Painted With Pride: A Colour Consultancy for Glyn Fussell

Left Cabinets: India Yellow No.66 & Shaded White No.201 in Modern Eggshell | Ceiling: School House White No.291 in Modern Emulsion. Right Walls: Whirlybird No.309 in Dead Flat® | Panelling & Woodwork: Whirlybird No.309 in Full Gloss | Ceiling: James White No.2010 in Estate Emulsion

Activist, entrepreneur and guest on The Chromologist podcast, Glyn Fussell has been a good friend of Farrow & Ball for a while now. We’re currently collaborating with the co-founder of Sink The Pink on Painting With Pride, bringing a little love — in the form of our Carte Blanche collection — to beloved but underdressed LGBTQIA+ venues.

When Glyn wanted a little help transforming his own home, we were delighted to oblige. Pairing colours from our Carte Blanche collection and our signature palette, our Brand Ambassador Patrick O’Donnell brought Glyn’s self-proclaimed ‘gay skateboarder meets Liberace’ style to life. As you’d expect, the result is truly sensational. We sat down with Glyn to hear all about his colour consultancy experience.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your style?

I recently posed this question to AI and it described me as “a creative entrepreneur and accidental activist”, which I love. I’ve essentially spent the last 20 years deep in the LGBTQ+ scene, creating spaces for us to feel euphoric joy! I started in the underground when I co-founded Sink The Pink, after that followed Glitterbox, Savage and many other things until I finally arrived at Mighty Hoopla, the biggest LGBTQ+ festival in Europe. I also have a book, Manifesto For Misfits, a management company and a creative agency, plus I’ve worked with a silly amount of brands bringing together fabulous queers into mainstream campaigns. I have ADHD and YES I have weaponized it. My style? Well, it's mid-life crisis, gay skateboarder meets Liberace.

I found the road first. It's a conservation area where I used to walk my dog and it just grabbed me as the perfect spot EVER! One of those roads you dream about. The houses rarely came up for sale but I persevered — as I always do — and finally, finally, one came up. An old beauty built in 1834. It was in quite a state but when we saw it, I was in such a haze I didn't really see all the work that needed doing. I thought it was merely cosmetic. How wrong I was! We ended up doing everything and it took a lot out of us but thankfully we had the most wonderful project manager.

We wanted a house that feels grown up and playful at the same time. I’ve never owned anything other than shoes before, so I wanted to do this right. I only wanted to include things that mean something to me. Wildly, it's the first time I have ever felt truly calm and safe. The house has changed my life. 

I’m definitely not scared of colour and clashing shades. However, we’re surrounded by nature and I wanted a palette to accentuates its beauty. I also have a fiancé who has his own ideas, so it was wild remembering that I have to also consider those. And turns out he had some belting ideas too!  We worked with Patrick from Farrow & Ball — the messiah of colour I think — and he was a genius at making everything feel cohesive and balanced. It’s particularly impressive because, as anyone who knows me and has done shots with me on a weekend knows, I don't do balance!

My bedroom. It's just perfectly calm and makes me switch off — something I have never mastered before. I would have NEVER chosen the colours without guidance, as they’re more muted. Turns out fluorescent pink is not conducive with a peaceful night's sleep.

I’ve always LOVED Christopher John Rogers, so the Carte Blanche collection just walloped me round the face. It’s a pop art dream. The quality of Farrow and Ball was important to me too because I didn’t want to cut corners in the house, I wanted it beautifully finished.

I think to work with our community, you need to understand its needs. Venues are closing at a scary rate and these spaces are more than bars or clubs, these are our homes where we meet our chosen family. They form the lineage of our community. By adding much needed colour and love back into these spaces you’re showing that they’re important. That they’re cared for. We’ve got more UK venues coming up and I can’t wait. It's a gift.