Whilst for larger scale areas you may wish to pair your marbled wallpapers and fabrics with more neutral tones to help give some balance, when it comes to smaller areas I think there is room for a bit more fun!
As part of our recent collaboration with Fenwick & Tilbrook we asked the colour experts some questions and undertook our own relaxing Sunday afternoon project.
Thank you Anna for providing these insightful answers and read on to see which Fenwick and Tilbrook paint colour we chose to go with some of our marbled lampshades.
1. As House of Amitié is built on a decades long friendship we were drawn to
yourselves not just because of the beautiful range of colours you offer but because you are a small family owned and operated business. Can you tell us a bit more about yourselves and how you started? My mother and Step-father, Clare and Simon Tilbrook, began their journey in the paint industry in 2016 by reviving the manufacturing process for a discontinued brand with untapped potential. Recognising the need for a premium paint brand offering exceptional quality, they launched the Fenwick & Tilbrook paint range in Spring 2018 with an initial palette of 120 pigment-rich colours and the rest is history really…
2. Paint mixing is a big part of the process in creating the original marbled papers that we then have digitally printed, we use Winsor and Newton Gouache which is mixed entirely by hand and by eye, we would love to know more about your paint mixing process and how you manage to mix the exact same shades every time?! The initial colour creation process, led entirely in-house by Clare Tilbrook, is a hands-on, skilled process involving the careful mixing of small quantities of pigment and base to achieve the intended shade. Once the perfect colour is created, we establish a precise ‘formula’, which allows us to replicate it accurately at scale - whether in 1L, 2.5L or 5L tins.
3. Where is the best / most exciting place / project that your paints have been used? Our paints have made their way into some truly exciting places — think heritage landmarks and the homes of a few rather famous faces. We can’t name names, but let’s just say our colours have been in very good company.
4. Do you ever get asked to mix bespoke colours and how does that work, are there limitations with what a client would need to supply you in order to create a custom colour? We do offer a bespoke colour creation process. Custom colour feels like the ultimate luxury and a fascinating challenge for us too. It really varies in terms of the process as sometimes it’s a case of Clare chatting with the client to understand what they want, and other times its sending in a chip of old paint from a historic building for her to match or a swatch of fabric that has to work alongside the paint colour.
5. Do you have any tips for people on choosing the right colours for their home and space, can we all choose purely because we love a colour or are their other factors to take in to account? Colour is such a personal thing. Not only do we all see colour differently, but colours also spark feelings that vary from person to person. There are no hard and fast rules, but it’s helpful to start by thinking about the mood you want the space to have. If you’re after a calm and restful atmosphere, nature-inspired shades like soft greens or blues work beautifully. For spaces designed for entertaining, bolder colours or even two or three contrasting hues can bring a real sense of energy and vibrancy. If it’s cosiness you’re after, deeper, warmer tones are perfect for creating that inviting feel. Whatever you choose, always test your samples in different lighting, both natural and artificial, as colours can shift dramatically throughout the day. Checking them at various times will help ensure the shade feels right in every setting.
6. As you know Fenwick and Tilbrook colours have inspired the palette of two of our new designs 'Agate' and 'Pirouette' and we love how Agate pairs so well with 'Oceans' and Pirouette pairs so well with 'Pall Mall' and 'Marrakech'- but which of your colours would you personally choose to pair with these designs?! In the same vein, as our marbled wallpapers are already very colourful, should we be considering more neutral tones and whites/off-whites to balance out the colours? Using too many colours in a scheme can sometimes feel overwhelming, so it’s often lovely to introduce neutral tones to soften the overall effect. Pairing a colourful wallpaper with one or two complementary shades works brilliantly in an entertaining space, bringing energy and personality. For a calmer room, choosing a muted neutral that picks up on one of the undertones within the wallpaper can create a beautifully balanced, harmonious look.
7. Can you suggest any small yet fun and impactful weekend projects that people could undertake at home combining House of Amitié wallpaper and a tin of Fenwick and Tilbrook paint, we have undertaken a little lampshade project but wondered if you might have any other ideas? Along with a lamp base and shade project, a great little weekend project could be painting a small piece of furniture and then either lining the inside of drawers or papering the back of a shelving unit would be really impactful.
8. We love how you take your colour inspirations from nature, can you tell us a little about the process from start to finish in creating a new colour? Initially, we look at our existing range alongside upcoming trends, take inspiration from the beautiful Norfolk countryside, and develop an ideas board for updates to our collection. As we aren’t a fast-fashion or trend-led brand, we believe paint colours should generally be fairly timeless. Our paint is high quality, so we wouldn’t expect people to redecorate every season, meaning updates to our range are infrequent. Once we have an idea for a new colour, the creation process begins. Led entirely in-house by Clare Tilbrook, it’s a hands-on, skilled process involving the careful mixing of small quantities of pigment and base to achieve the intended shade. Once the perfect colour is born, we record a precise ‘formula’, which allows us to replicate it accurately at scale - whether in 1L, 2.5L, or 5L tins.
9. Paint colours always have the most fun and inventive names, does the name come before the paint or the paint before the name and where do some of the more un-colour related names come from like 'Shout' and 'Lady Laws'? Always the colour first! The name usually reflects the inspiration behind the shade. In some cases, if we feel a particular colour is missing from our collection, we create it and then look for a name that has personal meaning - perhaps something we love as a family or a nostalgic reference, like a favourite book or a painting from a childhood home. Shout was a nod to the vibrant, intense coral pop of the colour, while Lady Laws was named by the client who originally commissioned it.
10. At House of Amitié whilst we endeavour to create wallpaper designs that are timeless we do appreciate the need to stay current and keep up to date with trends. Are there any particular paint colours that seem to be on trend or very popular with you at the moment or indeed any new colours you might be working on that we can look forward to seeing? We’ve noticed a gradual lean towards warmer neutrals in volume orders, along with a shift into bolder shades as customers look to embrace individuality over rigid colour trends. For example, there’s more demand for mid-tone, earthy neutrals compared to the historically popular cooler off-whites. While we don’t update our range often, we’re planning a reshuffle of our colour chart in 2026, introducing a few new shades and retiring some less popular or older colours into our archive collection. Stay tuned for more warm tones — we don’t think they’re going anywhere!
Anna's suggestion of painting a small piece of furniture and adding a marbled liner is such a fun way to upcycle a piece of furniture you might already have. Or, why not look for an old wooden box at the Antiques Store that you can give a new lease of life to by painting the outside and then using one of our wallpapers to line the inside. This can be a great way to use up any left-over pieces of wallpaper and it's surprising how far a small 100ml 'tester' tin of paint can go. We love to have lots of sample/tester tins readily to hand in a range of colours that can be used for little projects when the mood strikes!
A little project last Sunday was to paint a wooden lamp base to suit one of our new House of Amitié lampshades that we will be launching soon.
We wanted a colour that would sit well with a few of the marbled shades I have and also to choose a colour that might not seem an obvious choice so it was a case of looking for something bold and contrasting. Its fun to go outside your comfort zone sometimes especially on small-scale pieces!
Below: some of the Fenwick and Tilbrook options to suit the marbled shades....
Below.... a natural wooden lamp base ready for some colour (be sure to add masking tape to all the areas that you don't want to get paint residue so cover up the neck and some of the cable closest to the base).
Below.... The vibrant 'Pall Mall'. Add two coats to get good depth of colour
Below.... At home, resplendent with the Coolie shade in pattern Whirl col. Dalloway
