Is it worth paying the extra for F&B?

[morningporridge]

Wondering if it's worth paying the extra for Farrow and Ball paint or just to colour match? We're paying a lot for most of the house to be decorated so if it will really make a difference to the end result maybe we could stretch and use the F&B paint, but if it really doesn't make much difference it would be cheaper to colour match with Johnstone's paint.

Would be great to hear people's experiences / advice! Thanks 😊

I was doing two rooms. for one I bought F&B and the other a Johnstone’s brand.

I have to say I was not that impressed with F&B, but that was because I felt I needed more coats to get the final look compared with Johnstone’s.

the end result, it still looked great and has lasted well.

If I was doing a it again, I’d just get Johnstone’s mixed in the colour I want and save the money.

F&B was difficult to apply and I didn’t like the finish. I chose colour matched Dulux for the rest of the house.

F&B estate emulsion is very matt and chalky giving a lovely highly pigmented finish & the colours change dramatically depending on the light.
However. It isn’t durable (due to chalk base) and shows a lot of marks and sometimes streaks depending on the light. If you have children under 10 get it colour matched instead in high traffic rooms for something wipeable! We have had to replace F&B in 3 rooms for this reason…. Good luck and I’m sure you’ll make the right choices

F&B looks good but scuffs/marks easily. Tradesmen also hate it because it’s difficult to work with. I painted some bits and bobs with leftover F&B and I see why they dislike it.

The colour matching service is good, but you do need to keep an eye on it. Took took a couple of goes for the paint for our front door to come out right. That might have been the decorator rather than Johnstone’s though- think he showed them the wrong swatch.

F&B estate emulsion is very matt and chalky giving a lovely highly pigmented finish & the colours change dramatically depending on the light

I used to be a F&B purist but I used the colour match at Brewers and get the same effect - colours changing in the light.

No but Little Greene paints are. They are lovely to use and their intelligent Matt emulsion is great in a house with children and dogs.

F&B modern emulsion is fantastically hard wearing and scrubbable- perfect with young children. I have it in my kitchen and I can clean ketchup or pesto or whatever else off. Also have it up the stairwell as children use hands on the wall rather than bannisters. Wipe it over with a clean sponge and all the fingerprints are gone. Definitely family friendly. I have some walls painted with Dulux and it just doesn't have the longevity!

Another vote for little greene - they really are worth the extra money. F&B are horrible to work with, in my opinion. Little greene emulsion is like single cream, needs fewer coats, and is highly pigmented and beautiful in changing light. Wish I hadn't tested them really as now I won't put up with anything less.

I’ve never used Johnstone’s so can’t comment on quality but the dulux scrubbable matt and rhe valspar matt eight hundred is identical when colour matched.

I’m not keen on F&B find it doesn’t cover well & does show lots of marks etc, the estate emulsion is more hardwearing but I don’t like the shiney finish, agree little greene is lovely as is Mylands, recently used the valspar 700 Matt is very good, Brewers own brand another good paint.

Sorry that should be modern emulsion the estate is the Matt chalk finish

I've recently used F&B in stone blue, elephants breath, Nancy's blushes and pavilion grey modern emulsion. I've also used Johnson's colour match scrubable Matt matched to wevet. I sugar soaped all walls and found F&B a lovely paint to use. It's more watery than the colour match which was a thicker paint but I preferred that. The only walls I had problems with were in my youngest son's bedroom which were a bit shiny so the paint was patchier than usual so I used the undercoat on the rest. I've had lovely coverage using only two coats without an undercoat. But haven't tried any of the darker colours yet.

@Bluntness100

I’ve never used Johnstone’s so can’t comment on quality but the dulux scrubbable matt and rhe valspar matt eight hundred is identical when colour matched.

I've had F&B colour matched in Johnstone's a couple of times - first lot was done in their Covaplus matt and the quality of that is terrible, it marks if you just look at it wrong. The rest I had done in Acrylic Durable Matt and that's much better quality, scrubbable

I've not matched Valspar's wall paint to F&B (though got a good colour match in the furniture paint) but I've always been very happy with the quality of their paint.

@Godwits thanks, did you use Johnstone's colour match at Brewers?

I wouldn’t bother if you have young kids or ever use anything like blu tac. We have the estate emulsion in our bedroom and that looks as good as when we painted it two years ago. We have the modern emulsion in our living room and I’ll be honest, it has not worn well. Lots of bits have peeled off from blu tac, other marks which won’t wipe off, etc. So think about how you live before forking out!

What do you think would be a good quality option from elsewhere that would wear better with kids and still have a nice finish / colour?

I've just had F&B De nimes colour matched by Valspar (scanned a painted bit of paper covered in 2 coats of the real thing) and from the online decorating centre where you pick the brand and colour and they have it pre-matched.

In daylight they look extremely similar but I stuck them on the wall and in the evening, with the lamp on, they do look different. I'm sure if I put only one up I'd not know which it was but next to each other the F&B has a greater depth of colour. The online match has a brownish tint but the Valspar is quite nice, albeit not as deep and rich as the F&B.

I think I'll mix and match so probably F&B in the lounge as I spend all evening there, but colour matched in other rooms.

Not a fan of F&B. I use Little Greene as their paints are fantastic, good pigment and they last well. Am a particular fan of their as they do oil-based paint for use on wood/metal etc. This makes it much more durable - had it on my kitchen cupboards for 5years and not a scratch on them.

It’s not cheap, but the paint does go a long way.

I’ve used Johnstone’s acrylic durable Matt and colour matched F&B and been very happy with it. Had it done at a local trade paint place.

I agree, Little Greene intelligent matt is the way to go. Excellent pigmentation, and wipeable.

We've had F&B on the walls for about a year now so I can give a review. For colour, they really do have a rich tone due to the extra pigment. We were very impressed. For finish, it's been mixed results. The rooms with the modern emulsion have been fantastic and the walls are wipeable. They still look great. The rooms with the estate emulsion haven't been as good as they are not wipeable. Water splashes stand out on the paint and it's chipped easily from knocks. For applying, we found both types of paint went on well. We also used less paint than we thought we would but I may have estimated it wrong. Neither paint caused any issue with my asthma unlike breatheasy & standard paint.

DH got on well with it but we used the slightly shiny modern emulsion as it was the kitchen and hallway and we wanted it to be wipeable, both have lasted well. He also got on well with the exterior eggshell which he did the outbuilding and garage doors with.

The comments about durability and being difficult to work with relate to estate emulsion. Their modern emulsion is different.

We’ve just done our whole house in F&B. It was eye wateringly expensive but we are so pleased with the results and our builder/decorator told us he loves working with the modern finishes, but that many people still associate it with the older estate emulsion, which was hard to apply.
I think it depends how bothered you are about colour - we knew some of the darker intense pigmented colours we chose wouldn’t have looked as good colour matched. But it’s a personal choice and very much related to budget too!

Good luck.

Another vote here for little greene- I've tried loads of different paints over the years and they win hands down in terms of colour pigments, ease of application and durability. They are the same as F&B in terms of price.

If you are wanting to spend less then two paints I have used recently and have been impressed with in terms of quality vs price have been Lick paints and the very bargainous paint range in Dunelm.

Lick have a good colour palette, good application and it is lasting very well in the six months I've had it in my lounge which is a high traffic area with kids and dog. The only negative about them are the tins are ridiculous to pour paint out of without making a holy mess. £35 ish for 2.5 litres.

I took a bit of a punt on Dunelm as my daughter wanted her room lilac. She refused any of the ones I liked which were more grey and I refused any of the ones she liked which were full on unicorn. Dunelm had the best middle ground so I went for it expecting it not to be that great. The lilac was covering a little greene juniper ash blue and it's coverage was amazing- some places I got away with just doing one coat and it went on really well. It's only been in situ a few months but so far seems to be good in terms of not marking etc. I was so impressed I used it again in another colour to paint a half wall in my office - came out really well again. £16 for 2.5 litres.

M*avisMonkey
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I'm going to try some dunelm paint after your rave review ... have you tried the eggshell?