Farrow & Ball apint, help?

[fairiesandcupcakes]

Hi everyone,

Would really love some advice. I wanted to paint my living room and was looking at the Farrow & Ball colours, had picked out Cats paw for the bottom and matchstick for the top, however after looking at reviews for the paint it seems to be not very good and was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on it?

Also after looking at the colours I am not too sure that they would go with my furniture. The room is square with a dado rail, brown leather seetees, darkish wooden flooring and dark furniture. Would anyone know what type of colours would go nice with this?

Many thanks

Farrow and Ball is a right rip off IMO

(dp is a decorator)

I would go with neutral colours in your set up - maybe with some subtle pinks, salmon, deep raspberry, kind of thing, in curtains and other bits...to make it warmer.

Hi, thanks for reply. My colourscheme at mo is summer pudding on the bottom and a pale cream on top. I loved it when i first done it but now hate it.

Really wanted a change? x

Hmm! Okay. In that case, maybe greens instead - turquoisey greens or mossy greens are good with brown.

What side does the sun come in?

Hi, yes thinking maybe green, do really want to stay away from the bold bright colours so want to go for a more neutral look?

DH always gets dulux or whoever to colour match against the farrow and ball colours. He reckon's the paints crap but we like the colours.

Yes I love the colours but after reading reviews was abit concerned about coverage. I dont want to create a modern room if that makes sense. I want to keep it light(ish) but have something that is going to go with my furniture x

well i think this is a debate that will rumble on and on on MN. I spent years trying to copy F and B look with dulux but to be honest both the depth of colour and finish will disapoint if you are someone who is concerned about these things. to my eye it noticeable. as for cover then I have the evidence sitting in my shed that F and B goes a lot further than dulux etc! (builder calculated on dulux paint, i bought f and b.. several cans left over...)

as for colour, what sort of furniture do you have, and are the soft furnishings also staying the same?

I would go for a colour rather than a neutral. I like Matchstick and have used it before FWIW.

Personally I have painted loads of rooms and an entire garden fence with F&B, I use a wide brush and it goes on like velvet in two coats. I love it but am not a professional decorator so what do I know?

I would imagine that professionals want something that covers quickly and is easy to paint with (i.e. roller) rather than being fussy about the exact colour/finish as you would if you are going to live with it for 10 years.

I would not go for colour matching if you are very fussy, I once tried to match a soft red in Dulux and ended up with nasty salmon pink.

Having said that Dulux Trade Professional have some good colours and I found it easy to use, you can get big tester pots for only £1.99 I think.

How about Fossil Green & Natural Calico?

I am not casting aspersions on any professional decorators and their families BTW, just speculating!

oh it's not that GreenLotus! He uses it frequently as he gets a lot of v posh customers, and there's nothing wrong with it per se...he just thinks it's really expensive for what it is iyswim! I do not think we would bother with it at home

Hello, thanks for replies.

Well I have brown leather seetees and chairs and other dark wood furniture as for other soft furnishing none at the moment.

I cant see fossil green or natural calico on my f&b colour card?

I dont mind abit of colour just nothing as bright as it is at the moment, have a bright summer pudding on bottom and beige colour on top x

I am an interior designer and most use F and B and love the depth of colour and matt finish and have never had any probs with coverage.HTH

ok thanks noddyholder.

Any suggestions on a colour scheme for me? xx

I like the colours you have chosen Also if you are going for pale and neutral string is lovely too.I have just painted my living room brinjal which is very dark and looks amazing now that i have furniture in the room!Hang the F and B chart up in the room and look at the colours throughout the day and see which ones jump out.That is about as technical as I get!

Hi, ok thanks.

Yes did originally want cats paw and matchstick but after looking online not sure if it was too yellowy and thought it might look odd against the brown furniture?

What would you team string with? I dont mind a darker colour on the bottom

String goes well with dauphin or buff and would suit your furniture.I think the dark wood looks good with these colours a bit like the room sets they do in lombok with lots of candles and buddhas etc and tall lilies in heavy glass vases

I like the look or Buff, so maybe I could do Buff on the bottom and string on top? What do you think of the colour catspaw?

I have looked online at designerpaint where you can click on the image of the paint and it shows you lots of different pics in the colour you have requested (catspaw). Thats why I thought it might be abit yellow for my brown sofa? x

Catspaw is quite yellow/mustard it is not as flat as the more grey based.I like it though.It looks great with pure white woodwork.

ok great, yes I have pure white woodwork just didnt know if it would work with the brown.

I think it would.What do you have on the windows.My friend has 3 big brown leather sofas which she had grown bored with but couldn't replace.I did dark wood slatted blinds in teh windows and heavy cream linen curtains and now the sofas look great

I have white wooden blinds up at the moment, we have a large sofa and 2 chairs and we cant really replace these either.

What colour paint did your friend have?

She had b and q rice cake!That is my absolute fave cheaper paint it is stunning with brown.White blinds is good!

Yes I have heard a few good things about rice cake myself.

Now Im confused at what to go for ... catspaw and matchstick or buff and string?

Will be back later Strictly!

Haha, ok thanks will check back later have to take the kids to firework display in a min xx