If I get farrow and ball paint colour matched will it be the same?

[TessTosterone]

i am trying to find a colour for my living room. I love the f and b colours as compared to dulux but of course te paint costs a fortune. If I got do us to colour match would that be the same?

I seem to remember reading on here that their paint differs in terms of pigments or something in which case presumably only the real thing will do?

F&B have a depth of pigment and a really chalky finish which a lot of other paints don't. However, I think a lot of the more mainstream brands have cottoned on and are offering alternatives that are pretty much indistinguishable so I wouldn't worry about it. I also think (and I love F&B) that there is a touch of emperors new clothes about the paint

That's interesting. From what I have read the colours look different in different lights? I assume that's a pigment thing.

I am not a paint snob but the colours are so much nicer when compared to the cheaper brands.

Interesting idea. The paint itself is different, somehow thicker, more chalky, so does respond differently to light. Hard to know whether anyone who didn't know would spot the difference though, I haven't done unbiased tests!

I've used the Dulux colourmatch service and was really disappointed to discover (though this should have been no surprise) that all they offer is the closest colour within their exisitng range. There is no claim of perfect match. Results have been pretty good but not perfect colourwise I'd say.

The finish will be different, probably shinier. The colour will not be an exact match, as lottiegb says. But why not get a tester pot of the F&B plus Dulux's nearest match, paint up a large board of each, and see whether the difference is enough to matter to you or not? Only you can tell.

Colours are extremely easy to match. All paints always look different (even if they are the same paint) depending on the surface they are applied to, angle of view, and lighting conditions.

However if you do not buy a very expensive paint from a fashionable supplier, you will not get that warm glow you only get from knowing you've bought a very expensive paint from a fashionable supplier

God,this argument has been done so many times!.I have Dulux colour-matched to F&B because i really like the colours.I went to a trade place to have it done [they deal with lots of different paint suppliers].I also had F&B matched up in Sandtex oil-based paint for my exterior patio doors.There is no discernable difference in colour between the two.i know- i tested several tester pots versus the genuine article.What there is a difference is in texture.I don't have the nice chalky texture because i wanted longevity [with 4 dc's and a dog].I have several colours in my kitchen and yes they change as the light changes and the colours are truly lovely.I don't like the colours of the other heritage ranges as much.I did see the article about F&B in the newpapers this weekend=very good marketing and protectionism [and can you blame them!].

AFAIK colour matching is to the nearest colour in a manufacturer's range. So it is pot luck whether you get practically spot on or something a bit different. If you had tester pots of both, especially in a strong or unusual colour, you would probably see a difference. But then people might say cream is cream is cream!

How close the Dulux colour match is depends (obviously) on whether they've got a similar paint in their range or not.

I've had one colour match which was absolutely spot on, no-one could tell from the colour which areas were done in Dulux and which walls were done in v. v. expensive casein distemper. But with our most recent attempt to colour match, the paint mixer himself said straight out that Dulux didn't have a similar paint - the one that the machine had picked was really quite a way off.

I do think it's worth trying to colour match though, and then seeing whether the difference is enough to matter to you.

Mine was not matched up to the nearest colour.They used a pot of- i presume white [i don't really know!] and added various pigments in a special machine.They needed the f&b colour chart to do it.They also could colour match lots of different trade paints.They are a trade centre and are used by all the painters round here.I think if you go to most diy shops they will give you the colour closest to the one you want so it is not necessarily terribly acurate.

Just one more from me: if you go to a paint centre for this, don't go to one which stocks F&B. If an F&B stockist is caught copying their colours they risk losing their F&B account, which is obviously more profitable to them than selling 10 litres of emulsion to you! Our local trade centre has a notice up saying they won't colourmatch F&B for this reason.

I had an F&B colour matched by a Leyland shop and it was not remotely similar.

I had the same colour matched by Little Greene and it was a very good match.

Unfortunately the Little Greene match cost the same as the F&B itself...

I had it done by Leyland and it was identical. Even magically changes colour depending on time of day .

I've had a few Johnstone/Leyland matches too and they've all been spot on colourwise. Obviously not the lovely chalky finish but 2 DCs, a dog and 2 cats would soon wreck it, so I'm happy with trade emulsion and extra pennies in my pocket.

I saw the F&B two page spread advert in the Sunday Times too

Thanks for all the replies.

I was not aware that matches are usually to the closest colour available. I thought that they somehow mixed up an identivpcle version so that may sway me a little.

I think firstly I need to work out exactly how much it would cost me to use F and B. To be honest though with dc4 on the way maybe the chalky finish would be a mistake? I was looking at the blue green type colours rather than the neutrals. I don't think I would justify the cost for a shade of White but who knows.

I just need to get a few tester pots now. That in itself is bank breaking!

Dulux said they couldn't match to the colour I wanted; with Leyland you just tell them the brand name and shade and they do the rest.

if you ever go into a Dulux Decorators centre with a paint matching machine, and look at the sample cards of the colours they can mix, you might be stunned to see how many there are. It's not like a booklet.

For example, if you look at one of the cards of pale pinks, you will find graduations that are so close that the human eye cannot distinguiish between two adjacent colours, but if you look at a card with a dozen stripes on it, you can see how the bottom stripe is different from the top one. The same holds for any other colour; they have one like a ripe tomato, one like a ripe strawberry, one like a ripe raspberry, one like a ripe cranberry, and they have deeper, weaker, brighter, paler and darker versions of each changing by tiny graduations.

another thing - I painted my living room in F&B stone white a few years' ago (not white, actually a pale olive green). When I repainted a few years later because I was selling, I discovered the original colour had faded enormously. South facing room but worth bearing in mind

Well, that's the thing, PigletJohn. I'd assumed they would be able to match any colour, especially given the success of the first set, so I was really taken aback by how far off this particular shade was.

It was one of the newer F&B colours, so I wonder whether they take a little while to add some of them to their paint range? (Not in any way implying that Dulux copies F&B colours ).

Have been assured by two people I know (one of whom is a decorative paint finisher) that they can be colour matched accurately.

Best to go to go specialist paint supplier like Brewers rather than Homebase though.

If you have a jonstones near you they will match it 100% it even says f and b colour on the can, the finish isn't the same but the finish but better quality.

The finish of F&B is different. Chalky and matt.

The modern emulsion is really good for kitchen, halls and bathroom. You can wipe easily. Or wherever you think sticky fingerprints will go.

No. Sorry, you can't...my ex is a decorator and so is my current partner (not sure how that happened but I digress)

F&B paint isn't just a colour, iyswim. It's made from weirdy materials that give it depth - a bit like if you painted a cupboard with 'brushwood', ie a basecoat then a topcoat to mimic natural wood, as opposed to having an actual wooden cupboard.

It's got layers, depth, it changes in the light.

So they could match an approximate colour, but not the same effect as you'd get with an actual F&B paint.

I know it sounds like crap but it's true - I was cynical till he explained it to me properly. I thought it was just money for old rope (isn't that one of their colours actually?)

So you'll get a similar shade but not the depth and beauty.
HTH a bit.

What I mean is, F&B is equivalent to the actual wood of a real wooden cupboard.

Dulux made to match is going to be like painting MDF to look like wood.

That's extreme and obv it's a subtle difference but that's the difference in finish I'm on about. If it makes sense.

and Fwiw I would not pay full price for F&B unless I was absolutely rolling in it and had a house that suited it perfectly.

I think it's a big rip off even if the ingredients do cost a packet. And having it in some modern house in Chiswick is pretty silly. imo of course.

I use a dulux machine daily at work and have found that some F&B colours we can scan and match very well, others are nowhere near. (talking colour not 'finish' obviously! The nearest you will get is with a flat matt)
Look at for the new Valspar machines just coming into stores, apparently they match all F&B colours 100% but i've yet to have a play on one so may be wrong!