Nicky Haslam Launches Paint Collection
Designer Nicky Haslam has branched out into paint, creating a range of environmentally friendly and flattering colours
As a testament to the 45 years he has spent as an interior decorator to royalty, rock stars and the generally rich, Nicky Haslam was named Andrew Martin Inter- national Interior Designer of the Year at the event's twentieth annual ceremony held last December. Why did he win this time? 'I think they had run out of designers!' he quips.
Now aged 77, Nicky is full steam ahead with __design projects that include houses in Belgrave Square, on the Isle of Wight and in New Orleans. He is also having a lot of fun - 'I'm still singing cabaret, of course,' he says. 'And I have just joined an agency to lecture all over the world about anything I like.'
This month, Nicky is launching his first paint range, The Stones, made in collaboration
with Paint the Town Green. Set up 10 years ago by decorator Phil Robinson, the company
makes environmentally friendly, water-based paints. They are manufactured in a 'green' factory in Iceland that is run by geothermal and hydroelectric power, and the paint ingredients are all solvent-free and non-toxic. Nicky first worked with the company just over a year ago on a project in Northamptonshire. 'An environmental conscience is important,' he says.
So, too, is the quality of paint, and what it can achieve. 'A paint should make people look prettier,' he says. 'I went to a drinks party the other day and the host had orange-pink walls, the colour of make-up, which made everyone's skin look wonderful.'
The six-colour range has a rich palette, including a dark mustard yellow called 'Tiger's Eye', and 'Agate', a cloudy, charcoal mauve. The combination of these two colours is 'like something from Renaissance Italy', says Nicky. There is also a wonderful pale pink called 'Peridot'. 'If you gave that to a man, he wouldn't know it was pink, would he?' he adds with a laugh. He is clearly thrilled with the results and when looking through the sample boards, he pauses on 'Feldspar', a mossy, oily green, and tilts it into the light, declaring, 'Isn't this wonderful?' A 2.5-litre pot of matt emulsion costs £35.
paintthetowngreen.biz
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