Decisions Decisions...F & Ball experts please

[oliviasmama]

So I've got my sample pots, my new conservatory is complete and rather beautiful if I do say so myself, the plaster is dry and said decorator is descending upon us on Friday. I'm down to my last three Farrow and Ball faves:

Light Blue
Old White
Elephants Breath

hmmmm which to choose?!

It is a lovely light and bright conservatory, 4 metres by three and a half so not huge, white frames, skirtings, windowsills, south westerly facing, an extension of the kitchen so will be furnished with old oak refrectory kitchen table and chairs, old chest / dresser and other bits, basically a working part of the kitchen which will be used by children, dogs, men, muddy boots etc etc.

Have perused many of the wonderful F&B colours but was wondering if anyone had preferences, experience of my three finalists. I'm also advised by the decorator that the Dulux Centre will replicate the F&B colours at a fraction of the cost that it would cost to purchase F&B.

I seem to be won over every time by their wonderful colours but the price tag is huge and my decorator says F&B is not that great to use.

Any advice fellow M Netters??

Weeeeelll, dp I've just started painting our kitchen extension in Light Blue and it looks lovely, I think. Ours is also SW facing and has an oak refectory table! It's cheat's F&B because we had ours colour matched at Leyland/Johnstone's (Dulux couldn't match it. Maybe it depends on who you ask? She said theirs wasn't close enough) The Leyland looks identical to F&B, is 1/2 the price and even looks different colours in different lights so has all the "magical" qualities of F&B as well . Don't know enough about the other colours, I'm afraid

Well fancy that Carla!! Good to know you like it, I liked it because it wasn't too blue / had a grey tinge to it too. Need to look at my sample patch wall in the daylight tomorrow.

Thanks for the heads up on Dulux, will visit my Leyland Centre instead.

Really dont want to spend £80 for 5 litres of F&B!!!

It ranges from looking sage green to greeny/grey to actual bluish/grey depending on time of day. £38 for 5L @ Leyland

I've used Light Blue in my kitchen,and elephants breath,against a neutral background of strong white.Light blue is on the chairs round a walnut table in my south facing dining extension and looks stunning,though elephants breath also looks lovely in the kitchen.I had my f&b colours mixed up in Dulux Diamond in a trade paint centre.They could match up several different manufacturers trade ranges there.I wanted a scrubbable paint, but it did work out the same price as F&B.However Leyland and other trade ranges are really good aas well[have just used Leylands Pliolite masonry paint on my ouside walls as will last longer than water based ones hopefully!].

lovely colours! although can i please be the scrooge of farrow and ball and say get it mixed up in dulux as i have spent £££ on the stuff only to have it all bloody chip off the walls, skirting boards, etc. i am so pissed off!

Agree you will get a better colour match with Leyland. F & B is not £80 for 5L unless you are talking about eggshell? Which isn't often used on walls. (Although be warned the price rise that is coming in January is big!)
Microserf very odd for your paint to have chipped off the walls?? was the surface prepared properly? Not being funny, (I work in a paint shop) but very unusual for this to happen unless it is new plaster that has not had a mist coat or you have a damp problem.

Great advice, thanks everyone, revisiting the sample wall this morning.

I like the light blue Carla, will have to wait for daylight, like the fact that it changes so much throughout the day. My only reservation is that I dont want it to look too grey and could it be a little cold looking??

As Teta says Elephants Breath is equally lovely too, every time I think yep its definately light blue, go with light blue...out of the corner of my eye lurks the ever so gentle, soft and beautiful elephants breath. Gosh lifes hard.

I put F&B to the endurance test too Micro, I used it throughout my previous house and it didnt really face up to the hammer of family life too well and I,m with you in thinking the £££'s we spent could have been spent more wisely.

Crikey Soonbe, even more expensive?! The finish I really wanted in F&B was dead flat, £81.00 for 5 litres but yes, the other finishes are considerably less. Will most definately be using Leyland now though. Good to know from an expert.

Thanks everyone, kettles boiling back to the sample wall....may be waiting for some time for the daylight though, in the middle of the Peak District and I dont think we've seen daylight for 3 days now. Soon be christmas!

You 'll get colour but not the finish or depth. Worth spending extra.

Oliviasmama - re the colour light blue can look quite grey, but it is a very soft grey, not a cold hard grey, it does work well with white in a clean Scandinavian way. (It looks beautiful and sophisticated with 201 Shaded White but that is a different thing!)
Elephants breath can get more of a pink soft grey coming through and is lighter in overall feel than light blue.
Both are great colours.
Would not really recommend dead flat, it just isn't suitable in most active homes, too delicate and their estate emulsion is really flat anyway, even modern emulsion which is what we would recommend for high traffic area and more washability is not that shinny only 7% (it looks more shinny at first then dulls back a bit) Some people get hung up on dead flat as they like the idea of it, but I try to put people off as most people also want a paint that does not mark and show where you have tried to clean it.
I have seen the prices for January (they change from the 1st) and the rise is big about £8/£9 on a 5L F & B (sorry can't remember actual figure I have a head like a sieve and work part time).
I haven't copied F & B (I actual have only a small amount of it in my home as I use more Little Greene and Paint & Paper Library) but know from friends that the Leyland result seems to usually be the best match, but if you have a really keen eye you may see the difference and as herhonest says you do not usually get the range of depth as you do with F & B, I do however see why so many people copy the colour as the price is so high.
Some decorators don't like F & B paint as it is quite runny and takes more work to put on, especially if you are used to slapping it on with a roller, but the decorators we come into contact with who are good and really experienced do not complain about F & B.
Good luck with your choice, I'm sure it will look lovely

I've got F&B modern emulsion in dc bedroom and after six years it's still flawless. I am very impressed that it hasn't marked at all. It is slightly shinier than the standard finish but still looks lovely.

So is the verdict that the Leyland colour matched paint isn't as nice to look at due to the depth?

I am sick to death of staring at the f&b colour chart! We have just painted our kitchen cabinets with cornforth white but I cannot decide on the wall colour. Bought a load of slipper satin and tried it but it just looked like bland magnolia so took the unopened tins back. Have got lots of testers but can't visualise the whole room. The work tops are black quartz granite, just keep going round in circles. Will prob end up with pure white at this rate!a,

thanks everyone....soonbe you've really helped with all that detail, much appreciated!

have also been advised today to go with F&B for the quality, depth of colour etc.....so the winner is:

FRENCH GRAY....modern emulsion (iamonmy - my friend also says the same as you on high traffic area in her house)

I know I know, French Gray wasn't even on the finalist list. Thats me all over!!

Good, so glad you went with F&B as was going to say that there is a difference in finish. All the decorators say the same thing, but really it's not the same.

Chalkiness, matt finish and even smell is different.