why should I use farrow and ball

[kbaby]

I normally use dulux, thinking paint is paint. However ive seen so many threads about this paint that I feel I must be missing out somewhere. I'm due to decorate soon and wondering if I should give f+b a go. So can you all tell me what is so wonderful about it and why I should use it.

Thank you

I've used F&B in most of my house and it is quite nice, you get a depth of colour which you don't always get, partic. in the reds, but tbh the last few rooms I've decorated I've done in a Homebase own make one called Toffee Cream because it's just as good.

I like some of the F&B greyish blues and will prob. paint the summerhouse in one of those this year. The outdoor paints are definitely better than other paints as they don't ever seem to fade.

Well you don't have to but I just did for the first time. They have lovely "heritage" colours and my decorator, who is very much a dulux man, was truly impressed with the coverage. So much so that we only used a third of the amount he told us to buy. Now I just have to make sure I can return the third tin and suddenly it doesn't seem so crazily expensive either.

That's true, you can often get away with one coat if it's not something v pale on top of dark.

They have a great range of subtle colours and a matt finish which looks good in older houses. I haven't used a decorator but have painted lots of rooms myself in Estate Emulsion and been happy with the finish. Normally needed two coats of emulsion on bare walls or lining paper.

Why not get a tester pot and see what you think?

I have to say it's partly the result of successful marketing such that every home magazine has to mention that so-and-so's kitchen was painted in Farrow & Ball "string" with Fired Earth Tiles and an Aga - it's one of those "brands". Plus the little explanations of the colours kind of suck you in to musing over a cool off-white with a hint of green as used in the small drawing room at Calke Abbey: you get the picture!

according to the decorator who lives across the road from me, you should use farrow & ball "if you have too much money and would like to give some away".

i used it, i do like the finish and the colours. he's right though, it's not cheap.

also - very important - the estate emulsion finish (the true chalky finish) is NOT wipeable or cleanable. the modern emulsion is - 7% sheen. so, if you have toddlers, think carefully about what finish you will use.

i can also recommend Little Greene ultimatt finish. 5% sheen, and wipeable.

It's the chalky finish.

So not just the colour. Which is lovely I agree.

You can get F&B colours for cheaper emulsion. Just bring the colour chart with you and get them to make it up for you using white emulsion. All the F&B blagging without the price tag.
I second the 7% sheen texture with kids.

Dulux don't make up a paint especially for you - their computer matches the colour offered to the scanner to the closest Dulux colour.

My paint expert tells me Dulux are rubbish at reds - she recommends the Homebase tough paint - being of better quality and a cheaper price. I used Little Greene.

Another reason I think people go towards F&B is your choice is edited and that helps make a decision a lot less daunting.

So if I have messy kids is it still ok or is little greene better

I have messy kids and Dulux Endurance stood up to the job - we have yet to road test Little Greene - still in the process of painting. Paint lady said that Dulux hasn't quite got their formula right after having to reduce the VOCs in their paints.

F&B have great depth of colour and finishes are good too - they had the only exterior eggshell I could find. Bear in mind that you need to use their undercoat too (for gloss/eggshell) or the paint will blister/flake.

If it's just the colours you're after then I think Johnson's are better at colour-matching than Dulux. They have a wider range and I always get a closer match from them.

SirenSusan
"Dulux don't make up a paint especially for you - their computer matches the colour offered to the scanner to the closest Dulux colour."

I find that hard to grasp. They have more than 2000 colours, and when I look at, say, the "pink" cards, I can't detect the difference between any two adjacant colours.

Don't use farrow and ball. It's the emperors new clothes of paint.

I brought in a shade card from another company - obscure company she hadn't even heard of as they are Swedish - paint expert looks at it and says nearest match is "x" just by looking at it - she says - "we can scan it if you like" - we did and she was right- she is amazing. There are more than 2000 shades - Dulux will match to their nearest shade - I always thought they mixed up a unique paint to your shade, so when people say they match to F&B they don't, they get the closest Dulux shade.

So if I have dulux gloss on my woodwork already are you saying that in order to use FandB I would have to use a primer first?

Not sure if I have the energy for that.

F&B is fab. Great depth of colour and no cheap pink undertone. The colour changes as the light does. It may be expensive but you only need 2 coats max.

My whole house is F&B and the outside come to that. In fact our decorator painted our outside wall in a F&B copy and the result was painful. We had specified F&B and so made him paint it again in F&B. It now looks lovely.

Mind you I am a bit of a F&B obsessive. My favourite book is 'Paint' by F&B

to be clear.....you can't copy F&B, they are unique

Hate to say this but...all paint colours change with the light...

Yes garden,having painted our whole property wood,iron work, inaccessible bits etc in F and B sutcliffe green they discontinued it but oh yes they can still make it up on special order at about five times the normal F and B price-Bastards

jolene not like F&B, it has to be said. The colour changes.

You need it so people can walk in and say 'Oh that's String, or is it Bone'....then you know......and then you are friends.

Well maybe they don't mix them up for you Funny, but they did mix them for me exactly.

This is in a DIY place where they have the scanners, computer, and mixing guns. I got satin slipper for my hall and it's perfect at a fraction of the price. It's not rocket science, The computer program figures out how much of each colour to squirt into the large cheap tub of white emulsion. Hey presto F&B on the cheap - and you can get a more expensive emulsion formula for hard use areas / exterior/ wood also.

well, like I said, Dulux have more than 2000 colours, and when I look at, say, the "pink" cards, I can't detect the difference between any two adjacent colours.

So I'd be surprised if they couldn't make a match.

As well as matt emulsion, silk, and Bathroom, they can also mix Eggshell, Satinwood or gloss in almost all the colours.

well PJ as your name suggests you are a man, and tis well known that men have no sense of light and shade

Point proven.

Really really, Dulux mixes are not the same. I lived with a Dulux mix for 5 years which was tooo pink. My eyes bled everytime I went into the frontroom