HAVING A BALL WITH SOME PAINT
IT was instructive to note that TV homestyle consultant Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen is not a fan of Farrow & Ball.
For upwardly mobile types who haven’t pimped their cribs lately, this is the achingly chichi paint company that charges £84 for five litres of the stuff, which comes in shades such as ‘elephant’s breath’ and ‘mouse’s back’.
Honestly, says the makeover maestro himself, who’d be daft enough to daub mouse’s back on their walls? Er, me, actually. It’s in the bedroom. I like it. But he’s the daft one if he imagines most punters actually fork out £84.
No, they take their F&B colour chart to B&Q and ask them to make up their chosen shade in own-brand paint, reducing the cost by twothirds. Works a treat. And, without a word of a lie, they can boast it’s a Farrow & Ball colour.
Besides, Mr Llewelyn-Bowen is a fine one to talk about taste.
He was on the same plane as me to Cyprus last year – and I’ve seen his suitcases.