I would paint the whole room the same colour, Skimming Stone on walls and ceiling, same finish. It's a beautiful colour and it's light enough to paint it all the same.

Thank you Juliet from Colourhappy for taking the time to write this. That is reassuring to know tha

Would you continue this theme in the rest of the existing house - which does not have Vaulted ceiling? - see below.

Or should I carry on with a white ceiling in the rest of the house?

1. I have painted a swatch of skimming stone on my existing wall , coving and then the ceiling. The ceiling looks very dark . Would you say for the rest of the house ( with a flat ceiling - stick to white - if walls are skimming stone and elephants breath )?

2. What do you mean when you say "same finish" ? Do you mean either do Modern Emulsion on both wall and ceiling ( or Estate on wall and ceiling ? ) . Do you have an example of one you have seen done which you would be happy to share please ?

2. Do you know how easy is it to colour match Skimming stone with a Trade quality paint that decorators will be happy to use?

I’d also do walls and ceiling the same colour and finish. As the room will house the kitchen you might want to use modern emulsion (or equivalent) as it’s more hard wearing.

Dulux Egyptian cotton is meant to be a close match only distinguishable to the practised eye, mine isn’t (at all!) and I see a green tinge. Johnstone’s is worth a try for matching. Dulux supposedly colour match now rather than match to their nearest colour or you could just try their close matches in a trade finish on the link.

Ceilings will come out darker but it only looks so dark against the white. I’d choose a complementary white like strong white (although depends on the light as it is quite cool) for the rest of the ground floor ceilings

https://www.e-paint.co.uk/colour-alternatives.asp?cRange=Farrow+and+Ball&cRef=FB+241&cDescription=Skimming+stone

The acupanel sounds great! where will you be panelling to?

Minnie
Thank you for your timely update .
I now have more confidence to painting the ceiling and wall the same color but only for the extension .

Now the question is whether we go Matt ( estate ) on the ceiling . I have been told that estate ( Matt) looks amazing on the ceiling and I am hoping that because the ceiling is vaulted and high it won’t have wear and tear and we can get away with it being matt ( estate) .
Have you painted a ceiling with F&B modern ?
Also I will lots of coving led light on the ceiling - so it’s to take away the harshness .
The dilemma I now have is that is the matt ( estate ) for the ceiling that much better better to take the risk of worry about stews over spilling .

Thanks also about your feedback re the acupanel . I will post some pics on here later tonight .

By the way- you are right - in the pic below the existing wall is Egyptian cotton - and that would have been a much cheaper option but it does have a lot more green in it .

The paint brush samples is skimming stone - over the Dulux Egyptian cotton

I like the skimming stone advice.

In other rooms of the house I would also paint the ceilings in Skimming stone but I wood emulsion the coving in a colour to match your woodwork which is presumably white.

And all the trade places colour match Farrow and Ball. Personally I think there is only a cost saving if your decorator passes the trade saving onto you. And in my opinion the Farrow and Ball paint is flatter (less sheen) and looks more expensive. I know there are plenty of people who don’t like the quality of Farrow and Ball but equally I have had bad experiences with trade centres poorly matching a colour. So my advice is it’s good to have happy trades so use their brand of choice, but make sure you get their trade discount and only buy one tin to start with to make sure you like the colour match. When you buy more later be sure to return to the same store as different paint machines elsewhere are calibrated differently.

I agree with all of the above. I know from experience that Skimming Stone is never matched accurately and this would bug me. If you have high ceilings and lovely coving then I would personally do the ceilings pale (off white or white) and the coving pale to draw the eye. Strong White is a good white for Skimming Stone as Minnie says. I would be slightly wary of Elephant's Breath, it seems to divide people. It can look pretty cold and dreary in light starved rooms so just be aware. 'Rolling Fog' range Little Greene could be a good flow colour from room to room, as could Slaked LIme, maybe worth trying. My sister has used all of these colours if you look on her insta @hovehomemakeover

Hi thank for the above comments . On the left hand side is the farrow and ball skimming stone and on the right is the trade skimming stone Leyland Trade . It looks and feel very similar .
So I will just go for the trade one for the snug .
I agree that Farrow and Ball has less sheen - but their tester pots are the chalkier estate ones - the ones I would always go for would be modern emulsion .

Will send some more pics later today . Thank you for some great tips

Everyone goes for F&B but I've used Earthborn claypaint in white (it's a very matt paint) on vaulted ceiling and it works very well with old natural colour oak beams. Little Greene "slaked lime" is also a subtle off white used on walls. too much white looks like a dentists room. I've used French Grey on skirting and architrave and it looks great in combination with oak doors. Whatever colour you use will look very different under different light conditions throughout the day - sunlight, grey day, artificial light so go for the colour that works best for the main time of use of the room. If you are paying decorators to do the work remember that the paint cost is only part of the equation. A trade paint costs the same to apply as a premium paint. Matching on pale colours is much much more difficult as sometimes it is only one drop of colour in a 5 litre can. if you want an exact colour, buy it from the maker.

it has now been painted in skimming stone walls and ceiling using Leyland trade colour match. Thanks for your tips and advice in painting the ceiling and wall the same colour. I think it works well ! The back wall is unpainted as it will be a "snug area " with a sofa and tv and plants

Now i need some advice on what colour scheme /pop of colour to select for the snug area from you creative people :-) please

The floor is being tiled ( and you can see some of the exposed tiles are polished grey.
I have left the back wall of the extension unpainted as we are going to have a media unit at the back ( see a picture of the design of the media unit ) .
The kitchen on the right hand of the extension will be brown acacia units (hacker) on the bottom along the window ( attached pic of the 3d visual ).
The media unit is acupanel in a concrete finish.
I was orginally thinking of painting the black wall a railings or downpipe colour but think it will look too harsh . Would you agree ?
I would love a pop of an intense colour - would the space look heavy with the Hague blue and the acupanel in the concrete colour . Other colour i love is Inchrya blue.

The

Question:
What palette can I go for with an acupanel like the one I have chosen. I am going off the idea of a Black backdrop. What other colour schemes would you go for ? I was wondering if i can go for another neutral like a "Hague blue" in the back wall and also have it echoing along the left hand side of the extension ( where the chimney breast it ) please see video so you can better a better sense of the space .

What colour will your sofas be? With the greys in the room I would think about making that wall something deep but contrasting. Perhaps a bronze colour or a burnt toffee colour. What else will go in there?

https://youtu.be/NclvKMkd6Ac Hi thanks @Juliet Docherty. Here is the youtube link of the space at the moment. Here is what else will be filling the space

1. Units along the length of the wall by the window in brown acacia at the bottom and soft gloss white on top. (as per pic)

Also units along the back wall ( fridge and storage in soft gloss white )

2. 3 m island in gloss soft white

3. island lights above the island https://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-partners-baldwin-large-pendant-ceiling-light/p5291565 - like the copper and the industrial look

4. Worktop for units in carera white with black vien Carrara Misterio - Shaw Stone Ltd.

5. Splash back along the kitchen back wall by the hood - either in carera white or the optidek am 007 in copper /toffee with black ( sample of the pic is attached )

5. 4 x side lights ( to be decided )

6. In the snug area a rich coloured sofa and a rug ( to be selected )

7. Cove lighting along the apex

8. Near the chimney breast a long dining table ( to be selected )

9. Cabinets along with the chimney breast ( to be selected )

I agree - we need a colour which will be deep and will contrast with the grey concrete acupanel media unit - love the idea of the copper /toffee - will it be a sufficient contrast against the adjacent skimming stone walls ? Would you wallpaper/or can you suggest a colour?

What about the Hague Blue - that is quite a deep colour? and I could offset that will some copper /toffee decorations on the back wall ? Also I would like a pop of colour near the dining area .

My immediate task is to choose a colour for the backwall as the decorator is in within a couple week and the media unit will be installed the week after . Do i just play it safe and do the back wall skimming stone - and change the back wall colour later - or is there a colour that is an obvious choice ?

Hi @colourhappy thank you for your advice. Please would you check again if you can open the youtube link ( I have double checked settings ) https://youtu.be/NclvKMkd6Ac 

Good advice about keeping the palette restricted - it is such a big space - so at the moment the colours are

• anthracite ( from the bifold)
• skimming stone ( from the walls )
• grey concrete acupanel ( from the media unit )
• brown ( acacia units at the bottom bac back )
• soft gloss white units and island
• Baldwin kitchen lights - copper and grey

I would love adding in deep blue and copper /orange /gold/yellow to the palette ( as in pic) How can I do this elegantly? :-)

what are your thoughts on this palette for the snug ?

Vardo, downpipe and incryra blue - against the skimming stone . Would you do Inchrya on the back wall or downpipe or Vardo ? @Juliet Docherty

Hi Arti, I managed to see the link. My take is that I wouldn't use Vardo, I'm not convinced about it, it's very strong although I've seen it used in characterful looking good. With the Skimming Stone, and the wood, would you consider a purple/brown colour for the back wall? I helped my sister choose colours and tiles for her kitchen and she used Skimming Stone and Knightbridge by Little Greene. It harmonises beautfully with the Skimming Stone and It looks fabulous with wood. She also has copper glass lights. Cognac coloured sofas would look really good too. Have a look on her @hovehomemakeover account on instagram and you can see the colours. Essentially the palette would be taupe, chocolate and burnt oranges and wood colours.