitive, but as Ros points out, the darker shades create atmospheric & dramatic spaces – and actually make them look bigger. She says that it still gives her a thrill every time she enters. We’ve been toying with the idea of painting our landing area & upstairs lounge space in a dark shade. This section of the book has finally convinced us to go for it!

We know what we’re going to paint – and when. There’s just one last question to resolve though – Mahogany, Tanner’s Brown, Pelt, Off-Black, Pitch-Black or Downpipe??  We’ll flick through the book once again to look at how the various shades look in real life.

This book comes highly recommended. It’s a comprehensive guide – and will be an endless source of inspiration.

[This review is brought to you in collaboration with Farrow & Ball]