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New Paint Range from Cassandra Ellis

I should probably apologise in advance for this post as it may be something of an enabler. I have just discovered that one of my favourite interior designers, Cassandra Ellis, has launched a range of paint. There are 18 gorgeous colours based around a neutral palette of soft whites, faded pinks, pale greys and a few deep, dark ones to finish.

smoked green blue paint by Cassandra Ellis
smoked green blue paint by Cassandra Ellis

You can see some of the colours here and if you were thinking of a little refresh this year then this may be the place to start (it’s £5 for a tester pot). I definitely am but I know I’m not quite ready yet as I was thinking about green for the sitting room and then saw the gorgeous Fallen Plum (see lower down) and immediately began wondering if that was the one for me instead.

I still love my dark grey sitting room and am not ready to paint it pale (yet/neversayneveretc/callmealiarinsixmonths) but I am definitely in the mood to start flirting with other colours on the spectrum. At Christmas it was navy, last week it was dark green and now I’m toying with the aforementioned plum.

faded blossom from the new paint range by Cassandra Ellis
faded blossom from the new paint range by Cassandra Ellis

Or course this maybe nothing more than a little dalliance during a long and happy relationship with dark grey, but it has reached that danger point where I may already have been unfaithful in my head. The question is does it end there?

There is another question though, which is perhaps more relevant and more important to you than the state of my paint marriage. Is expensive paint worth it?

tea rose from the new paint range by Cassandra Ellis
tea rose from the new paint range by Cassandra Ellis

At £95 for a five litre tin, Cassandra’s paint is up there with the other high end brands on which opinion is always divided. My builder swears by it and adores the depth of colour and absolute matt chalky finish. Other decorators hate it and won’t touch the stuff. It is true that a chalky finish does mark and is hard to keep clean in the paler colours. If you are troubled by sticky fingers and dirty little hands then do consider modern emulsion as it has a slight sheen that is wipe-clean. Aah the poetry of paint.

plaster white is like "biscuity marble" or a pale stone/beige/pink/white says Cassandra Ellis of her new paint range
plaster white is like “biscuity marble” or a pale stone/beige/pink/white says Cassandra Ellis of her new paint range

But what else justifies the price? Well the expensive brands claim to use only natural pigments whereas the cheaper ones use synthetic. I haven’t asked them all so I can’t vouch for that as true. But what I will say is that expensive paints will give you that depth and variation of colour that you don’t get with cheaper paints which are a little flatter.

quiet grey is the perfect soft neutral for when white is too white, says Cassandra Eliis
quiet grey is the perfect soft neutral for when white is too white, says Cassandra Eliis

Now that can be a blessing in disguise. Your walls can change how they look depending on the time of day and the light, which may, if you are trying to match it to a cushion, be maddening. My grey walls sometimes take on a greenish hue, which I love, and at other times look simply a deep, dark grey. This is why choosing the right shade of grey can be such a nightmare as it changes its mind at the best of times, never mind when it’s made up of 57 different pigments all of which are fighting to be seen. Someone should write a book of advice on that. Oh.

shadow grey is like gossamer and just as changeable - from the new Cassandra Ellis paint range
shadow grey is like gossamer and just as changeable – from the new Cassandra Ellis paint range

There is one other point in favour of the pricey ones. They don’t fade. So if you are pretty sure that the colour you choose is going to stay on the walls for a decent amount of time (and don’t forget the biggest cost if you don’t DIY is labour) then a more expensive brand is better. It can make the walls look alive-  in a totally non-threatening way of course – it will stand the test of time and the richness of the colour will not fade or become patchy with the uneven sunlight shining through the window.

If, on the other hand, you change your mind like you change your towels, then you should probably consider very carefully if you will get the value for money from an expensive paint. It’s like that expensive handbag you were trying to justify on a cost per wear basis. I have had dark grey walls in my sitting room since 2012. Five litres of emulsion, a couple of eggshell and my own time to paint it and that doesn’t seem too bad. Even throw in a couple of day’s labour from the decorator and it’s still justifiable. It still looks great too.

the rich tones of fallen plum by Cassandra Ellis
the rich tones of fallen plum by Cassandra Ellis

On the other hand, it’s the same price for my bedroom and I’m not entirely convinced we got that colour right. That might be looking like a more expensive mistake. So there are, as ever two sides to every argument. You have to decide which one suits you best and choose your paint accordingly.

But if you fancy some of these gorgeous colours you know where to go. Now, I’m off to order some testers. Let me know if you do too.

bitter chocolate speaks for itself by Cassandra Ellis
bitter chocolate speaks for itself by Cassandra Ellis

New paint by Cassandra Ellis

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

6 Comments

  1. I love the plaster white, it’s just the right tint of little bit pink but not quite. But the emulsion is £110/5l so using that as a base neutral colour around the house won’t be an option. I’m all for quality and natural ingredients etc but once you break the £100 mark it becomes a little harder to justify no?

  2. Ooof the Fallen Plum is beautiful, not a million miles away from Fired Earth’s “Caragheen” for which I’m still trying to find the right spot. A purveyor of fine paints once whispered that the majority of them are actually produced by the same manufacturer, is this an urban myth? Perhaps looky-likey paint is a good idea before making a final decision? Valspar is getting a lot of love on Instagram at the moment.

  3. A very good range of colours but £95 a tin, the northerner says!
    The fallen plum is very nice, if you are going to plum(p) for it I assume you will go and see it on a wall somewhere. It would echo the pink of your chaise longue but it would dominate the base colour of your room, are you ready for that.
    Would Enid be happy?
    The quiet grey is very similar to the Fescue that we painted our walls downstairs. In September we painted the hall, stairs and landing in Tusk which looks fantastic and I took a leaf from one of your suggestions and had the palest hint of pink that I could find painted on the kitchen walls. All brilliant choices.
    I am sure you will make your mind up, eventually.

  4. Beautiful subtle colours. It’s possibly a worse problem to change them if you’re not DIY , but husband is DIH! I too love the fallen plum – not too far off the dark grey, is it?

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