Farrow and ball or Dulux?

[NegativeNellyy]

Anyone any opinions?

Just moved into our first house and we're looking to do one wall in a statement blue (yes I know it's a cliche)!

We've narrowed it down to Stiffkey Blue by F&B and Sapphire Salute by Dulux.

They are either ends of the top row.

DH can not tell the difference at all and is no help!

Apparently F&B is an absolute bugger to apply. Go with Dulux, which goes on just fine. Nobody, unless they are a total paint snob, will know the difference. F&B is so expensive, too. Those colours are so similar I'd definitely go with the Dulux one.

Checkout denim drift by Dulux too

Sapphire salute is lovely. We had it in our old house.

Farrow and Ball every time. I refuse to give Dulux my money. Horrible company

Love Stiffkey Blue, had a whole room in it in my last house! Maybe I am a total paint snob but I can usually tell the difference - F&B paint (estate emulsion) is completely matt finish, no sheen, and the colour very deep. I'd go F&B every time, I don't like it when painted walls look shiny.

F&B is a beautiful finish and the depth of the colour can't be matched, but its high maintenance - it will mark easily and you can't patch over small marks, you generally have to repaint the whole wall if it gets a sticky fingerprint or a knock.

Buy your paint from a decorating centre, not a DIY shop. I use our local Crown decorating centre where they can mix any F and B colour you want. Trade paint is better quality than anything you can buy in a DIY shop.

Personally, I don't understand the fuss about F and B.

You only get the very chalky look of f&b if you use the estate emulsion, which as PP have said is very high-maintenance, marks as soon as you look at it, and can’t be wiped. Their modern emulsion is 7% sheen which gives a completely different feel. My personal preference if spending that sort of money is for Little Greene, whose scrubbable Intelligent Matt is lower sheen than F&B and much easier to work with.

As you’ve chosen a Dulux colour that you like I would get it mixed in their trade durable flat matt, which is very flat but washable.

Personally I like the top left more, however in my experience I find F&B colours have a richer and more ‘classic’ finish once on the full wall.

However, I wouldn’t waste money on buying actual F&B paint it’s a rip off and terrible to apply. Your best options are Valspar (B&Q paint mixing desk) or Johnstone’s (look up your local decorating centre on their website) Both will colour match the F&B for you, charge about 60% of the price and apply 500x better. Honestly, F&B is like painting with milk!

• We are currently redecorating, I’ve gone through 40 litres of Johnstone’s F&B colour match so far and it’s such a dream to apply.

I’ve decorated my house with both and the f&b is easier to use. It’s a thick creamy paint.

I mix with floetrol so it dries slowly and levels out evenly & I mix it with a paint paddle attached to a drill to thoroughly mix the pigments.

You can buy similar colours to F&B from Dulux, Crown and Johnston's who all have "heritage" ranges and save a flipping fortune. They all go on better too. I have a Dulux mixing centre near me and anything I want, they make up and I've always been very happy.

I’ve never found f and b paint difficult to apply. I have painted my entire house with it. And the one before that. I always use a brush not a roller and it’s an enjoyable task that produces a beautiful end result.

I love Farrow and Ball. I love the Matt finish and can definitely notice the difference in the rooms I've painted it in. However we have recently decorated my ds's room in sapphire salute and I also really love it, such a beautiful vibrant colour.

I agree with getting the F&B colour mixed at a decorator centre or B&Q. We have a feature wall in stiffkey blue and get lots of compliments on it.

Our decorator said F&B paint is awful to apply and not worth the money. We’ve got a couple of their colours mixed by Crown Decorator Centre and the trade paint seems to be good quality.

We passed on half a tin to a friend who had just painted another room with a different F&B colour and he ours seemed better quality in terms of application and he can’t tell the difference in finish when comparing to the real thing in the other room.

PS if you are feeling brave do consider painting the whole room. One feature wall is a bit Changing Rooms.

I would not touch F&B with a barge pole if you have dc. You can not spot clean walls so unless you want to spend your life making sure the dc don’t touch the wall then preserve your sanity but going with a competitor. If anyone has been successful cleaning F&B I’d be grateful to hear how as we still have two rooms with the stuff.

I also get what people say about the cost however we are doing up a project so have to decorate everywhere and I have found paint to be one of the cheapest and most transformative ways to change a room, even f&b. I have economised in different ways as we are on a strict budget.

www.e-paint.co.uk/Colour_alternatives.asp

This is very useful

I’d get a F&B colour mixed into another paint. Johnstone’s have a licence agreement with F&B so it’s the correct colour but I’ve also had F&B colours mixed into Dulux diamond Matt emulsion with good success. I wouldn’t go anywhere near F&B paint, most decorators hate it and it’s not at all durable. If you’re keen on using posh paint I would recommend Little Greene intelligent Matt, we’ve had it it two houses now, in the dining room, and it’s totally scrubbable. Really nice paint to live with, but I don’t know that it’s better than Dulux diamond Matt, or Johnstone’s scrubbable Matt (both about £50/10L compared with almost £90 for F&B and LG). I really would consider the F&B colours though, they have a lot of depth. When you watch them being mixed there is always a lot of black in them. They work really well in period houses and change tone throughout the day

FWIW I find it funny that decorators are so against F&B because their main complaints are around coverage and multiple coats needed, and it being marked easily and so they have to come back and re-do it often. So basically they can charge more to use it because it takes more time. But they still all seem to hate it!

You can do both, get the paint mixed. Use either Dulux flat matt or washable matt. It has the exact same creamy chalky finish as F&B. Literally even professional decorators can’t tell it apart. So just give them the f&b colour and have them mix it for you, it will be identical and half the price. The dulux also applies better than the f&b.

PS one more thing - you will need to use a primer with the F&B. They are really clear in their guidance about this but everyone ignores it and then complains when they need to use three coats of paint for full opacity. It doesn't have to be their primer necessarily but you do need one, so factor this into your costs too.

We used to love F&B but have got wise to the other options mentioned above. Honestly, the price does not justify the effect if you go to a good trade paint centre, you can get the shade andmatt appearance v easily and save a fortune.
We have a large v old house, that we thought we'd have to use Darrow and Ball, but no, after 19 here's here and three children, it's off to Dulux or Crown centre.
You wouldn't know the difference

Farrow and Ball. I tried so many paint samples and really couldn't justify paying twice as much for Farrow and Ball over Dulux, but we did. And it looks so nice. Really worth the extra money.

Another vote for Johnstones colour match. More expensive than Dulux but really really good quality paint, less coats needed. And still far cheaper than F&B.