A visual analysis of the colours used in furnishing fabrics and wallpapers from the 15th century to now, providing inspiration for designers. This simply structured and highly original book analyses the palettes that have been used by designers in the creation of furnishing fabrics and wallpapers from the 15th century to the present. The colours used in each pattern are presented in a simple proportional grid, giving a clear understanding of hues that have been expertly combined at different periods to create the designs we continue to admire and emulate. Spectrum opens with a brief introduction by interior design expert Ros Byam Shaw, exploring the history of colour as used in interiors. The fabrics and wallpapers that follow are arranged chronologically. Each is reproduced on its own double-page spread, and is accompanied by a brief narrative-style caption that provides information about each fabric or wallpaper and its significance in the context of interior design. Unique in such a book are the colour grids shown beside each pattern, in which the colours in the original piece are shown in proportion to their use, and with their CMYK references to enable designers to replicate these colours in their own work.

Iconic brand Farrow & Ball began in the 1940s as a small firm based in Dorset specializing in paints made in the traditional way with traditional ingredients. Despite its success, Farrow & Ball has stayed true to these origins. It is the quality of the paint, with its exceptional depth and subtlety of colour, that has made the company famous worldwide. Farrow & Ball paints look as good on the walls of a slick Soho flat as they do in a period ballroom and are as perfect for a cottage as in a castle. Divided into chapters according to style, including Classical, City, Modern Country, Cottage and Country House, the first part of the book shows Farrow & Ball paints and wallpapers in a wide range of unusual and beautiful interiors. Part Two of the book is devoted to colour. From the themes of All White and In Neutral to Softly, Softly and Bright and Beautiful, each chapter explores a particular palette and shows how colour can be used to create atmosphere, character and charm. Inspiring, instructive, celebratory, this book brings out the painter and decorator in us all.

Interiors fashions come and go, but iconic British brand Farrow & Ball transcends passing trends and has become a byword for its sophisticated wallpapers and highly pigmented paint. Following on from the best-selling Farrow & Ball Living with Colour, this exciting book features a diverse range of fabulous homes. Whether a converted factory in Paris, the attic of an Amsterdam canal house or a family home in Southern Germany, these interiors are full of fresh ideas and clever ways to use paint and wallpaper. The book is divided into three main chapters: Classical, Country and Contemporary. Under these headings, 18 locations are presented as case studies. In addition, spread throughout are ten informative Decorating Principles, each one discussing a different decorating concept and enabling the reader to put it into practice in their own home. At the end of the book there is a glossary of Farrow & Ball's popular neutral colour palettes and information on choosing the right type of paint. Practical, intriguing and often surprising, this is a book certain to inspire creativity in all home decorators.

"The sheer variety of interiors featured in this enjoyable book is happy evidence that an English tradition still thrives." Review of English Eccentric in The World of Interiors. The English style in interior design is admired and imitated the world over. At its grandest it is a stately home furnished with antiques, but the houses featured in this book are cottages, farmhouses, townhouses and apartments. What links them is as much an attitude as a look. The English style of decoration is practical and informal, designed around the inhabitants of the rooms and their lifestyles rather than to awe or impress. These houses are lived in and loved, with interiors that are comfortable, relaxed and not afraid to be pretty. The book's chapters - Plain English, English Eccentric, English Rose, English Country House and Classic English - reflect the many and varied facets of English style, and each section ends with pages devoted to suggestions for furnishing a house in all these versions of English style. At the back of the book, there is also a listing of suppliers to help readers create their very own take on perfect English style

Some styles of decorating have a longer shelf life than others. One of the most durable is English Country Style, which works just as well in a city apartment or suburban home as it does in a rectory or manor house. We may recognise an interior as archetypally English, but putting a finger on exactly what makes it so can be tricky. One of the strengths of English style is that it isn't prescriptive. In fact, quite the opposite. It is relaxed, laissez-faire, and endlessly adaptable - all reasons, no doubt, why it has enjoyed such longevity. You know it when you see it, but what are its essential ingredients? In Perfect English Style, Ros Byam Shaw looks at a range of rooms with a strong English feel to them. As it happens, they are all in England, though this is a look that travels the world, still predominantly English in flavour even when spiced with foreign ingredients. Ros explores the main rooms of a house, from hallways to bedrooms, their characteristics and furnishings, and how they achieve that mix of comfort, informality and visual charm that is the hallmark of English style. Ros also homes in on specifics; the qualities of patina, the important role of fabrics and fresh flowers, how to buy, use and include antique and vintage furnishings, and how a collection, whether of pebbles or 18th century glass, adds individuality and character.