Paint Brands

[soupforbrains]

Hello all, I recently bought a house and the previous owner refurbed it before selling and has very ‘blank canvassed’ it with white walls throughout.

I plan to repaint a number of rooms a few in warm neutrals and some others in much bolder colours and rich tones.

I’ve been looking at a number of paint brands. Can people please give any feedback on COAT, Little Greene, Farrow & Ball (recent purchases and use) and also make any other recommendations.

thank you!

I am about to buy COAT paint, I like the face that they do north facing etc packs of stick on samples, my friend has recently used it and said it went on really well

Lust wallpaper is very good also House of Hackney & Woodchip&Magnolia worth having a look at wallpaper direct is a good website for browsing & if you have a Brewers near they have excellent ranges of wallpaper & paint.

I get my local Paint Shed trade place to colour match things like Farrow & Ball using Dulux Trade paints. Usually a smidge cheaper and a much better coverage and (more importantly) does not mark and chip as much as F&B did in my last house. They can match down to nearly flat, but cannot quite match the really flat / chalky finish of F&B.

You may find your decorator has a preferred brand of paint and won't want to work with the brands you've identified because of issues like coverage and ease of application. They should be able to get their preferred trade brand colour matched to any of the brands you've been looking at though.

Little Greene, by miles. Even my grumpy decorator who was scathing about anything other than Dulux praised it to the skies. It seems expensive initially but the paint cans seem bottomless.

@GlasgowGal2014i won’t be hiring a decorator who isn’t willing to work with my requests.

Fair enough. My experience is the best tradespeople have approaches that they prefer because they give the best results, and decorators often don't like working with designer paints like Farrow and Ball because the results aren't great. Some posters on this thread have corroborated that the F&B formulation is watery, which means poor coverage and/or extra coats which adds to the cost in terms of time and materials. My starting point is to find a highly rated tradesperson and follow their recommendations on materials because you can colour match anything, but you do you.

I like Mylands. For quality and cost per application and colours.

for neutrals Paper & Paint library have a lovely looking range but not tried the actual paint

Here to recommend lick! Love it, especially if you're doing the whole house because you can tie all the colours together into a cohesive scheme. Better quality paint than f&b imo. They also have quite an inspiring Instagram page

I’ve settled on COAT for my paints, due to reviews for you lovley people, others I've spoken to, the finishes they offer, their eco friendly approach and the colour palette they have all in combination.

still pinning down the wallpaper though Thats obviously more restricted based on finding the patterns styles and colours I want from a specific brand. I am definitely going to use LUST for the feature wall in the living room (art deco emerald green lovely big pattern) but haven’t found anything which is inspiring me for elsewhere in the house. (Not dead set on needing wallpaper anywhere aside from the living room so that may be it.)

i do appreciate all the input. Including rhe advice about using colour matching but I don’t feel it will be necessary as Coat has had very good reviews from home users and professionals. I will not be using Farrow and Ball anywhere but may use Little Greene for some projects a bit further down the road.

We've tried most, now use Albany

Love them both, my decorator says farrow and ball is so nice to paint with

I’ve recently painted my whole home interior over the last year.
F&B modern emulsion poor coverage - I don’t get the fuss - probably my least favourite as it needed more coats for colour depth. And there’s no magical quality to the finish to make up for the extra effort.
Little Greene -intelligent matt was fine, the eggshell has poor durability.
Johnsons - didn’t buy the tough version of their paint regretted it - every gentle wipe shows.
Zinsser All Coat - great outdoor paint and their primer is fab
Ben Moore Scruff X - the dogs bollocks on interior wood - and they do a Matt bathroom paint.
Given the choice - Ben Moore first followed by Zinsser.

Agree 100%. Another paint I’ve heard painters recommend is Dulux Heritage.

@soupforbrains I used COAT for my flat recently, and was really pleased with
a) the stick-on testers being true to the actual colours (and they didn’t ruin my walls when I peeked them off)
b) the quality of the paint (well my decorator said this!)
c) the super quick delivery
d) the actual depth / colour on the walls - it changes beautifully throughout the day

So great choice I’d say. What colours have you gone for?

@ArcticBeara combo of Ditch the Tie and Mansard for the living room and The Drink and Hamilton in the master. Plus several neutrals I can’t remember the names of for the other bedrooms and office. And Blue Blood and Below Deck in my son’s room.

Beautiful colours @soupforbrains - COAT have such gorgeous colours!

Agree about Zinsser Allcoat and ScuffX. 2 decorators ordered ScuffX after using it.

Ooh interesting - seen that Brewers have a Scuff-X discount and was tempted for hallway woodwork, but would love to know of your thoughts re finish

I have used Dulux, little Greene, F&B and COAT in our house and the COAT ones have been the best so far! Virtually no smell ( just an earthy scent which is not overpowering) and the soft sheen is going like a dream ( don't be alerted, it is very shiny in the beginning but tones down to a subtle sheen once dry) . Gorgeous!