Why is Farrel and Ball so popular on here?

[malificent7]

Is it worth the cost ...just wondering as need to order paint.

Farrow *

Pretty colours. That's it because the paint itself isn't better. It's low VOC, which is nice.

They have really nice colours. I’ve recently painted my living room with it, it looks lovely. I was driven by the colour, but I suspect colour-matched Valspar or Johnstons would look equally as good if I’m being honest. But my local B&Q doesn’t really staff the paint mixing counter and it takes an absurd amount of time to get anything there, and the Johnstons is a tiny place set up for trade and I always feel a bit intimidated going there . So just getting the F&B off the shelf was a whole heap easier.

If you’ve got massive rooms with loads of light, you probably get the full benefit of the F&B finish. In my little house it looks good, and I’m very happy with it. But it probably wasn’t strictly necessary.

You need to be careful how you put the final coat on, it’s less forgiving with brush strokes than dulux!

And yeah, it smells better!

Interesting colours with quirky names. Heavily marketed to make it aspirational, with a high price point to reinforce the perceived exclusivity.

Is it worth it? Not in my opinion. I don't buy the hype. Other companies colour match well at a lower price, with paint that's easier to apply.

I really wanted to not like it if I am being honest... I've been using it to upcycle furniture and Mum preffered the colour choice to Little Greene or Dulux (which is what I've used before). And I have to say the F&B Modern Eggshell has been easier to work with and better finish than the Dulux, Little Greene and Valspar which I've used before. Now decided I am going to paint my hallway with it in the modern emulsion. Tester pot of the modern emulsion went on the wall lovely. But I am also happy with my Dulux Trade Paint which has been great in my lounge, dining room and bedroom - I just had a hallway paint disaster which put me off the Dulux Trade and that has lead me to try the F&B (unlucky with the dark colour I chose in the Dulux Trade).

We've just had our house painted in Skimming Stone but colour-matched to Crown. We had quotes from 4 decorators and none wanted to work with F&B paint. Plus I'd far rather pay for Crown than £50 a tin of F&B!

Unapologetic Farrow and Ball obsessive here. Lovely colours, our decorators love using it. It never looks harsh or 'oh look it's a feature wall'.

We live in an old characterful (money pit) house tho so are ideal customers

Lovely colours and chalky finish on the estate emulsion, though it is crap on the hardwearing front but fine in homes (or rooms) where high traffic and/or bumps/knocks aren’t an issue.

I used to be a F & B devotee, but I've switched to Little Greene for interior walls as it covers much better. Still pricey though, so I like the colour match idea, might pinch that!

Decorating Centre Online colour match F and B in hardwearing paints.

I feel weird about colour matching other brands paints. I realise it’s perfectly legal but it doesn’t feel very ethical.

I don't love the F & B paint - definitely thinner emulsion that needs more coats. However, the colour card they put together is great and they are so well known that you can just type of the name of a colour you are thinking about into a search engine and immediately see loads of example rooms. That is super useful.

@BalladOfBarryAndFreda

I feel weird about colour matching other brands paints. I realise it’s perfectly legal but it doesn’t feel very ethical.

I agree with this. If we all did it we'd have no Farrow and Ball. I did it once, because a (weird) decorator refused to sue it and I was dead set on the colour. And part of the reason to use F&B is that it's chemically less nasty than other brands.

I use a local paint shop that colour matches using either dulux or johnsons.
I recommend the dulux visualiser app, it's got hundreds more colours than you can buy in the shops plus you can 'visualise' the colour using your phone or an ipad.

I agree with this. If we all did it we'd have no Farrow and Ball.

If I want paint suitable for painting kitchen cabinets and I fancy Hague Blue for my kitchen, I can get paint matched to that colour elsewhere, but that isn't taking sales away from F and B, because they don't offer a suitable paint for that job.

@DietrichandDiMaggio your choice of course. But in fact you can paint kitchen cabinets with F&B. Wooden ones at least. You just need to prime properly. You can even get spray jobs done in it.
I have a GCSE in Farrow and Ball!

People who buy fake handbags are more likely than average to buy designer handbags. I wonder if the same is true of F&B. I've certainly spent enough on testers before buying my colour matched paint.

My partner and I tried using F&B just recently - never again!

The colours are gorgeous, as is the finish, but it's impossible to apply. Each coat shows up on the previous one so you end up with roller marks and like a tideline at the top of the wall where you've switched to a paint brush to cut in.

Our plasterer used to be a decorator and told us he used to turn down jobs if they insisted on FB as it was so difficult to work with.

I don’t get the hype tbh, the colours are very nice, but the quality of the paint is poor in comparison to equally priced paint like Little Greene and Mylands, I find it to be thin and not very hard wearing. We colour matched Valspar wood paint to F&B and were really impressed with the quality.

@BalladOfBarryAndFreda

I feel weird about colour matching other brands paints. I realise it’s perfectly legal but it doesn’t feel very ethical.

I did it recently because I don’t like how Farrow and Ball applies (have used it before) but I liked a particular colour. If the F&B product had been suited to my needs I would have bought it.

The colours are absolutely beautiful, and I’m not sure you get quite the same with colour match. F&b changes in different lights. However the paint quality is pretty rubbish for the price. We did our front door and some woodwork with the gloss (primed properly) and it didn’t last at all. Totally hopeless. In our new house I used the ‘decorating centre online’ colour match paint. Great quality paint and great price and the colours are pretty bang on (I’ve got pavilion grey furniture and you really can’t see a difference between the F&b and colour match compared side by side).

I think it's like shopping at Laura Ashley. You can't really go wrong with anything and it's all very naice.

I'd rather a bit of personality!

@Cannotgarden

I think it's like shopping at Laura Ashley. You can't really go wrong with anything and it's all very naice.

I'd rather a bit of personality!

Oooo please tell me which paint will give my 1840 house a personality!

I think Little Greene is much better quality and prefer the finish