Farrow & Ball decorating feedback thread - find out how the MNers get on with their paint and at the colour talk - non testers: chance to win paint! NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

This is the thread for the lucky MNers and bloggers who attended an event at a Farrow & Ball showroom to find out all about colour in the home and who have then been sent paint and product from Farrow & Ball to decorate a room at home.

Non testers - for a chance to win 10 litres of either Modern Emulsion or Estate Emulsion paint from Farrow & Ball (colour of your choosing) please share on this thread the room in your house you'd most like to decorate - what colour scheme you'd use and why you want to decorate it. Add your comment to this thread by Monday 26th January and you'll be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win 10 litres of either Modern Emulsion or Estate Emulsion paint from Farrow & Ball (worth up to c£144, depending on what's chosen).

At the event there was a special inspirational colour talk from their International Colour Consultant Joa Studholme - she also gave MNers and bloggers advice on schemes and colours.

Participants - please answer the following questions.

At the event:
a) How informative/inspirational did you find the initial colour talk with Joa and the rest of the F&B team?
b) Please share the most interesting piece of colour advice or decorating tip you learnt on the day?
c) What did you find the most interesting aspect of our colour talk?
d) How do you think we could improve our colour talk event? (Please consider the venue, refreshments, structure etc?)

Now on the colour advice / selecting a colour scheme
a) Where do you normally go to find inspiration when deciding on a colour scheme for your chosen room/s? (Please think about Farrow & Ball websites, social media, magazines, websites showroom staff etc?)
b) Which source do you normally find the most inspirational and which is no good! Would you like more places to get inspiration and what form would they take?

F&B products
Which room(s) did you decorate?
a) Please describe your experience of using Farrow & Ball paints to decorate your room from first opening the tin, to completing the project and seeing the results?
~ think about ease of application, product quality, depth of colour and finish etc...
b) After your experience would you consider using Farrow & Ball paint in your home again? If so, why? If not, why not?
c) Now that you?ve used Farrow & Ball paint, how likely would you be to recommend it to a friend? And why?

Any other comments?

Please do also share your photos on this thread!

Thanks
MNHQ
UPDATE:
Video all edited and beautiful here:

AND amazing comp here

Hello - First, thank you to mumsnet and Farrow &Ball for the chance to take part.

I'm going to answer in bits. This weekend is when we'll be decorating and so the sugar soap is out the loft and I start the prepping later today!

At the event:

I thought Joa's talk was interesting and I enjoyed the stuff about grouping colours and contrasting colour too. I thought that an area to consider in future might be to also illustrate the products in a slightly more normal home setting - many of the houses used, whilst beautiful, were probably not what I would consider a modest family home. I think that would have made things more "real" for me. Having said that some of the dramatic effects that could be achieved were stunning.

The most interesting advice was around considering whether vwe really did want to paint skirting board white and the effect that not doing that had on the sense of space you could create. Really interesting to see some examples.

In the talk I found the most interesting aspect to see how the colours grouped - so moving away from a conventional colour chart. I really would not have got a sense of that and the similarities and contrasting shades from looking at the chart alone. Really useful.

The event was well run, and all the children were very well behaved! Perhaps there were slightly too many of us for the space, but that's a very minor point. I thought the pacing of the talk was good and I enjoyed having the chance to talk at the end about my options. Thank you for letting me attend.

Same as CheeseEMouse here, decorating will start this weekend, so I will have to come back to parts of this.

The Event:

I found Joa very informative, and came away with lots of ideas that I perhaps wouldn't have considered before.

Seeing the colours grouped together was very helpful to work out what type I was more drawn to. The photos used to demonstrate different decorating styles were lovely, but I would agree that it would be nice to see some examples in more average houses too.

The most interesting thing I learnt was about when using two colours when decorating a room with a dado rail. I'd never thought about using one of the colours on the rail so that it blends in, rather than having a stark white stripe dividing the colours.

The event went well, but it did feel a bit cramped with so many little ones there too, though they were well behaved, especially once the biscuits came out! The talk was just about the right length. I didn't get the chance to try any of the food, there didn't seem to be much, but I was more interested in speaking to Joa about my colour choices anyway.

Colour Advice/Schemes:

I did have a brief look at the Farrow & Ball website before attending, so had seen some of the guides on there, but I was still undecided as to what colours I wanted. To be honest, I never really look for inspiration anywhere other than the free paint guides in stores. I normally pick one of those up to see what colours I like, then get a few samples and choose from them.

Thanks so much to Mumsnet for making this opportunity possible for me. Unfortunately I wasn't well enough to attend the event on the day and was really surprised to find I'd still be able to take part - thank you.

Prior to decorating:

Obviously I missed the colour talk and advice / inspiration. However I did make sure I familiarised myself with the Farrow & Ball website and looked through their extensive inspiration galleries and colour schemes to get an idea of what I wanted.

I also had a rather large email conversation with Farrow & Ball directly to talk over my choices and I was offered very helpful, patient advice for which I'm very grateful!

Decorating:

I decided to paint my open plan living room / dining room and my stairs / landing if the 7.5 litres I got stretched that far. The front of my property is north-facing so all the rooms to the front are very dark so I wanted to keep things as simple as I could with the walls and chose to paint all the walls with Dimpse (modern emulsion) - advertised as a cool grey on the F&B website.

I also wanted to update my tired pine dining table and chairs so I decided on Blue Grey (in estate eggshell) - as the name suggests it's a beautiful muted blue / grey.

Once the paint and accessories arrived the high quality was unquestionable simply from just looking at them - no plastic paint pots or roller handles here!

On opening the tins I was a little nervous, having only ever used the paint with the famous Old English sheepdog on the adverts - the Farrow & Ball paints consistency was rich, runny and highly pigmented (no stirring) as opposed to a big, thick mass of congealed paint that I was used to.

Farrow & Ball's paint is a dream to use, the thinner consistency glides on walls with total ease and if your walls are ever so slightly textured it clings in all the right places with little effort. I was stunned to find I didn't need to use a second coat, and even more surprised to find I only used around 3 litres for my entire living room and dining room - a little goes a VERY long way and the finish is unlike any other paint I've used.

I'm still in the process of going up the stairs / landing and have just finished priming the table and chairs to paint. I'm hugely impressed by the whole process of using Farrow & Ball's paints and accessories. I'll be certain to use them again and recommend them in the future to friends and family as the you absolutely get what you pay for and the paints go a very long way.

We are mid-decorating at the moment and the thing I have noticed most is not having the paint smell you get whilst decorating normally. It makes a big difference.

I will report back on decorating later!
To find inspiration I normally keep an eye opener as I go to think about colour. So perhaps going to a shop and getting a few sample pots to try out. I don't normally browse decorating magazines or anything like that. I am a menace though and tend to default to the same sorts of colours I usually like. I find seeing ideas and colour in situ the most helpful and am not wildly keen on browsing the internet for ideas as I find them a bit unattainable.

Absolutely CheeseEMouse - I was kicking myself all day for not mentioning the neutral scent of the paint! Such a welcome change from to having that strong paint odour hanging around for days / weeks after - especially as it's now too cold to keep windows open!

At the event:
a) How informative/inspirational did you find the initial colour talk with Joa and the rest of the F&B team?

Loved the colour talk. When I arrived everyone else was already sitting and chatting, and I have to admit I was a little ignored. However, Joa was inspirational, and some of the pictures she showed us were mind-blowing.
Agree with the other posters though, would have been nice to see some F&B rooms in more 'normal' houses, rather than beautiful mansions.

b) Please share the most interesting piece of colour advice or decorating tip you learnt on the day?

Most interesting advice was painting the skirting in a different colour. I have always been taught that skirting is white, but I loved the pictures where it had been painted darker, opening up the rest of the room. I wan not brave enough to do this myself though!

c) What did you find the most interesting aspect of our colour talk?

Loved the way the colours were grouped together on the board to show which worked well together, this started me off thinking about cool/warm shades and how different these could make a room look.

d) How do you think we could improve our colour talk event? (Please consider the venue, refreshments, structure etc…)

The venue was far too small, and chaotic. There were wires all over the floor, and I felt (when I arrived a bit late) that I was in the way. The lighting was not great to show the colours clearly. It was at times hard to concentrate with babies crying, although obviously if it is an event in which children are allowed to attend then there is no stopping this. There was not much food, but the sparkling elderflower juice was nice.

Now on the colour advice / selecting a colour scheme
a) Where do you normally go to find inspiration when deciding on a colour scheme for your chosen room/s? (Please think about Farrow & Ball websites, social media, magazines, websites showroom staff etc…)

I have to say I really only ever look at the Dulux brochures, and pinterest! I have never looked into F&B paints before as they are out of my budget.

b) Which source do you normally find the most inspirational and which is no good! Would you like more places to get inspiration and what form would they take?

As above, although Dulux brochures are not brilliant. I would like more access to F&B galleries - when I tried to look at the website it wouldn't load the gallery page, so couldn't look at examples. Google searches bring up lots of inspiration. I do like to see things in print though rather than online.

There was a mix up with my paint order and it only arrived on Wednesday, so I have only just stripped the wallpaper from my feature wall, and am in the process of cleaning off the wallpaper paste. I am hoping to start painting on the weekend of the 20/12, and really want to get it finished in time for Christmas! I will update once I have started painting...

We were not selected to go to the colourtalk but hearing our woes the magnificant F&B incredibly kindly agreed to help us out anyway and I am in the middle of painting my lounge with 'elephants breath' walls and a 'wimbourne white' ceiling and woodwork. I am going to post a picture when it is finished but observations so far is that the paint is brilliantly pigmented and a little goes a long way. The depth of colour is amazing and being pregnant I was a little concerned about fumes but they were noticably absent and by day two has dissipated completely. I love the colours and the material we were given helped me select the perfect complementary combination for my room. I loved the dark skirting ideas but was not brave enough to do it either I hope someone on here has been so I can see for myself what the effect is in a real house. The promotional material is the stuff of dreams but I echo the sentiment that I want to see what it looks like in a real house, ideally one with with UPVC windows and with crappy Ikea furniture not a room that looks like it comes out of a Chelsea mansion flat complete with expensive looking dark framed old masters and heavy antique furniture! Will post pictures but so far am so so impressed that I am actually converted to F&B and am planning on completing our DIY plans with a F&B hallway, ultility and cloakroom now all in complementary shades. Like the first time I stepped into waitrose after shopping at Morrisons for years, F&B has ruined me and I wont be going back to Dulux.

Another one who wasn't chosen for the event but has also been helped by F&B.
The marketting assistant Alvin asked me to send photos of the room which he discussed with the experts. They couldn't have been more helpful
They came back with a suggestion of colour schemes. I'd never have considered it before but I've gone with Oxford Stone walls, Dimpse Ceiling and London Stone on skirting, panelling and mantlepiece.
The paint arrived today with a very swishy roller and high end brush hidden from DH.
I'm hoping to start painting at the weekend so will report back then.

Thanks so much to MN and F&B for the opportunity! Will update with photos at the end of this week. Have almost finished, but need to do a few last minute amendments.

At the event

I found the colour talk really useful. I learn more by listening/doing rather than reading so hadn't properly absorbed the very good online info. Loved the advice on contrasting woodwork with walls. Also painting the picture rail the same colour as the walls to draw the eye to the full height of the ceiling, which I ended up doing and I love the effect. And the idea of painting a floor in white then adding a few other colours on individual floorboards. I definitely want to nab that one for future use.

I thought the event was great, lovely that refreshments were provided and found the team very welcoming and accommodating despite limited space. A wonderful lady from MN dealt with a DD poonami (plus a mid change 'wee-cano') for me during the talk, for which I was very grateful and slightly .

Colour advice/selecting a scheme

Having moved into our first house relatively recently, this is the first time I have fully decorated a room myself. For inspiration I would normally have done a lot of googling, definitely not sought any face to face advice and probably ended up regretting massively my chosen scheme. I think seeing videos online with the sorts of tips we saw at the talk would be useful.

F&B products

I decorated a bedroom which is currently for guests but planning to eventually be for me and DH. I used Pink Ground on the walls, Pointing on the ceiling and, assuming no more last minute wibbles on colour, Down Pipe on a cupboard and the room door. I had limited time so was a bit worried I wouldn't do it justice but it went on like a dream, definitely agree with others' comments on consistency and finish and lack of smell! Really good coverage and everything about it, from the posh wooden paintbrushes to the gorgeous consistency of the paint was fab and very 'premium' feeling. I thought I might be disappointed with the finish as I went for modern emulsion for the wipeability, but I'm definitely not.

Before this I wouldn't have even considered F&B due to the price, but the sheer loveliness of the painting experience would make me think twice about that next time. Sadly the price vs other spending priorities means it's unlikely we will use it again in the foreseeable future, though I would be tempted. I would recommend it to a friend if they felt they could afford it/it was enough of a priority and also if they were in a home they were going to stay in for a long time. I feel like if you were going to move in a few years it might be a bit of a waste if someone else was going to enjoy your F&B scheme rather than you!

So I have finished and before the room is filled once more with toys and christmas cards and whilst it is still looking reasonably presentable I have downloaded some pictures of my 'Elephant's Breath' walls and 'Winbourne White' woodwork lounge.I am really really happy with the colour and the finish.Thank you so much for giving us a lovely room to relax in this Christmas Farrow and Ball and Ann Mumsnet.

Hello all, and a massive thank you for selecting me to take part! It was just the kick up the behind I needed to tackle the dumping ground which was our 'office', and before Xmas too. I have some very embarrassing before photos to share- but hoping to salvage myself with some great after photos in the next few days!

TALK

I arrived in a bit of a state at the event, as for the first time ever I took a tumble whilst walking (ok, rushing) with my daughter in the sling. She was fine as I threw myself onto my shoulder, but I was sore and in shock. Thanks to the mumsnet staff for looking after me and helping me get over it!

Joa's talk was FAB and really inspiring. She talked through the history of the 'whites' and how some were best suited to different types of interiors. She showed lots of pictures of AMAZING houses she'd worked on - so amazing, if I was near the back I would have snuck out as what with my tiny little east London box room to redecorate, I felt like I was in the wrong place. The most interesting piece of colour advice was to not alway to pair a colour with white. I was also inspired by one of the images of a bookcase with wallpaper behind as something decorative and interesting I could do to help prettify my 'library' (never a word so ill-suited to my poor selection of reading material). I think the space was a bit little and not really suited for kids but the attitude of the staff more than made up for it as they were really welcoming and helpful. They even catered for my (sodding miserable) dairy and soya free diet, so thanks again. The best bit was getting to talk to Joa one to one who straight away picked two decorating schemes based on my vague wish list 'sunny' 'yellow' and 'vintage' - no faffing around for hours umming and arring over colours for me!

Sorry for double post- if someone can delete please do! That may mean I have to post the before pics tomorrow now as I've nearly reached my limit.

COLOUR ADVICE/SELECTING A COLOUR SCHEME

I'm a Libra so have difficulty making final decisions. Decorating this house 6 years or so ago, we used some ideas I'd cooked up after years of reading house magazines (without actually referring to a single clipping). I generally started with a wallpaper or colour preference and worked my way from that, with the help of a paint chart or three. I browse pinterest, and like to see what friends (and lets be honest, total strangers) have done in their homes. It'd be great to have more advice sources - say if you could book a session at F&B like the one we went to, with free personal advice, that'd be really helpful. A lot of it needs to be in person as online it's hard to tell what the colours will come out like.

F&B PRODUCTS / BEFORE SHOTS

We chose the dumping ground/former office. With the littlest one about to move into her own room in the new year, we'll lose our spare bedroom. Every room in the house needs to work for us now, and this one has to be somewhere nice enough to put the mums up when they visit. It was full of stuff from a) when we had our loft converted and b) whenever someone comes and visits, I shoved clutter into a blue IKEA bag and then never get round to dealing with it. It was my glory hole hangs head in shame.

I should also mention it's TINY - but with a large window and overlooking the garden so we wanted something warm, sunny and a bit vintage in feel.

We were not selected to go to the colour talk (sounds like the addition of another toddler and baby might have tipped people over the edge so probably just as well!), but we were very grateful to be offered the chance to try out the paints anyway.

Which room(s) did you decorate?
We chose to decorate our dining room. It doubles as our office and is also the corridor into the kitchen so the poor room is very well used, but under loved!
a) Please describe your experience of using Farrow & Ball paints to decorate your room from first opening the tin, to completing the project and seeing the results?
~ think about ease of application, product quality, depth of colour and finish etc...

The paints were lovely. Seriously. We thought other posters were exaggerating, but when we opened the paint and started we realised they were right! The colour went on really easily and evenly. It didn't smell which was fantastic (especially as we were painting at 9 at night once the kids were in bed) and dried really quickly. Also if, for example, you were trying to prove to your husband that you didn't need to put masking tape on the boundary between the skirting and the wall, because you were just going to be really careful, but then you accidentally painted the skirting blue... well it wipes off instantly with a baby wipe

b) After your experience would you consider using Farrow & Ball paint in your home again? If so, why? If not, why not?

Yes! We've done nothing to this magnolia house since we moved in 2 years ago (babies kept arriving and distracting us!) but now we've seen how easily we can do a room I think we might start being a bit more adventurous. The F and B paint looks brilliant (and is now showing us how dull the other rooms look).

c) Now that you’ve used Farrow & Ball paint, how likely would you be to recommend it to a friend? And why?

We would recommend it - the no odour thing is a massive plus in our eyes. And the fact that it went on easily and dried quickly was also brilliant. The colour looks fab too, really solid.

Any other comments?
We used St Giles Blue and Cabbage White. I'll post some pics when I can get on the laptop.

I haven't done my room yet - but Alvin (at F&B) told me that it's ok to do it in January now - hopefully that's ok?

I'm waiting for the primers to arrive anyway, and assume that Alvin is away as he hasn't responded (although I won't be doing it in the next couple of days anyway!).

Thanks to Mumsnet and Farrow and Ball for the advice and paint. I enjoyed Joa's talk very much, lots of inspirational ideas. I particularly liked the ideas to make a room appear taller and how to match colours with neutrals other than brilliant white ceilings and woodwork.

The event venue was okay, a little cramped but I didn't mind. Didn't really get any of the food/refreshments as queuing to get a one to one with Joa. I felt a little rushed as I was last to see her and I think she'd had enough by then!

Alvin and the shop staff were great. It took me ages to mull over colours so I rang the helpline and couldn't believe how knowledgeable the lady on the phone was. I would certainly use this again.

We did our dull, North facing tiny living room/diner, Joa advised Teresa's Green, but in our small room it was a bit too strong and so we went with pale powder. Beautiful colour, absolute git to put on the walls. Our walls are pretty flawless and a pale colour in our modern terrace, so this was a surprise. It took a coat of primer, and 2-3 top coats. It went on extremely patchy. ive since read that decorators do not like F&B for this reason, as its double the work, definitely a consideration for future projects.

We are very pleased with the end result (will post pics later but they don't really do it justice, I have sent photos and videos to Mumsnet video.com). What I love us that the walls change colour throughout the day. Very pale blue in the morning, beautiful pale green of an evening. Brings much needed light and warmth into an otherwise boring room. Goes with my new grey sofa, but I'm now itching to get new curtains and cushions to tie in.

I wouldn't advise doing decorating a few weeks before Xmas, quite stressful.

On reflection, I would use F&B again but in the knowledge that it will be more effortful but nicer end result than Dulux.

Before pics

Before

Before

After. Unfortunately didn't manage to replace carpet pre Xmas but very pleased with the walls!

Thanks for organising this event. I’ve not quite finished painting yet – the usual winter bugs got in my way – but I’m hoping to get it done later today when my toddler visits the in-laws. So far so good though!

I thought Joa was wonderful! She was definitely inspiring. The talk was really interesting, and the houses were beautiful. As the others said, it would have been good to see F&B colour schemes in more ordinary homes.
The two most interesting tips were actually ones I won’t be getting to use this time. The first was to paint the door, door frame (and the window frame above the door) in the same colour to give a smarter and grander appearance to the whole house. I’ve since spotted this done when noseying at neighbours houses and the difference it makes is amazing. I don’t know why I didn’t ask for the paint to do this myself, but it’s the next thing on my list. The other tip was not trying to fight against dark spaces by using light paint, but to embrace it using a darker shade. I’ve got quite a dark, corridory hall and I’m considering painting it Mouse’s back.
Anyway, back to the room I’m actually painting now... Its quite small so to give the illusion of space I am painting the window frame in the same colour as the walls (Lime White) and the skirting board and fire place in a slightly darker colour (Old White). I was tempted to go darker but wasn’t quite brave enough.

I have looked on the F&B website for ideas before, as well as other paint brand websites. I’ve also looked at websites such as house to home. We’ve only just moved house and having looked round a ridiculous amount of houses it became quite clear to me what kind of colour schemes I liked and which ones I didn’t!

I decorated my front room. It was lime green before and the colour just didn’t work for me. I’m not scared of colour, but I really wanted something neutral for this room. I was a bit worried about giving the room a cold feel as it’s north facing (and slightly drafty!). After talking to Joa and showing her pictures I decided on using the’ traditional neutrals’.

So far, I’ve found the paint really easy to use. The lack of paint smell is brilliant. I’ve been doing the painting during my daughter’s naps and the room hasn’t needed any airing. I used the primer first, and have so far done one coat of colour. It does need a second coat, but mainly due to my patchy painting. I won’t do the second coat till after Christmas now, and to be honest it’s not noticeable unless you look for it.

I love the colour! It almost glows yet and it has a really calm feel. The room looks bigger already. I’ll report more when I’ve finished the job.
I’d definitely use F&B paint in the rest of my house (as mentioned at the start of my post I already have the plans in mind...) and I’ll use the website and the inspiration booklet we were given to work out exactly what to do. Its been remarkably easy to use, and the depth of colour is fantastic, so I’d be happy to recommend F&B to people I know.

I painted the woodwork yesterday in 'Old White'. I have to admit I can't tell the difference between this colour and the Lime White on the walls. I was expecting it to be subtle, but not this subtle! This may well be my inferior eye though...
I'm pleased with the results though and with the illusion of space it creates, but I might repaint the woodwork in a darker colour at some point in the future.
Here are some before and after photos. The colour doesn't come across in them very well, and I do admit it looks a bit boring... However it looks A LOT better in real life! (and will look even better when I get the dodgy shelving sorted in the new year)