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Original poster

F&B paint - Emperor's New Clothes?

53 replies

BibiThree · 17/08/2018 17:51

I've heard that F&B is the absolute bees knees, the most magical of pains that change tone depending on the time of day etc.
I've also heard that they're a bit Emperor's New Clothes. A lot of money and hype for poor quality paint.

I'm going to paint a very dark blue/navy in he living room and before I splash out, I wondered what the score is?

OP posts:
w4ytoomuch · 17/08/2018 19:43

I was wondering this also... is it worth the extra dosh??

Following with interest

Lunaballoon · 17/08/2018 19:46

We’ve used F&B in a couple of rooms in our house. Definitely worth it. Absolutely love the subtle colours and the way they change in different lights.

dontcallmelen · 17/08/2018 20:43

Some of the colours are nice, but I find it a bit thin & can take a lot of coats, I personally rate Mylands paint over F&B it’s very hardwearing & is really thick & covers well, doesn’t have as much colour choice as F&B though, but the colours they do have are lovely & good depth with a flat matt finish, also the satin eggshell is excellent & gives a really smooth finish.

DesperatelySeekingSnoozing · 17/08/2018 20:54

Meh just have the F&B colours mixed in Johnstones trade. You get the colour with decent quality paint that only needs one coat,maybe two at a push. That's what we did. All the trade paint shops have a code to mix any brands colours in any brands paint.

WhereIsBlueRabbit · 17/08/2018 22:33

It depends on what you want and how you live.

We moved into a house last year which was partially decorated in Farrow and Ball. The bedroom has worn very well, the hall less so - it is very scuffed and the banisters very worn. So from that, I wouldn't use their Estate Emulsion or Eggshell in a high-traffic area like a hallway.

We have just used Dayroom Yellow Modern Emulsion in the living room and have been very pleased with it. We did take time to prep properly including a base coat, but after two coats it looks very good. Looked awful after the first, really streaky. But the second evened everything out.

Basically, we will consider it where we want a particular colour (the yellow was tricky to get right) and where it isn't a high-traffic area. But it's not the be all and end all. We were very impressed with Little Greene Paint and also Craig and Rose for samples and would definitely consider using those.

Kismett · 17/08/2018 23:53

We did one room so far in an estate emulsion and I love it. I don’t think it’s magical or anything, but I do really like their shades. I tried to have this duplicated and it wasn’t quite right so we went with F&B in the end.

It went on well, fairly average. I wouldn’t be surprised if it marks easily. I wouldn’t want it in estate emulsion in a high traffic area. I probably wouldn’t want it at all if we had children!

@WhereIsBlueRabbit we are thinking of doing our dining room in one of their dark colours. Do you recommend estate or modern emulsion for this? I’ve only used estate and I love it, but I was wondering if we should use modern since it’s more hardwearing. Is it too shiny in dark shades?

WhereIsBlueRabbit · 18/08/2018 00:01

I don't know, sorry - the colours in our house are all pale (bar Dayroom Yellow). The only dark one we have is a feature wall in our bedroom but as we didn't paint that, I'm not sure whether it's estate or matt - it is a wonderful colour though! (Think it's Inchyra Blue or whatever it's called)

Ellesbelles04 · 18/08/2018 00:07

We tried samples of F&B but didn’t like the finish and way it went on... mind you we aren’t master decorators and as we were going the DIY route our whole house is painted in little greene as great colours and good coverage and finish.

Mrsramsayscat · 18/08/2018 08:31

I have used dulux most recently and also had F and B copies from other paint providers. So I'm no purist.

But honestly, the estate emulsion feels and looks like velvet on the wall. It screams quality- it just does.
That said, it isn't best suited to areas where sticky (or other) fingers may touch it. Which is why I didn't choose it eventually in the small bedroom I redid recently.

Methe · 18/08/2018 08:33

Beautiful colours but shit paint. Get it colour matched at Johnstones and you’ll find it looks as good, is cheaper and much more durable.

Enidblyton1 · 18/08/2018 08:38

We used a mixture of F&B and Little Green on our walls and my decorator said LG is so much easier to put on. It think the end result was slightly better too (though it’s not any cheaper than F&B). The rooms in our house already decorated before we moved in are in Dulux. They are absolutely fine too.

helpmum2003 · 18/08/2018 08:45

Why not get a sample of F and B and a matched other and paint test areas in the room you want to paint.

Our decorator recs Dulux Trade and Little Greene. We use these also when decorating ourselves and have been very happy.

Original poster
BibiThree · 18/08/2018 10:14

Thanks all, lots of food for thought.
Will probably get a trade copy as we have 3 children, a cat and a dog so all areas are high traffic areas!

OP posts:
Oliversmumsarmy · 18/08/2018 10:19

I found F&B completely useless. It was like painting with milk. 6 coats I did in the living room. It needed more but ran out of time. Spent the last few years looking at it. Am now just going to paint it white because it annoys me so much

Now use f&b colour chart to have the colours mixed. 2 coats for a perfect finish. Could even get away with one but I am a perfectionist

Oliversmumsarmy · 18/08/2018 10:21

Decorator told me to paint the room with matching paint and just add F&B paint as a final coat to get the chalky finish

dontcallmelen · 18/08/2018 19:32

@Kismett have a look at Mylands paint, they do some really lovely dark colours & the matt paint has a lovely flat finish, it has crushed marble in it so makes for a very hardwearing paint & you can scrub it, it’s on a par with F&B price wise but goes a very long way.

rslsys · 18/08/2018 21:09

We used F&B in several rooms. Found it a bit "fragile", easily chipped when on woodwork.
Have now started using Little Greene - much more robust and better coverage.

Yellowfairy · 19/08/2018 19:05

We have painted the whole house in F&B and love it, the colours are gorgeous . It went of newly plastered walls and the decorater has no issues with it. In high traffic areas and the kitchen we used the modern emulsion. The lounge is in Inchyra blue and that’s in estate emulsion.

LukeSkywalkerBoots · 19/08/2018 19:08

The colours are gorgeous but god it’s hard to paint with! Did my sons bedroom and it was like painting with thick treacle.

Oliversmumsarmy · 20/08/2018 06:49

I would have been able to paint with thick treacle at least you could have let it down. The issue was my can of paint was it was like painting with water already and ran down the walls.

Decorators tip was the best tip we had but now you can get the flat colours by paint mixing

WellySocksBox · 20/08/2018 07:14

F&B started out well but the company was sold, the formula was changed and it's now a cheap imitation of itself even though it's still £50 a pot.

I lived in a listed Georgian house and was advised to use LG. In the end I used trade as my little boy has very sticky fingers. The walls were fine and were easily cleaned.

We've now moved to a more modern house where all the walls are painted in F&B. DS has trashed the walls in 2 months and the paint comes off on the cloth when I try to wipe the handprints off.

F&B was originally designed for heritage homes so I can't see the point of it for anything built after 1920. I suspect that these days you pay for the name and the "prestige" but sadly the prestige is no longer there.

hendricksy · 20/08/2018 07:16

I have a freind who is a painter and he says is difficult to use . If you want the colour get dulux to match it .. I did and it's a just the same 🤗

MustBeDueSomeBetterFeet · 20/08/2018 07:19

Little Greene is better quality and more durable. Their intelligent emulsion is also a far nicer finish than F&B modern emulsion.

You can get a trade mix of any of their colours but will lose the pigmentation that's to me an essential element.

rosetintedview · 20/08/2018 07:22

We decorated our whole house when we moved in 2yrs ago and used Little Greene Paint Co on recommendation of our decorator. The finish is lovely and he said it's much easier to work with than F&B and only needs 2 coats. We have 2 kids and a cat so fairly high traffic and it's doing great so far - any scuffs have just wiped off with a damp cloth. The only thing I might have done differently is the windowsills, particularly in the kids rooms as there's a few chips in the paint already where things have been put down less than gently!

billysboy · 20/08/2018 07:32

I get the trade paint shop to mix the colours from f and b in Dulux paint and for all of our projects and it is fine

Emperors new clothes and I cannot get my head around how many people fall for the marketing and hype

The colour of the walls should only be a background for the house not a main feature generally

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