Living with Colour: The Modern House and Farrow & Ball meet Natalie Jones, owner of design shop Caro in Bruton, Somerset
Our four-part film series ‘Living with Colour’, made in collaboration with premium paint manufacturer Farrow & Ball, continues with a visit to design and lifestyle shop ‘Caro’ founder Natalie Jones’ home in Bruton, Somerset. You can watch the film here.
Natalie lives in an 18th-century, Grade II-listed home which she added a contemporary extension to with the help of Emil Eve Architects. We previously visited Natalie for our ‘My Modern House’ series, when she told us that she painted the kitchen extension with Farrow & Ball’s ‘Studio Green’ to achieve a sense of drama.
That boldness is befitting of the modernity of the extension, which is defined by its large picture windows and larch-clad exterior. ‘We wanted to be a bit more playful,’ says Natalie about the space.
Since then, Natalie has added the shades ‘De Nimes’, ‘Hardwick White’, ‘Bancha’ and ‘Railings’ to the upstairs interiors, which lie in the historical side of the building. ‘I wanted to be true to its history and bring a kind of soberness to the colour palette,’ says Natalie.
While adopting a generally neutral palette upstairs, Natalie has creatively added surprising moments, like the two-toned scheme in the guest bedroom that follows the line of where a picture rail would normally be expected, and a stand-out green wood panelled section in the main bathroom.
A lesson in how colour can be used to distinguish and define different periods of architecture, Natalie’s life with colour is one of sensitivity to the style, use and purpose of the different rooms in her home.
We’ll be sharing the final instalment of ‘Living with Colour’ next week, and you can have it sent to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletter. Watch the first film, a case study in working with subtle neutral shades, with artist Alessandra Taccia here, and see how grocers Ian James and Nick Selby live with a bold, graphic scheme in a converted Victorian school in Hackney here.
Show us how you live with colour by using the hashtag #LivingWithColour on Instagram.
