The Best Luxury Paint Brands

Paint & Paper Library

Best for… Architects’ and designers’ choice

A favourite among decorators, architects and in-the-know interiors lovers, Paint & Paper Library offer 180 head-turning, high-quality colours that layer beautifully against other textures and materials. Whether you’re looking for a soothing, wintery pale grey (try Marble III), the perfect shade of off-white or a velvety chocolate-mocha brown, theres a graduated range of tones available for each shade. Particularly loved by industry insiders is the Architectural Paint range: with colours numbered I, II, III, IV or V according to it’s tonal weight. paintandpaperlibrary.com

Mylands

Best for… Royally-approved luxury

1884-founded Mylands is London’s oldest family-run paintmaker, so it’s no surprise they’ve learned a trick or two over six generations. In addition to holding a Royal Warrant, Mylands have earned a reputation as a favourite of the most discerning and luxury-loving designers and clientele. Blending tradition with innovation, on their books you’ll find a timeless selection of shades for both interior and exterior surfaces. Ageing beautifully in any home, if a lustrous and flawless finished effect is what you’re aiming to achieve, look no further. mylands.com

Graphenstone

Best for… Eco-friendly and sustainable credentials

Founded in 2009 by chemical engineer Antonio León Jiménez, Graphenstone’s ground-breaking formula uses lime with a 100% natural and environmentally-friendly production cycle. These incredibly flexible, versatile and sustainable paints now come in a huge range: from Ecosphere Premium (a natural mineral paint for interiors with a matt finish) to AmbientPro+ Premium, a genius photocatalytic paint which decomposes organic compounds and inorganic gases. Unlike some ecological formulas, Graphenstone paint is also durable and hardwearing, lending it the practical edge for eco-friendly decorating. There’s a brilliant array of palettes to choose from, and its pots are made from 100% recycled and recyclable plastic. graphenstone.co.uk

Gris 

Best for… Monochrome tones

When makeup artist Liz Michael was struggling to find the perfect grey/white tone for her home, she came up with the idea of Gris, a mineral paint brand with a limited but elegant palette of steely greys, blues and whites which work together in perfect harmony. When it comes to sustainability, Gris paint is free of synthetic binders, solvents and acrylics and coloured using earth oxide pigments. The Microcrystalline bond in the formula also creates a longer lasting and more durable coating. grispaints.co.uk

Fired Earth

Best for… Wow-factor colour

Whilst primarily known for their tiles, Oxford-based Fired Earth’s range of paints pack some punch, too. Bringing together 120 colours, across the range you can choose from neutrals, muddier dark hues and delicate pastels. Its colours are perfect if you lean towards deeper, more mellowed tones in your design schemes that still offer drama and impact. Plus, the range is formulated to have minimal impact on the environment with a water-based formula. firedearth.com

Designers Guild

Best for… High-quality coverage and pigmentation

With 184 shades and 80 neutrals to choose from, Designers Guild paint is low VOC, highly pigmented and has excellent coverage compared to its counterparts – meaning fewer coats are required. Available in matt emulsion, water-based eggshell, floor and masonry finishes, it’s best combined with one of Designers Guild’s bold wallpapers. designersguild.com

Coat

Best for… On-trend colour projects and sustainability. 

The brand du jour for savvy interiors lovers, Coat’s brilliant range of shades makes it easy to emulate your favourite Instagram projects in your home. Its genius peel and stick swatches make trying out new colours a doddle (and a lot less messy). Sustainability standards are upheld with recycled packaging, carbon offsetting and a recycling scheme to return unwanted paint.

It’s now also recently got the official seal of approval as the first British paint brand to get B Corp Certified. coatpaints.com

Argile

Best for… A touch of European chic

Newly-launched in the UK, Argile is a luxury French paint brand with a timeless palette inspired by the natural world. With a formula made from sunflower oil, bio-based plant resin, natural colourants and organic pigments the range is also sustainability-conscious (and even scooped the coveted ‘Ticks all The Boxes’ award at Decorex design awards this year). argile-peinture.com

Annie Sloan

Best for… Painting furniture

Oxford-based Annie Sloan (who studied fine art for seven years) pioneered Chalk Paint 25 years ago, and it’s still the stuff of legends. Eliminating the need for priming and sanding, this is the cheat’s shortcut to beautiful, energetic furniture and walls, and can be used on outdoor furniture, too. Versatile enough to achieve a myriad of decorative effects, Chalk Paint’s colour palette is inspired by 18th and 20th century design, but colours are mixable to create your own variations. From £5.95 for 120ml. anniesloan.com

Andrew Martin

Best for… Design buffs

Design-lovers will most recognise Andrew Martin for its show stopping wallpapers, vibrant fabrics and homewares. But did you know the brand has a recently-launched paint collection, too? In a rainbow array of Andrew Martin’s signature bold pigments and shades, this revolutionary new formula has some neat features – it’s touch dry in just 20 minutes, virtually odour-free, and 100% water based, There’s also the option to select exactly the perfect shade with the brand’s custom colour service. From £39. andrewmartin.co.uk

Clare

Best for… those in choice paralysis

This female-founded business, by interior designer Nicole Gibbons is all about making the paint buying process as simple as possible. Customers can choose three free samples, that arrive on sticky-back paper that you can just stick on the walls. It’s targeted for Millennials (note their ‘meet cute’ buzzy paint names) doing a fixer-upper and want ease.

Lick

Best for… Eco-friendly neutrals

Lick paint’s ultra-chic packaging is enough to ignite the interiors influencer in all of us – but it can back up good looks with a water based low VOC formula, and some impressive sustainable initiatives. A partner of the 4ocean project, as of February 2021, purchases from Lick contributed to removing 6,900kg of plastic from the ocean and planting 2,322 trees. We also love its broad range of cosy, bang-on-trend neutrals. lickhome.com

Farrow & Ball

Best for… Heritage colour and quality

It’s no wonder Farrow & Ball have remained a firm British favourite (we’ve all spent far too much time at some point mentally picking out the F&B shades we’d use in our dream country manors…). Founded in Dorset in 1946 by John Farrow and Richard Ball, the brand has a shade to suit every requirement, and strives towards minimal or low VOC (volatile organic compounds), as well as having a more eco-friendly, water-based formula and using recyclable materials in its packaging. Its highly pigmented paints are renowned for their absorbing and light enhancing qualities, ideal for creating subtle vibrancy and character. farrow-ball.com

Little Greene

Best for… Sustainable heritage shades

1996-founded Little Greene has some impressive eco-friendly credentials. It was the first British paint manufacturer to receive the European environmental standard BS EN ISO 14001 in 2004, its recyclable tins are made with 50% recycled steel, and all its paints are manufactured in the UK, and sourced from responsible suppliers committed to local industries. It has also partnered with the likes of the National Trust and English Heritage on a stunning range of heritage-friendly shades. A staple of any eco-conscious home makeover. littlegreene.com

House of Hackney

House of Hackney recently made it’s foray into the world of paint this year, and it’s just as you’d expect from the chic B Corp brand. All the 40+ shades have been inspired by the hues of the earth that’s got low VOC levels, non-toxic, and a FSC wood certified stirrer, and it’s got recyclable packaging.

houseofhackney.co.uk

Soho Home x Lick

Lick and Soho Home have launched an exclusive edit of interior paints, inspired by eight Soho House locations around the world. The carefully curated edit of hues are inspired by Soho Farmhouse to warming jewelled tones that echo Brooklyn’s Dumbo House.

Available online at sohohome.com and lick.com

Edward Bulmer

Possibly one of the must sustainable paint brands on the market (but is a brand that doesn’t tend to shout about it), Edward Bulmer paints are often considered one of the most luxurious, and climate friendly paint brands you can buy from.

It’s hard to see the wood from the trees trying to buy sustainable paint when you pretty technical terms of toxins and VOCs that can leave you feeling intimidated and confused.

Unlike a lot of brands, Edward Bulmer lays open it’s entire ingredient list, to fully and clearly explain it’s nature-based paints.

edwardbulmerpaint.co.uk 

Warner House

While Warner House is perhaps best known for its beautifully hand-crafted furniture – including sofas, chairs, ottomans and headboards – it is their paint range that sets them apart. Curated to complement their fabric and wallpaper collections and illustrating a rich depth of colour across a spectrum of shades (inspired by historic silk yarns), Warner House’s paint is sustainably produced here in the UK, too. Layer patterns with furniture and wallpaper and add depth to the design scheme with colour blocks of paint.

warner-house.com

Sanderson

One of Britain’s most renowned interior design brands, Sanderson offers over 150 shades in its impressive paint collection – from neutrals like the Snowy Owl to statement colours, such as the Tropical Palm blue. Each shade is available in two finishes: the classic matte Active Emulsion, perfect for busy family homes, or the hard-wearing Acrylic Eggshell, a water-based paint suitable for kitchens, bathrooms and conservatories. You can guarantee the paint is top-quality and colours are designed to be timeless and stylish.

sanderson.sandersondesigngroup.com