Farrow and Ball paint

[Medievalist]

Am about to embark on some interior decorating. Can anyone tell me if Farrow and Ball paint is worth the cost (£67 a tin in my local B&Q 😱). It's an old house - small windows so the walls aren't bathed in natural light. They've also got quite an uneven finish in places which suits the character of the house. Not looking for perfection but happy to pay the extra if it's really that much better than dulux/crown?

I never use anything else, I just love it. Better than anything else I've used and just lasts and lasts.
I only use the modern emulsion though - the others need to be put on by a professional.

F & B colours are lovely and have a depth and powdery finish that no other paint has.

HOWEVER, it takes 3 usually 4 coats to achieve it and as PP have said, touch ups stand out a mile which is a total pain.

Colour matching is NOT the answer. It is always off in my experience, often very noticeably and it doesn't have the depth and subtlety of the real F & B paint which is really what makes F & B special IMO.

Neptune paint have similar colours and it's a much, much superior coverage. Touch ups not a problem either but price wise it is in the same ballpark as F & B.

Little Greene also excellent. Or Benjamin Moore but only a couple of stockists in the UK.

Dulux have brought out a new finish in their Heritage paint range called durable velvet Matt. I normally use Dulux Diamond Matt as it’s scrubbable.

Oh my days the velvet matt is an amazing finish and pigment. I had a Little Green colour mixed in velvet matt at our trade paints place.

That said if I had 250 year old walls I’d probably use a specialist paint.

Little Greene or Mylands both I find much more superior to F&B better coverage doesn’t scuff or mark, I haven’t used some of the newer paints ie Lick or Coat but they also seem to be gaining in popularity.

I always used F&B... until I discovered Little Greene. The quality is amazing - I always do the painting and it goes on so beautifully.

If you decide at the end of all this advice to choose F&B as I would too as I like the colours and finish, Homebase have F&B 20% discount atm.

As an aside, what is the construction of your property? Just wondering re the breathable paint.

Little Green do pretty much all colours in limewash, which is breathable. If your property is timber-framed it’s definitely important to use limewash on the exterior - as long as your property is lime-rendered.

If, like me, you end up with a 300 year old property that some idiot has encased in concrete, then all the breathable paint in the world won’t help!

Furries - walls are solid stone. The builder we have doing some other work says he doesn't think it's limewash on them.

We're going to have the outside done professionally, and have someone lined up - but he never seems to get round to us. I'd just really like to do the inside myself as I enjoy painting. But have only previously lived in relatively modern houses.

I love Farrow and Ball because the coverage and finish is lovely. I can always tell a F and B paint job because it has a completely different look to cheaper paints. We did our Victorian house throughout except for the utility where we used Dulux. That's the only room that hasn't lasted. I can pretty much scrub our kitchen walls behind the cooker and the paint comes clean again.

We've just bought a modern house and the thing that stands out a mile to me is how crap the paint work is. It's already dirty with DS's finger marks after a couple of weeks, so I'm going to have to suck up the price and redecorate because it's driving me mad

I've heard professionals don't like it. My decorator says it has changed and isn't as good as it used to be. He rates Little Greene.

Little Greene is much better, I wouldn't use F & B again.

I love it. Knock offs don't match, or look as sumptuous. I've tried twice.

Professionals don’t like it because they can’t get a trade discount on it.
If you decide to colour match, get a sample of the ‘matched’ paint and a sample of the real thing and paint them next to each other first. Apparently some of the matches can be decent, but the ones I’ve had were nothing like the same colour, so be careful. I’ve touched up some F&B with no problems and others were difficult - the dark colours were harder. I’ve had no problems painting with it and I’m no expert - just used regular rollers and brushes just like with any other paint.

Avoid F&B like the plague. Little Greene is much better or Benjamin Moore are much better.

@marylennoxsscowl dislike it because you usually have to do 3 coats, not 2, because it flashes when you need to touch up and because it can mark easily. Not because of trade pricing.

@MaryLennoxsScowl

Professionals don’t like it because they can’t get a trade discount on it. If you decide to colour match, get a sample of the ‘matched’ paint and a sample of the real thing and paint them next to each other first. Apparently some of the matches can be decent, but the ones I’ve had were nothing like the same colour, so be careful. I’ve touched up some F&B with no problems and others were difficult - the dark colours were harder. I’ve had no problems painting with it and I’m no expert - just used regular rollers and brushes just like with any other paint.

Nothing to do with professionals not liking it because they can't get a discount.

My family are professionals in the TV and film industry. Not houses.

They don't use it. Or like it

There are far better paints than F and B out there .

I love F&B and Little Greene in equal measure, but as PPs have said LG is better for eggshell, the oil-based one is brilliant although it does take ages to dry.

F&B colours and finish are gorgeous, my decorators are fans so my guess is that decorators, like the rest of us, have different preferences!

Am repainting about 2/3 of my house now and have spent a small fortune on F&B, but have also used https://www.e-paint.co.uk/colour-alternatives.asp to find close matches of some F&B paints eg for the hallway ceiling that no-one will see up close! The website lets you compare the properties of each colour and grades how close the match is, I have always found it pretty reliable.

The other thing I'd say is that the F&B colour consultation service is brilliant.

We used valspar mixed by b&q to the f&b colours. It looks great, I am very happy with it. Much cheaper and scrubbable. Made so much sense for us in high traffic areas with a young family.

Has a anyone colour-matched F and B Dropcloth in another paint?

I love Farrow and Ball paints

@Verfremdungseffekt

Has a anyone colour-matched F and B Dropcloth in another paint?

E-paint says Dulux Chalky Downs 3 is a passable match for Drop Cloth - Chalky Downs used to be a bit of a cult range, used the lighter shades myself in an old flat!

Thank you, @Zinnia. I’ve had mixed experiences with colour matching — and this would be for a large hall/landings area…

I asked my other half who is a painter/decorator.

He uses Crown paint for all of his clients, they often ask for a farrow and ball colour and it tends to be a really good match. A popular one for customers is F&B Skimming Stone, photo attached is a job he did but using Crown.

He did say that Farrow and Ball is good to work with but not work the mark up in price.

Oh and you just phone Crown and tell them you want the paint in insert F&b name and their system calculates it so its not like someone has to work it out!