Farrow & Ball Charleston Gray No.243

Charleston Gray No.243 is a dark grey from the Farrow & Ball Signature Palette, with a soft warm yellow undertone that keeps it from reading cold. It sits in the dark band of the Farrow & Ball palette. It absorbs most of the light that falls on it, so it rewards rooms you want to feel enclosed and intimate — snugs, dining rooms, studies and panelled woodwork.

Using Charleston Gray in a scheme

Dimity No.2008 is the white to run with it — it shares the same undertone, so ceilings, cornices and skirtings stay in the same key. For a scheme built on one colour, step up to Tailor Tack No.302 on walls and down to Grate Black No.9920 on joinery.

Try it first

A 100ml Sample Pot of Charleston Gray is supplied ready-mixed in Estate Emulsion and covers roughly a square metre — enough to paint a test patch and live with it in your own light for a day or two before ordering a full tin.

Available finishes

• Sample Pot — testing a colour on the wall before you commit (2% sheen)
• Dead Flat — ultra-matt walls, woodwork and metal (2% sheen)
• Estate Emulsion — interior walls and ceilings in low-traffic rooms (2% sheen)
• Modern Emulsion — washable, scuff-proof walls and ceilings in kitchens and bathrooms (7% sheen)
• Flat Eggshell — interior wood, metal, concrete and floors (20% sheen)
• Modern Eggshell — hard-wearing wood and metal, including floors and staircases (40% sheen)

Priming and light

Prime bare or previously painted surfaces with Farrow & Ball Dark Tones Primer & Undercoat. Matching the primer to the depth of Charleston Gray gives truer colour and usually saves you a topcoat. Deep colours drink light, so with one small window this reads close to black on a dull day — often the point, but worth seeing on the wall first.

Colour reference

• Colour number: No.243
• Hex: #9A9087
• RGB: 154, 144, 135
• Colour family: Greys
• Collection: Signature Palette
• Light reflectance value (LRV): see Farrow & Ball colour card

Mixed to order at Foy & Company

Every tin of Charleston Gray is mixed to order on our Farrow & Ball tinting system from the correct Farrow & Ball base, so you get genuine Farrow & Ball paint in the finish and size you need. Nationwide delivery across Ireland.