Calke Green

Farrow & Ball's color curator Joa Studholme describes natural greens like Calke Green as having 'a sort of honest feel'. To our eye that is because it is a proper green, without the blue-gray twist that runs through so many of the company's other greens. It is a deep sage, and its depth is the thing that changes with light.

In a north-facing room or in low light it deepens and closes in; F&B stockist PV Macari Interiors describes the effect as cocooning. In strong south light its yellow warmth becomes visible and the green reads more vivid without losing its depth. East light shows more pigment in the morning; west light makes it richer in the late afternoon.

Unlike the pale greens, it does not flash blue in cool light. What it does is get darker, so the amount of daylight in the room decides whether it reads as a garden green or a library one.

Farrow & Ball's own advice is to use Calke Green on its own on both walls and woodwork, or with a darker neutral such as Old White on the woodwork to bring out its sage notes. Color-drenching — walls, paneling, doors and ceiling all in Calke Green — is a current use designers show repeatedly.

It is a celebrated kitchen cabinet color. Designers have used it on cabinetry and islands against soapstone and marble with copper and brass, and it is the rare deep green that looks right beside both stone and butcher block. Paneling, dado rails, fireplace surrounds and built-in shelving are its other habitual homes.

Farrow & Ball specifies its Dark Tones primer and undercoat beneath it. Exterior use is not something the brand or the designers surveyed address, so treat it as unverified.

Farrow & Ball names Slipper Satin No. 2004 as its complementary white, and suggests Old White No. 4 on the woodwork. The coordinating colors shown on the brand's own page are Lime White No. 1, Old White No. 4, Cooking Apple Green No. 32, Beverly No. 310, Studio Green No. 93 and Railings No. 31.

Designers reach for warm whites, dusty pinks and a deeper forest green. A pink-red fabric against it, or an off-white ceiling, are both documented pairings, and the copper and brass hardware that suits it in a kitchen suits it everywhere else.

It has no near twin in the American ranges, which is part of its appeal.

It can be too strong for a bedroom. Joa Studholme says the more natural greens like Calke are 'probably a little bit on the strong side' for one; she places them in kitchens and south-facing rooms instead.

It fails in a room with too little light if you expected a leafy green. In a dim room it becomes a dark green, and a beautiful one, but not the fresh sage on the card.

And it fails beside a cool white. A blue-white trim makes the green look bluer and harder; the brand and the designers who use it all pair it with warm or grayed whites for a reason.