How To Pick The Perfect Front Door Paint

Choosing the right front door colour for your home is not a matter of succumbing to the latest fashions. We want you to have a house frontage that makes your heart skip a beat every time you return from a long day at work, and that means putting aside other people's ideas of what's on-trend and focusing on what makes you happy.





This is easier said than done with the myriad of paint shades available but that shouldn't make you feel despondent. We're here to help ensure that the colour you end up with is one you really love. With that in mind, here are some questions to set you on the way to your perfect front door.

Are you drawn to warm or cool colours?

Don't restrict yourself to colours that are typically linked to 'hot' or 'cold' climates. Every colour can have cooler or warmer undertones, (or, for that matter, be thoroughly neutral).

For example, here is a picture of a front door painted in Little Greene's Celestial Blue. Although blue is traditionally thought of as a cool colour, this particular shade is warm and lively.

Conversely, see how this front door leans towards the cooler end of the red spectrum, with its blueish undertones. Try Farrow and Ball's Brinjal for a similar look.

Do you want your front door to stand out or to blend in? 

If you're stuck with a not-so-pretty look then we can help you pick out a colour which blends in with your exterior walls so that there is no stark contrast between the different surfaces.

This effectively means that the eye can move seamlessly over the front of your house, without noticing specific details, but taking it in as a whole. Try Paint and Paper Library's Estuary for the toning look below.

Or is your front door particularly lovely? If so, make the most of it by picking a brighter shade. For a smart, bright red, perfect against pale walls, choose Farrow and Ball's Blazer.

How often do you plan to repaint?

This is time to be frank with yourself. If the answer is infrequently then we would definitely advise choosing a classic colour that won't date, such as Dulux Gloss Black, which is hard-wearing and timeless. You'd certainly be in good company...

However, if you're happy to redecorate often then why not choose something a little more daring? We love it that these owners have created a look they adore by picked out Little Greene's Eau De Nil and Little Greene's Garden. 

Our last paint-picking question for you is this:

When looking at other people's front doors, which are the houses that make you want to stop and stare?

Search out beautifully decorated houses that are built from similar materials to yours, and, if possible, face the same direction (as we said here, paint can look surprisingly different depending on the quality of light it receives).

Be brave! Knock and ask the owners which paint they have used....though it's always worth trying a sample size out before committing to a full tin.

Of course, we are well aware that these questions overly simplify the whole angst of picking the perfect paint for your front door but we hope they have given you a good starting point, as well as an idea of the general assistance we can offer.

For a more personal discussion, with our highly trained staff, drop in to Relics, or contact us, for the front door colour of your dreams.

Images via Farrow and Ball, Little Greene, Farrow and Ball, London Door, Interior Domain Designs, Maison Classique, Welsh Heritage, Sanderson, Relics of Witney

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Bringing the inside outside...and back again!

It cannot be denied that we have had a great deal of rain this year. Call us eternal optimists if you must but, at Relics of Witney, we think that makes the balmy evenings we've been having of late, all the more special, calling for the perfect outdoor setting (remember this post where we discussed how to pull the essentials together?).

We love making these occasions into a bit of an event. Warm nights see us taking out cushions, throws and candles into the garden.

However, because of the dreadful weather we've been having, we wanted to show you that those elements which make al fresco dining such a pleasure, can also be used just as effectively inside.

These lanterns are the perfect example. Used outside, they are perfect for creating a warm, ambient glow to accompany late evenings. 

If the weather just happens to turn, and the rain drops start to fall, simply gather them up, place them in small groups on your table, or around your hearth as a roaring fire substitute and carry on the pleasures of evening company unimpeded.

They needn't ever cause a storage issue as the lanterns can be left on display when not in use. We like to leave the candles in situ so that there needs to be no long search for tea lights before they can be lit. Matches can be left in one of our rattan baskets nearby (try our grey rattan beauties for size...).

As we hope you've come to expect, these lanterns are of exceptional quality. These smaller lanterns perfectly complement each other. They are cast in solid iron and given a protective coating for durability. The larger latern features delicately rusted detailing.

Have a look at the way there is no fragile welding that is often seen on similar items:

Whatever the weather brings us this month, we hope you enjoy the rest of the summer
...inside or out!

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Rattan Chairs: The Height of Effortless Style

   Once the haunt of cheap students digs everywhere, a new style of wicker has emerged and revealed itself as so much more than a passing trend. This breed of wicker uses rattan, a climbing palm reknowned for its long stems, to enable pieces, such as the chairs we're focussing on today, to be produced that are thicker, greyer and infinitely more stylish.

Rattan is strong, durable and fits perfectly into a whole host of different interior and exterior schemes. Gone are the dated flimsy strandings, the cumbersome shapes and the orange tint usually associated with wicker. These chairs are sensuously curvy, endlessly elegant and utterly sturdy.

The new-breed wicker manages to create a look that is both a firm nod to the dizzying heights of interior fashion, yet also to create a timeless style that is classic and homely.

Wicker has been a popular material for literally centuries.Archaeologists have uncovered wicker items from the time of ancient Egypt, from where it spread, in various guises, throughout Europe, where wicker baskets were found at Pompeii, and beyond.

We believe our beautiful rattan chairs would have had the Pharoahs smiling:

As always, we looked long and hard to source the very best design for our customers. So what is it that makes these particular ones so special?

The rattan chairs are thoroughly comfortable, with strong arm supports and a deep seat. They look perfect with or without seat cushions. Equally at home inside or out, our wicker chairs are relaxing to lounge in, with perhaps a cup of tea in the garden...

 ...or lingering around the dining table over a meal with friends.

We love these chairs when paired with natural materials. Nubby silk, cool stone and soft woollen throws and cushions all bring out the gentle hues of the rattan, as well as enhancing its beautfiul texture.

As you can see, its shapely curves look fantastic against a backdrop of limed, bare or painted wooden furniture.

As well as seeking out tremendous quality in any product that we stock at Relics, we also want to find the best value for our customers so were thrilled with these rattan chairs, which combine beautiful craftsmanship with a reasonable price.

Drop by to see for yourselves, or browse online, where we have our standard p and p of £8 for UK delivery.

Images via Room Envy, Relics, Tumblr, Relics, Relics,

Relics, Relics, Roses and Rust, Relics, Nest Egg, Relics

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The Jubilee Spirit

With the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Celebrations coming up, we're feeling all nostalgic. Many of us are longing for a time when things seemed better somehow; more personal, more community-minded and less soulless but yet still making the most of all that modern life has to offer.

We're here to help.

This is exactly what we have in mind at Relics.

We want to be the antithesis of huge, dull DIY chains, to return to a time when personal and friendly communication was expected. We've created Relics to be a place where our customers want to browse endlessly amongst the best paints, practical purchases and beautiful accessories; to enjoy the process of taking time to search for the perfect light pull, or the door knocker that you'll still love in 20 years time, rather than rushing in and out, and on to the next mindless chore.

Our focus is on outstanding customer service.

Our staff's knowledge, combined with a carefully hand-picked range of products and a relaxed atmosphere has ensured that this is something that is regularly commented upon.

We've been particularly careful, when choosing how to showcase our goodies, to use fixtures and fittings that give a nostalgic charm to Relics.

Take our handles' cabinet, for example.

The carefully distressed frontage....

topped by beautiful wooden moulding.....

and enhanced by the iron-monger-style display...

...all add to that feeling of times-gone-by when the highest quality came as standard.

Of course, much of our stock is available online but to gain real insight into all that we stand for, we'd love to see you in store.

In the meantime, have a lovely, old-fashioned Jubilee weekend.

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Swedish Country Paint Colours

Welcome back to Part 2 of our new series, running through January,

helping you put together colour schemes for your home,

with some of the very best paint shades available. 

This week, we're taking a closer look at Swedish Country,

focussing on those mysterious grey-green-blues.

If you are looking for a calmly serene space, then these are for you.

Any of these colours would help to create a gorgeously welcoming Country-style entrance to your house. This front door is painted in Celestial Blue by Little Greene.

Earthborn's Gregory's Den allows the reds of this cushion to stand out:

If you want more depth to your interiors but to still keep the Swedish feel, then have you thought of using a range of shades of the same colour? Dulux, Sanderson and Little Greene make this simple by doing the hard work for you. In the image below, Little Greene's Pearl has been used in its different strengths: the darkest on the walls, the palest on the table and then a middle shade on the woodwork, helping to pull the whole room together.

If you prefer more choice, Sanderson have a vast range of high-quality paints in carefully chosen shades, which coordinate with their fabrics. This particular colour is called Sanderson Rain Mist.

The point of these Swedish Country colours is that they should be right on the cusp of green and blue and grey. Cusp colours can't be stored by human memory, meaning that you have to keep looking at them for reference, adding to their intrigue.

This is in an area in which Farrow and Ball perfom extremely well. Farrow and Ball's Blue Gray is a wonderful example of a really rich cusp colour.

And, if you'd like to go a little darker with your paint, then Farrow and Ball's Pigeon would be a fantastic choice, providing soft intensity.

Paint and Paper Library's Eucalyptus performs beautifully under strong light, making it the perfect choice for south facing rooms.

If you missed last weeks post, featuring our favourite dark and moody shades, and learning how they can be manipulated to achieve a variety of looks, then click on the link.

Images via: Little Greene, Modern Country Style, Little Greene,
Cheverellwood, Urban Grace, Paint and Paper Library

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