Farrow and Ball paint, is it worth it?

[FlopMadeMeDoIt]

Considering using their dayroom yellow and wimborne white for bedroom. Never used F&B before, don't mind paying more if it's actually really good quality etc.

Im limited experience F&B covers well. But it isn't plasticky like say, dulux emulsion, so it's not as slippy and smooth to put on. So a bit harder to apply.

We recently used F&B to redecorate our house but our decision was not based on colours/designer brand/etc. Their paints (modern emulsion, primer, wood) are low VOC so they: (a) don't smell, (b) are environmentally more friendly, and (c) are child safe! Little Greene are decent too but I found this paint smells ever so slightly more than F&B.

We were moving back in with a newborn, and personally I get paint fume headaches no matter how far I am from the paint so didn't want to subject my child to it.

Colour: agree that the light bounces off them... but in my experience not off every colour! Couldn't agree there is a massively perceptible difference for Dayroom Yellow or Wimborne White vs other brands, but Peignoir and some others look STUNNING.

Finish: nice and chalky in modern emulsion. Got some minor stains on walls moving furniture about. Managed to scrub off with some water and dishwashing liquid. No damage to paint.

Longevity: you should note that water based paints by their nature last less long than oil based paints. So, this paint will cost you more in the long term. But we felt we should 'put our money where our mouth is' due to the environmental impact.

The downside of F&B vs Little Greene is primers. You should be using the F&B primer on painted walls to prevent paint peeling off like vinyl. Some people/decorators don't, and then complain the paint is defective because they didn't follow the instructions. Little Greene is more straight forward because you can paint straight onto old paint with no primer (unless it's plaster... Then you should always seal or mist-coat before painting so it's not as porous).

Some decorators hate F&B based on bad experiences years ago, but I understand they have reformulated and the modern emulsion is easier to work with than the traditional one.

Anyway... Hope that helps you! Suggest you read some of the product specifications/advice sheets on the website before buying to judge whether you can be bothered. As someone said, should be repainting the entire wall not doing touch ups.

Farrow and Ball paint seems like the ultimate in snobbery to me. Worse paint for more money, why would you do it? It just goes to show paint shops in high rent chic areas do pay (for the paint makers).

My most recent decorator said that he always tries to dissuade clients from going down the F&B route but, when they insist, all the under coats are Dulux (or similar) and only the top coat is F&B, as the quality is so poor.

You can mix any colour you want with Dulux. Some say you can’t get the F&B palette and it is so amazing-but that is just them convincing themselves.

I don't understand the snobbery either. I always use Crown paints as we have a Crown decorating centre just down the road. I find that their emulsion has no smell. I only like pastel colours anyway so as long as a paint is easy to use and clean I don't see the point in paying for F and B.

Another Benjamin Moore fan here.

I recent did the living room in Oval Room Blue, colour matched at Johnson's. However, I used a tiny tester pot around the light fittings. There is a very slight difference in colours but for the cost and durability, I'd go Johnson's every time.

If you appreciate the depth and subtlety of the colours use F&B. if you think a colour matched colour looks the same (it doesn’t) then do that. There absolutely is a difference and it has nothing to do with being a snob.

Estate Emulsion isn’t as durable as Modern Emulsion so do use that if you’re worried about marks.

There is more prep and it does take more coats, if you are bothered about saving a day or two painting versus years enjoying your room it’s up to you! Remember, all these professional decorators who don’t like F&B won’t be the ones living in your house!

When people talk about F&B’s chalky finish they are referring to Estate Emulsion, which is super matt with 2% sheen. It is lovely but marks if you breathe on it so only suitable if you don’t have small children and never touch your walls. The durable version is the Modern Emulsion but at 7% sheen it has a totally different finish. Don’t commit to a whole room unless you have seen this finish in real life and are happy with it, remembering that the tester pots are Estate Emulsion.

At that price point my preference is Little Greene’s durable version, Intelligent Matt. It is flatter than F&B Modern and no more than 5% sheen.

Have just painted a bedroom in F&B Skylight. The finish is outstanding - chalky and intense, and magically blurring the edges of the room so it appears larger. But it was a bit of a pig to apply, requiring three coats (and that was over an off white). Going to investigate Little Green. Paying a bit more for a really beautiful colour/finish, for something you live with all the time, seems worth it - think there are corners I'd rather cut.

Another no - just used it in a bedroom, 3 coats and the coverage still looks duff

It's like Marmite - you either love it, or hate it, I think.

Personally, I think it is much easier to paint with than many others I've tried (but not everyone feels that way). I love that's it's a bit thinner - I just find that much easier to work with.

We have it in most rooms - both the estate and modern emulsions, depending on the room. With 3 dogs I think it's the most forgiving paint I've ever had. (Again, other say differently).

The modern emulsion wipes down well time and time again. The estate emulsion can withstand a little bit of wiping but when the marks are too bad, I simply patch paint over. It's the only paint I have ever used where I just cannot see the 'patch'. Normally, you can tell when a wall has been patched but I really cannot with F&B.

Horses for courses, I guess.

Definitely don't colour match with valspar! Their paint is awful!

I think it's worth it but I've not used little Greene. We'll be renovating soon and I'm holding out for a sale to get F and B. We had strong white in the old house and it was amazing! We also had sulking room pink (different room)

@Baxdream

Definitely don't colour match with valspar! Their paint is awful!

I think it's worth it but I've not used little Greene. We'll be renovating soon and I'm holding out for a sale to get F and B. We had strong white in the old house and it was amazing! We also had sulking room pink (different room)

I used the valspar 800 in two rooms and it was very good.

No, it’s just not tough enough and you can’t seem to retouch it, you have to repaint the whole wall, it just seems the paint to use, to say you use it.

Just on the subject of coats - F&B are very clear in their instructions that you need to use an undercoat + two coats of emulsion. It’s a really common complaint that it takes three coats but it shouldn’t and in their defence they are explicit about this.

To digress onto the topic of F&B snobbery, I often find it's people that didn't use F&B that look down on people that did ! I didn't know about this whole F&B designer paint marmite situation until after I bought it. I had just assumed that low VOC paints cost more because things that are more environmentally friendly often do as the technologies are newer and supply chains tend to be underdeveloped

Valspar is cheap crap. F & B is v good if you want a flat matte finish with pigment intensity. I never use anything else because it's so good. It goes on well, but prep has to be spot on and you have to have at least 2 coats. It doesn't fade either so touching up is easy.

I'm painting my sitting room yesterday and today, and only needed one coat of Farrow's cream, I'm painting over a lighter cream. Very happy with the result.

I've been using F&B for years and have never understood the hate for it. It goes on beautifully and you don't need umpteen coats.

Decorators have another reason not to like F&B - they don't get any trade discount on it. To get trade prices you have to buy all the wallpaper books which is ££££s. And F&B are really strict with suppliers about it.

@Bluntness100 we used it in a couple of rooms and ended up redoing the rooms.
The dark colour had 8 coats and was still patchy! Never again

@Bluntness100 same experience here, hence my vow never to touch it again as above, and online reviews suggest there are thousands of people who feel the same. There was a (massive) issue with smell which I think was eventually resolved - I just say that to explain the basis for some of the reviews - but besides that, lots more people having issues with coverage. I think there may be a difference between the pale / white colours and the deeper (more pigmented) tones.

It's so easy to claim 'snobbery' when people use F&B. I personally preferred the colour range over other brands, and trust me, I sampled a LOT of other brands too. As PP has mentioned, I also wanted to go for a more environmentally paint - the others all smelt toxic so I was pleased to go for a water-based over oil. Of the samples I used, their Modern Emulsion won hands down vs the deluxe samples I used.

I also visited the home of somebody who had colour-matched an F&B paint with Valspar and they too were disappointing with the tone of the actual paint which had made their kitchen look more yellow than it should have done! I'm not entirely sure what F&B colour they were going for, but seeing their colour-matched walls were enough to put me off going the Valspar route. You will ever get the same depth of colour with colour matched, sorry but you won't.

I've heard good things about Pretty Greene and I like the look of the Ca Pietra paints too.

*environmentally friendly paint

Found F&B paint superbly hard wearing in kitchen and sitting room. Get lots of testers though - the colours vary quite a bit depending on the lighting. You need pale F&B colours in dark rooms otherwise the colour is really over powering. No experience of Little Green. Found some of the Dulux ‘white’ collection give good results in smaller dark rooms i.e Cornflower White. Good luck!

Africa and Baxdream, both with the 800? How long ago? I did mine about six months ago and the paint was really quite thick and with good coverage,