Dean gives colour and finish advice as part of decorating work in Pattishall parish, 6.5 miles south-west of Northampton. Outside, colours are matched to limestone walls with ironstone quoins and slate or plain-tile roofs; inside, they are tested against the light in thick-walled stone rooms or brighter post-war houses.
Two stones, one palette
The older houses in the parish share a recognisable two-tone look. Walls are coursed limestone or limestone rubble, and the corners, door surrounds and window dressings are picked out in ironstone, a warmer brown stone. The Manor on Gayton Road in Eastcote has ironstone quoins. Cromwell House in Astcote has ironstone dressings, and the Church of Holy Cross mixes squared limestone with ironstone. Roofs are slate or plain tile, often with stone-coped gables.
The stone is not part of the paint scheme. It stays bare, and the ironstone dressings especially should never be painted over. That means the colour decisions are about the timber: casements, doors, door hoods, barge boards and gates. Those colours have to work against both stones at once, which is harder than matching one wall colour.
| Element | What tends to work | What to be careful with |
|---|---|---|
| Timber casements under wood lintels | Soft off-whites, stone and putty tones | Brilliant white, which looks blue-cold against warm ironstone |
| Front and plank doors | Deep greens, dark blue-greys, muted reds that pick up the ironstone | High-gloss bright shades on a 17th-century front |
| Barge boards and eaves | A shade close to the casements, or a darker tone that recedes under slate | A third separate colour, which makes a small gable look busy |
| Railings and churchyard-style gates | Black or a deep heritage green | Silver or light grey metal paint |
We bring sample pots and paint them out on board, then hold them against your stonework in daylight, because brown ironstone reads differently on a dull morning than in low evening sun.
Listed or not? It changes who decides
None of the parish’s hamlets sits in a conservation area on the council’s list. So for an unlisted house, including the 20th-century homes on the higher ground, the exterior colour is your choice under normal permitted development. You could paint a door yellow without asking anyone.
The parish does have 22 listed entries, though, including Kirkholme, the Eastcote Arms, Bay Farmhouse, Palm Tree Cottage and Cornhill Manor. For those, changing an external colour or finish may need listed building consent. Repainting in the existing colour is normally fine; a change of colour or a switch to a different type of paint is where to ask the council first. We’d rather you check than repaint twice.
Indoors: deep walls, small windows, and the houses up the hill
Thick rubble walls and small leaded or mullioned windows mean the older rooms get less daylight than the card suggests. Pale cool greys can turn drab; warmer off-whites and earthy mid-tones usually hold up better, and a flat, chalky finish suits uneven walls and beams far better than a sheen, which shows every bump. In the 20th-century houses, larger windows and flatter walls widen the choice, and which way the room faces matters more than the age of the house. The general principles of light, undertone and sheen are set out on our main colour and finish advice page.
Advice comes with the decorating
Colour advice is not a separate design service. It is part of a decorating job, given by the person who will be painting the colour, so the advice takes in what the surface will actually take: a breathable paint on old limestone-backed plaster narrows the range of finishes, while the post-war houses can take almost anything. If a listed house needs consent for a new colour, it is worth settling the choice early so the application and the booking line up. Dean covers the parish from Northampton, about 6.5 miles north-east. The Pattishall area page lists the work we take on across the village and its hamlets.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
