THE FARROW AND BALL BOOK OF COLOUR looks at the different types of paint used by the great decorators, and shows how new colours and new colour combinations were gradually added to the house painter's palette through the pioneering work of some of the greatest interior designers. It tells how muted colours gave way to the lighter, brighter palette of the late 18th century, the stronger and more intense shades of the Regency, the rich polychrome of the Victorian period, the unprecedented diversity and eclecticism of the 20th century, and the explosion of interest in historic or traditional colours today. It explains the paint making process, and the effects of the different types, from distemper and limewash to oil and emulsion.