Brompton Road No.205 is a Mylands red with real Arts & Crafts gravitas, and the worst thing you can do is treat it like a single feature wall surrounded by brilliant white. Drench it instead — walls, woodwork and ceiling in the same colour. Let it wrap the whole room and it goes from looking like a paint choice to looking like a *decision*.
From there, you're layering depth rather than chasing contrast. Mylands Cigar BH.20 (LRV 11.8) is the natural companion — a deep, smoky brown that reads like aged leather and works beautifully on a chimney breast, a bookcase or even just in the furniture and textiles. It keeps everything in the warm, low-light register where this colour sings.
When you do want to lift things, go warm off-white, never cold. Farrow & Ball Au Lait (LRV 80) and Paper III from Paint & Paper Library (LRV 75.3) both have enough cream and softness to sit on cornicing or a ceiling without slicing the room in half. Crisp brilliant white would do exactly that — it'd make Brompton Road look heavier and the white look clinical. Avoid it.
For an accent with a bit of cheek, Dulux Fuchsia Falls 2 (LRV 29.8) brings a pinker, brighter note — think a single piece of upholstery, a lampshade, or a cushion rather than a wall. It nods to the oxblood family without going gloomy.
The finishing layer is metal and material: old brass and aged bronze rather than chrome, faded velvets, kilim rugs, tan leather. That's where the Arts & Crafts depth actually comes from — the paint sets the stage, the textures do the work.
Practical advice: paint a big sample patch and live with it through evening lamplight, because this is a colour that's made for low, warm light. If it looks too dark on a grey afternoon, that's not a problem — that's the point.