F&B Colour Match @ Homebase?

[youvegottobekidding]

I’d like, well need a tin of F&B Stiffkey Blue, but the £45 price tag is putting me off. The last time I went in, around 4 months ago, to enquire about a different colour, the young lad who was there told me they don’t colour match to F&B. I’ve since heard otherwise. Has anyone else has colour matching done from Homebase? Does it depend on the colour?

I’m going to answer my own question! I went in this afternoon & the lady I spoke to said, yes they could colour match - but it wouldn’t be the same ‘colour depth’ as F&B & she was shaking her head as if to say, it’s not going to be a match for it!

At the moment, we have Johnstones ‘Midnight Sapphire’ on said wall, it’s actually a really fantastic colour, a rich deep very dark blue and the best thing, it costs £11 a 2.5ltr from B&M. The only downside to it is that it marks very easily, any slight knock, featherlight touch & it scuffs, it’s a bit like a chalkboard effect iukwim? I’d like to use F&B (have used it before) but can’t afford it at the moment. I’ve been reading reviews of Hague Blue & it appears sometimes that can be prone to scuff marks quite easily? I don’t remember the Stiffkey Blue scuffing so easily?

I may just get another tub of the Johnstones paint & make do for now, the wall does look a bit shit at the moment. There’s patches and scrapes all over!

We used F&B in our old house - the colours were amazing - but we wouldn't use ever use it again - I thought it marked very easily, you couldn't wipe it... and when I touched up any mark, you could clearly see the new paint against the original F&B! We ended up painting over a couple of walls completely just to cover some small marks. Grrrr.

Scottishdaisy, yes, that’s such a bugger with certain paints, it does it with this Johnstones one, the colour is absolutely spot on, love it, actually prefer it to F&B’s Stiffkey, but it marks so easily, I’ve just

Oops, sent to early!
Yeah so I’ve just painted the wall this morning, looks fab but one knock or slight touch & it leaves a mark! Annoying but @ £11 a tub, not as annoying as if i’d paid £45 a tub! I wonder if it’s just the darker colours that do this?

We'd never use F&B again either. Far too delicate and chipped and marked so easily. Put me right off.

e-paint.co.uk will give you options for colour matches which is really useful - so it's not mixing to the colour but it states which dulux colour is more or less the same.

I would never fork out for F&B having seen my dulux 'downpipe' fool even the most dedicated F&B users.

It is lovely but with two dogs that seem to slide along walls not at all practical. We go to crown merchants who will colour match but it will not be the chalky effect that some people like. I have to wipe down walls and paintwork regularly.

Do Johnstones not do the same colour in a more durable paint?

I used to work on the colour mixing desk and it's true F&B is near impossible to match exactly. Valspar is the closest but that's a similar price. It's the chalky finish that F&B use that throws it off. You can get near enough but it's never exact. If you want their colours you have to pay their prices.

Johnstones do a cleanable matt and a stain away matt. Maybe try those?

I never have problems with F&B. I have touched bits up and I have dogs so do need to wipe the walls down but that doesn't seem to cause me issues either. Front room has been done two years and looks as fresh as if it was done yesterday. I've got Elephant's Breath and Mizzle. Maybe different colours cope better? It's the chalky finish we have.

I have also heard that the pigment is hard to colour match, Homebase were similarly wary when I asked them before we bought F&B.

I have had colours matched at a Dulux Decorator Centre and they've been close enough that no-one has noticed

Johnstone’s durable mat paint is much better than the f&b paint and I’ve found there colour match to be pretty much identical. I’ve just my kitchen In School House White and when I painted the authentic tester pot and the Johnstone’s copy next to each other I couldn’t see any difference at all.

A mumsnetter put up this comparison chart once. Folk said it was very useful

www.e-paint.co.uk/Colour_alternatives.asp?filter2=Dulux+Trade&cRange=Farrow+and+Ball&cRef=30

I'm considering farrow and ball for my study but not sure it will be worth it! It's only me who uses the room so it probably wouldn't get marked much, but it's bad news if it does.

For being so expensive they should really make it more hard wearing...

Fatima - as far as I know, Johnstones don’t have an alternative in a more durable paint, it’s this that I’ve used

www.bmstores.co.uk/products/johnstone-s-feature-wall-matt-paint-2-5l-midnight-sapphire-346776

I know Dulux do one in Sapphire Salute but I really don’t think it’s as dark? I think maybe it could be just the very dark colours that scuff easily, like I say it’s a bit like a chalkboard effect, if you wipe your finger across it leaves a smear mark. And if you touch that up with a bit of paint, well it stands out like a sore thumb against the rest of the wall! So you end up having to do the whole wall again! The colour is lovely though, I’d take a pic but my camera is crap! Kids are older now anyway so they’ve got instructions to stay away from the wall 😂

I was going to suggest Sapphire Salute but if that isn’t dark enough then try RAL 5004 Black Blue. Any decorator centre should be able to mix it for you and you can choose a tougher finish (Dulux trade diamond matt is excellent). It is really, really dark and very dramatic.

All of the decorators I spoke to said they hated F&B paint. They said get colour match at B&Q (Valspar)
In the end, I didn't really like any of the F&B colours, but found a company called Little Greene. Fantastic colours. Matched imacculately by B&Q Valspar.
To give context to this, I wasn't just repainting my living room. My house was flooded and we lost everything. We had to repaint all rooms after it was rebuilt. I've been back in my house for a year now and I'm still happy with the colours I chose.

I have dulux sapphire salute, it isn’t as dark but scuffs just as much 😔