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

F&B PRODUCTS / AFTER SHOTS

It was the night before Christmas... and we literally managed to finish the spare room just before our visitors arrived! Photos are attached - see post above for before shots.

My partner did the decorating - so most of this is his own words.
When we first opened the tin his first impression was how interesting the colour was. It was easy to apply - the paint clung nicely to the brush and didn't run or drip. Three coats were required to get the depth of colour, even after primer - it did feel like more work but that he got a better result out of it. As the paint was easy to cut in with, it allowed for easy freehand. The eggshell paint had a really nice finish and very easy to apply, with a non-drip quality.

The end results are fantastic - the colour looks amazing when dry, really chalky finish. The colour changes subtly throughout the day in a really lovely way. We've been a LOT braver with colours (never thought we'd do dark woodwork!) thanks to the presentation with Joa, and we're glad we did.

We would absolutely use F&B paint again - as the quality of finish and depth of colour is far superior to other paints. We would definitely recommend it to a friend. We used the primers (white, dark and dark for wood) and we'd use the dark and dark for wood, but probably not the white as we'd just use some white emulsion instead. I don't think we'd use anything other than F&B on any of our woodwork now.

My favourite bits of the room are the wallpaper on the back of the shelves - it makes the room feel very special, and is a gorgeous print - and the radiator. My partner painted it and IMO it now looks like a cast iron number rather than cheap old tat. Bad news (for him) is that I've asked him to repaint all the radiators in the rest of house. We also repainted a stool and a mirror and they look brilliant too.

Despite the three coats, the paint went really far. We have loads left - luckily my daughter without any prompting has now decided she wants her new room to be yellow and grey too!

A massive thanks to mumsnet and F&B for all your help, advice and of course the free supplies. Now just the rest of the house to tackle!

AFTER SHOTS

Stool, back of door, and radiator

Final post I promise - if you want to see more, I'll upload the videos in a few days once I've packed off the MIL

Last instalment! We decorated the hallway in our flat because we haven't done it since we moved in. We wanted something lighter as below the dado rail was a horrible sludge green/grey and quite dark and above it needed refreshing. Probably the most frustrating bit was that the primer we had for the wallpapered section was virtually the same colour as the paint colour we chose! So it was quite hard to tell where we had been. We ended up using a torch to work out which the wet paint was and which the dry paint was. Still, a minor irritation as the colour was really good and covered the darker colour really effectively. The paint gave good coverage and dried well. As I said earlier it didn't smell very much either which was great.

We'd use Farrow and Ball again - the colour range was beautiful and the paint was a lovely quality and went a long way. It is a premium product and so we wouldn't use it in a high impact area like the kitchen which has suffered from our toddler's messy eating! I would recommend it to a friend as the colour is beautiful, and the paint was nice to use.

Thanks to both Farrow and Ball and mumsnet for our chance to take part

Nearly forgot to come back to this and update!

We chose our bedroom to decorate as it's the only room that hasn't been done since we moved in. It was magnolia on 3 walls and a feature wall in a very bold red - not to my taste at all! Also didn't work as we didn't have our bed against tv feature wall. We chose Cornforth White for 3 walls (including the red one!) and Parma Grey for a feature wall, plus Strong White for woodwork. It took a little while to prep the walls, but the primer went on really easily & 2 coats covered the red wall completely. We chose the modern emulsion (eggshell for woodwork) and found it a little more runny than our usual paint, but it went on the wall very easily, dried quickly & didn't have a strong smell. Each wall had 2 coats, that was enough coverage with no patches. The colours are great, they seem richer with more depth. I've noticed that the colours do look a bit different too depending on the time of day, I like that effect! DH did the painting, he was impressed with the quality & didn't find it any harder to apply than other paints. We also have much more left than we thought we would!

I'd use it again if I could afford to! Perhaps not in a 'high traffic' area as I'm sure sticky fingerprints from my DS's would spoil the look, but I think the paint is lovely.

I'd definitely recommend the paint to others, it's transformed our room quite dramatically, and the range of colours available are lovely.

I will try to post some pictures later.

Hope this works - before and after of the red feature wall!

Before and after of new feature wall in Parma Grey.

Wow, reading all of these reviews makes me wonder if I was sent the right paint!!

I was unable to actually do the painting of the room as came down with actual flu over Christmas, the day after I started putting the primer on the walls. Was the worst timing ever, and I had to pay a relative to paint for me while I lay in bed for a week :-(

The primer went on well. I have never used a primer, and am still a bit meh about whether it is actually needed or just another way to add £££. My relative did 3x walls with Cornforth White, and it took THREE COATS to look anywhere near decent!! And this was on walls that were previously painted white and had a white primer on top. This took huge amounts of time that frankly as a working mum I don't have. I was actually feeling thoroughly depressed as each coat went on, thinking that it would never look decent. When that was finally done, my relative did a feature wall with Mole's Breath. Again, this took three coats as it was so thin.

The colours I have used are gorgeous, however in my opinion look no more special than Dulux. The thin coats needed did my head in. I have not yet done the gloss but plan to start it tomorrow, so will update on how that has gone. All in all, I am so grateful for the opportunity to decorate my bedroom in F&B for free, but it is not something I woulx use again, regardless of cost.

Wow, this was a mission and a half to do but I have to say Joas choice of colour scheme for my kitchen was spot on! Our kitchen needed to be more family friendly and quit being a dumping ground for anything that walked through the door.

I really enjoyed the colour talk as I really was stuck on how to ensure my kitchen flowed with the rest of the decor in my house and I do agree with the other posters that pictures of huge roomy posh houses made it hard to visualise how F&B would work in a bog standard home.
Some of the design 'tricks' i had already used but it was great to discover some new ones that will definitely be used!

The venue was a little cramped although it was ideal to see the actual range up close. The children behaved wonderfully considering they weren't allowed a brush and paint lol.

I used eggshell and emulsion and honestly adore the eggshell!! It goes on so well, no smell and dries exceptionally quickly. It was a little bit of hard work coping with the emulsion, I'm so used to the plasticky paints from not to be named diy stores and the f&b was more of a chalky consistency. Once on i loved it! The pigment and light during the day changes the effect wonderfully, it often looks like I have 4 hues of the same shade ranging from a pale grey to a warm taupe.
The roller and brushes were amazing, very posh and divine to use....I'm a convert!

Normally I wouldn't consider farrow and ball paint because as suggested before, it is a little pricey but a little goes a long way and the finished effect plus the ease of use means I will definitely be using it again and recommending it to others!

I would advise not doing a project like mine unless you can kick all kids out of the house for a week and live on pot noodles!

Oops, forgot to add what I used.

Elephants Breath emulesion on walls and ceiling, i have high ceilings so painting it meant no cutting in and made the ceiling look lower and more cosy.

Upper cupboards and other woodwork were primed and then painted with Ammonite eggshell, lower units and plinths were primed and painted in Stiffkey Blue eggshell.

My original worktops didn't seem to work (imo) so on went more primer and a few coats of Ammonite eggshell.

Some pics from CheeseEMouse
All before shots. After ones to come soon!

I feel very lucky to be part of this event. It has been just the thing to motivate us into decorating our bedroom.

The event at Farrow and Ball was great. To have an audience with Joa was really inspirational. She has such a great job! I loved the presentation with the pictures of rooms Joa has worked on previously. As she talked through the reasoning for the colours and the placements of colours it all made absolute sense. It was good finding out the history of the brand and why the paint differs from other products on the market. I was really keen to get on with the decorating and I don't say that very often!

In the one to one with Joa I said I'd like pink and blue in the room, I had been inspired from watching an episode of The Great British Interior Design Challenge the night before. After explaining the room and showing Joa pictures she advised Middleton Pink and Drawing Room Blue. Two contrasting colours which I loved the look of. Our bedroom is in the attic so has lots of walls and angles which I couldn't see how to decorate. Joa was great at giving me the confidence to paint the walls and the ceiling in the Middleton Pink. It looks fab too!

So the paint arrived, we prepped the room then we were set to start the undercoats. It all went on quickly. We were surprised by the lack of smell. We could sleep in the room without being gased out, you wouldn't even know we'd been painting that day. For the space we covered we used very little paint from the pots. We love the finish and the colour of the Estate paint. Joa's tip to paint the cupboard doors and radiators in the same colour as the walls has worked well, everything blends and there's not great chunks of white interrupting the colour. The pink looks classic rather than girly and cutesy. With the pink on two walls and the ceiling it has made the room feel a lot warm in the daylight and when the lights are on. The blue is deep and rich and has an opulent look to it. I need to start accessorising now to get the furniture to match the walls and the new feel of the room. Pintrest here I come.

This project has inspired me to redecorate the front room and to be bolder than I was previously. I'm looking forward to sharing the final results.

Here you go - after photos- pale powder

Here's one of the blog posts from germangirlinlondon

Almost forgot - here's my blog post with before and after photos - mummyneversleeps.com/blogging-2/fresh-start-farrow-ball/

Note - for non testers - we have a new prize draw for this thread - now that lots of the feedback is in!

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).

Room that I'd most like to decorate is our bedroom as it was last on the decorating list (from Round 1) and we're now nearing the end of Round 2! It's long overdue (reckon it's not been done for 10 years!) and really deserves some TLC, given that we've given all the rest of the house lots of care and attention over the past few years!

It's looking grubby and tired and definitely in need of some paint inspiration. It's quite bland and if this thread has taught me nothing else it's to be bold and adventurous with colour and I reckon the master bedroom is as good a place as any to be decadent !

The room in my house that most needs TLC is my sitting room. When redecorating some of the rooms in my house 5 years ago, I used F&B in my kitchen and sit in it and never tire of looking at the walls (Light Blue on the walls, my favourite colour ever, Slipper Satin on the kitchen units, Shaded White on the dresser.) When doing the sitting room, I used a cheaper alternative to F&B and have regretted it since the day it went on the walls. I NEVER sit in that room now because it annoys me that I wasted that money. My children have recently pulled down the curtains in that room so I reckon that's my cue to fix what I did wrong.

The room I'd most like to decorate is our living room. The colour scheme I'd choose is Elephants Breath on the walls and Skimming Stone on the woodwork with Wimbourne White on the ceiling. I'd love to decorate this room as it hasn't been done for many years and it would be lovely to have a bright newly decorated place to relax.

The play room- it has been bare stripped plaster for um, a while. I'm thinking pale blue or maybe something in the cream/yellow family...

The room I'd most like to decorate is our hall which has remained untouched since we moved in. It's a rather odd layout, and a bit poky in places. I'm thinking of going for something like either book room red, calamine or middleton pink on the walls and clunch woodwork (I have some clunch leftover from our sitting room bookcases). I would quite like something brighter for the hall, but my husband will need a lot of persuading.

The room I'd most like to decorate would be the living room. It's tired and old and looks just like it is, a room which has only ever had a few coats of cheap bland paint just to 'keep it clean' whilst all our money went elsewhere. I love blues and greys and would love to decorate it in something fresh and modern looking.

Non tester here. The room I, and DD, would most like to decorate is DD's bedroom. Painted it a pale bubblegum pink about 5 years ago and DD is ready for a change of colour, something more grown up, and it could do with a freshen up too. We would both like to paint it a stone or grey colour - a bit more tasteful than garish pink!

We are going to create an office at home very soon so both Dh and I have somewhere to work. He wants white, I want soft grey. Hmmm.

I'd like to enter the competition please! Planning on decorating the nursery for my first baby in Farrow & Ball colours. We are hoping to go for a soft grey and white or perhaps a soft green. Also planning on painting my kitchen in Tunsgate green.

The room I would love to decorate is my dining room. It's also a bit of a thoroughfare as you have to walk through it to get to the kitchen and bathroom or to go upstairs. It's fairly small and pokey looking so I'd like to create the illusion of space and light whilst making it feel a bit grown up, but not too cold - not asking much, eh! The colour scheme I would choose is Blue Grey, Light Blue and All White.