Colours used: Archived Collection: Olive and Lime White
Welcome to Texas. Specifically, to Keegan Allen’s Texas decorating project. A unique, architectural farmhouse to hang your hat — cowboy hat, naturally — and relax.
Best known for leading roles as Toby Cavanaugh in Pretty Little Liars and, more recently, Liam Walker in Walker, Keegan Allen is a well-known actor by day. In his spare time, however, he’s an interiors enthusiast. So, when the opportunity arose to redecorate a Texas farmhouse, he was more than up for the challenge and knew exactly what he wanted to create: a calming, grounding retreat. He just needed one thing to bring his vision to life, an expert in colour, light and finishes. Luckily, our expert Consultant was ready and waiting to lend a helping hand — this wasn’t their first rodeo, after all.
“While filming Walker, I was craving a retreat from the busy city life. It’s really important to me when I come back into a space, that I’m calm and find a sense of stillness, so I worked with a Colour Consultant to find subtlety of colour in the palette that really draws a sense of calm.”
About Colour Consultancy
Every Farrow & Ball colour consultancy is completely bespoke. Each appointment is tailored to your style, your needs and your space. So, whether you want a bold, maximalist look or something a little more subtle, our Colour Consultants will look at the light and architecture of your home and suggest colours and finishes to create the mood you’re craving.
In Keegan’s case, calming green, browns and neutrals were the order of the day, offering a subtle nod to the shades in the garden outside.
“I’ve always felt colour plays a huge role in mood,” says Keegan, “so I surround myself with calming greens, warm browns and soft whites. The Colour Consultant really helped me to select the perfect palette for this space and I can’t emphasise enough how much that sets the overall tone for everything else.”
Kitchen
A self-proclaimed lover of coffee and entertaining, the kitchen is one of the rooms Keegan was most keen to get just right — a challenge our Colour Consultant took seriously. As well as being the proverbial heart of the home, this kitchen is the heart of the house’s colour scheme, tying together the colours used throughout the house, namely Olive from our Archive and Lime White.
“It’s a combination that plays beautifully with both morning light and evening sun,” says Keegan and this “unique” characteristic (the way “Farrow & Ball paint breathes and lives in the home”) he believes is “why Farrow & Ball surpasses all other paints”.
Colours used: Archived Collection: Olive and Lime White
Bedroom
With a framed buffalo print above the bed and a linen bedspread, the bedroom continues the calming, natural feel of the rest of the house. Using the same shade used in the kitchen, Lime White, creates a sense of flow and ease and, again, offers that all-important, extraordinary response to light.
“During the time you spend in a bedroom, which is usually early hours of the morning and before you go to bed at night, the changing colour, the light, the tonality and the contrast in this room is extraordinary. It’s really, really special and Lime White plays a big role in that.”
En Suite Bathroom
For a brighter feel in the en suite bathroom, the Colour Consultant suggested pairing archived shade Farrow’s White on the walls and ceiling with deeper London Stone cabinetry. The warm brown cabinets complement the herringbone tiles in the bathroom wonderfully, creating a subtle but still statement look.
Colours used: Archive Collection: Farrow's White and London Stone
Landing
It can be all too easy to overlook a transitional space like a landing. However, there are ways to turn area like these into defined zones, with as much character as the rest of the house. For example, Keegan added a versatile Olive bookcase, which can be styled by the occupant in anyway they choose.
The landing also posed another common decorating dilemma: how to approach items that are practical but not pretty. In Keegan’s case, this was a large, silver air duct. Fortunately, our Colour Consultants are experts at working with the features in a home and for this space, they found a simple but effective way to help the duct sit sympathetically alongside the existing wooden beams.
“One of the biggest concerns was the big air duct,” says Keegan, “when you walked into the space, it really dominated. The Colour Consultant had a brilliant idea of painting it Salon Drab, which is this beautiful, warm chocolatey tone. It really adds to the architectural farmhouse element of the space.”
Music Room
Last but not least, is Keegan’s personal favourite room. The ultimate oasis.
“The music room has always been the focus of my attention” says Keegan. “It’s my favourite room not just because it’s the music room, but because it’s the only room in the house wrapped in the colour green, Olive green.
“The Colour Consultant and I settled on this colour as the real tone setter of the entire house. I love sitting in here because being wrapped in this colour changes my mood and my energy.”
Colours used: Archived Collection: Olive