To think farrow and ball isn't the best paint? What's the best

[cultkid]

I have used them for years but recently feel that their paints haven't had a truly through through pigment
I use their more hard wearing paint but haven't been amazed

I want a dusty old fashioned pink bedroom and want to paint it

Any tips?

Or is farrow and ball the best?

I live dark rich colours and decorate constantly and the best paint I've ever used is Wickes Scrubbable Matt. Not sure what colours they have though.

@BovrilonToast
I don’t think it’s hype either. You may get the colour to match but the beauty of F&B is how it reacts in different lights

Agree with this statement ^ our entire house is painted in various F+B shades and the change of light throughout the days and seasons makes such a beautiful impact on the colours of the paints, other paint manufacturers cannot compare.

I painted my dds bathroom in Fand B calamine about 10 years ago and it still looks lovely (dusty pink).

In fact my whole house is Fand B and looks very nice.

Yes agree the way it changes in the light is beautiful.

I like the F&B colour range. My decorator advised colour matching and using Dulux instead.

It's a lovely colour - looks like it would go well with Oyster and pearl tones.

I like Little Greene. I toshed some matt emulsion over my bath panel on a whim years ago and it's still in better condition than the shit Trade Gloss the builders put on the rest of the house.

I have painted my bedroom with Graham and Brown paint... very impressed.

I got a lovely pink from Shaw paints

I find with Little Green, because it is so full of pigment, that it is stronger on the wall that on the sample (or even on the patch test).

I have Echo which I thought was a very pale blue-grey, but it's quite a strong pale blue, especially in morning light (which is lovely).

Colour matching is not the same. We use F&B colour matched paints at work - they are nice, but they don’t change with the light in the same way, as pp said. You can tell the difference.

Personally I love F&B and I like choosing from a limited range of colours, but I know what you mean OP, I have been wondering if some of the newer shades are not quite the same quality. I tried a load of samples recently, and Rangwali doesn’t look good. F&B darker pinks aren’t the best - Calamine, Setting Plaster & Pink Ground are all nice but pale.

My whole house is Little Greene and I find it better than F&B but I recently had an issue and their customer service was abysmal, which was extremely disappointing for such a 'quality' brand. Now having a re-think for future paints as it's left a bad taste in my mouth.

I looked into VOCs in paints a while back (volatile organic compounds, I think) which are supposedly harmful. There are paint companies out there that make paints without these harmful ingredients, and I was surprised to find that f&b were not among them. Names worth looking at include Earthborn, Organic & Natural Paint Co, Aura, Lakeland (not the same company as kitchenware) and Little Greene, among others. A google search for 'paints without vocs uk' brings up a lot of these.

Little Greene , paint and paper company and also mylands .. I do love farrow and ball though , my shower room is pavilion grey and wevet and I'm doing a bathroom in railings and wevet .. The colours are beautiful and rich , modern emulsion is much better than estate x I do think high end paint is much better than dulux etc x

I agree with you to a certain extent. Its hard paint to work with but just finished my kitchen cabinets with it and went on lovely. Disagree with people on little green paint, found it horrible to work with. Not to sure you can get it but love Colour trend paint. Similar price to F+B however lovely paint to work with and a little goes a long way. My whole house is painted with Colour trend

@TeddyIsaHe

What’s wrong with Valspa?

Currently painting my bedroom in farrow and ball modern emulsion in Wevet. It's taken 3 undercoats and 3 top coats just to cover grubby magnolia!

I love the colour though and how it changes from off white to pale grey with a hint of mauve/pink at times. The only very pale grey that didn't go blue in my room. Overpriced though.

www.stylelibrary.com/shop/paint/shades-of-sanderson/paint/?code=CNROAS

What about this one

@HyacynthBucket

Really really really helpful thank you for this

F&B is as bad as Valspar!
I have honestly found that b&q own brand is actually really good and we’ve done a lot of painting over the years

Valspar is the worst for sure

F&B have given us excellent longevity here. We’ve had 2 decorators use it and both have had no complaints and we’re glad we hadn’t bought colour matched versions which their clients often seem to do

I've never had a problem using F and B. The colour matched paints are flat and horrible

Agree about the VOCs - conventional paint is some toxic stuff to have in your home when you look into it, particular if you live there during the weeks after painting. Plus they're full of plastics and I'm trying to cut down on unnecessary plastic use.

We used Auro paints in our house. They do both natural emulsions and clay paints in a range of colours. I love them, especially the Airfresh paint that helps break down formaldehyde and other pollutants in your home.
auropaint.co.uk/

We've just used Little Greene for the first time (Scree) and it was a dream in terms of coverage and holding up very well so far.

We have F&B elsewhere in the house, but find that it scuffs quite easily and isn't hardwearing at all - even their ranges which say they are - so not particularly good if you have sticky-fingered children or teenagers that couldn't care less about the lovely newly painted walls.

Agree with Valspar - once tried to use it in DS' bedroom and it is honestly the worst paint we have ever used. Just google Valspar reviews and you'll see the millions of links to people complaining about it.

I paint a fair bit, including interior projects for clients. F&B is very thin and needs more than two coat to adequately cover in my experience. That said, they have lovely colours and I love the smooth feel of their modern emulsion, which also makes it easy to keep clean. Little Greene has much better coverage and the quality of the colours and pigments is just as good as F&B. I find the feel of the emulsion paint on the wall a little rough and chalky (both kinds of emulsion).

All the other brands mentioned, Mylands, Paint and Paper, Zoffany, and you mention Sanderson, are also equal quality to Little Greene with regards to colours/pigments and coverage. I don't know how they all feel to touch, but you don't mention that as a priority (it is to me!).

We've done 2 rooms in Zoffany elite emulsion and are very pleased with choice of colours and finish.
Not cheap but good.