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.

I got it could matched by Johnstones. You can give them the colour number. It's hard wearing Matt I went for in whimborne. Thank goodness o went hard wearing, blue hand prints in first few days.

Johnstone's are licensed to colour match F&B I believe. They have a book with the codes in. You just tell them the name and the paint/finish you want it in.

If you want hardwearing paint go for the F&B modern emulsion, which is scrub-able

I am not doubting what people are saying about needing many coats, but that has so NOT been my experience with F&B. I don’t know if people are applying it with a roller rather than a brush? I’ve never needed more than 2 coats and with the modern emulsion even managed to get away with just one coat.

Call me a bore, but I personally think there’s something a little unethical about using other companies for colour matching. F&B clearly put a lot of time (and money) into developing their colours. By colour matching other companies are benefiting from that work, which just doesn’t sit right with me. Johnstone is possibly an exception here, as they do appear to have a licensing deal with F&B. In general though, I think that if you like a colour that much, get it from the people who came up with it 🤷‍♀️

(End of rant and apologies for being a bore 😄)

@IstandwithJackieWeaver that really isn’t true, F&B do not license anyone else to make their paint.
I used to work in a paint selling shop, yes it’s possible to match most F&B and there are formulas, but it isn’t approved by F&B.

@IstandwithJackieWeaver

Johnstone's are licensed to colour match F&B I believe. They have a book with the codes in. You just tell them the name and the paint/finish you want it in.

My painter&decorator uses Johnstone's, says it's the best, and colour matched F&B great white for me for our house.

Call me a bore, but I personally think there’s something a little unethical about using other companies for colour matching. F&B clearly put a lot of time (and money) into developing their colours. By colour matching other companies are benefiting from that work, which just doesn’t sit right with me. Johnstone is possibly an exception here, as they do appear to have a licensing deal with F&B. In general though, I think that if you like a colour that much, get it from the people who came up with it 🤷‍♀️

Have to say I agree. It's akin to buying knock off designer bags. Just buy the real deal or don't both imo.

All the paint manufacturers have put money into developing their colours. You can match pretty much anything from a swatch these days with the technology, that doesn't make it wrong. F&B charge more in part because some people like to think they have paid a premium therefore they have got a better/more exclusive product.

Remember when Calvin Klein launched CK One? It didn't take off until they put the price up.

Wow F&B paint definitely divides opinions! We do have a small DC so need something scrubbable and the multiple layers with primer etc sounds a bit faffy. Thanks everyone for your advice.

It think it’s like many things, you drink Coke, you can buy a cheaper own brand Cola, some people will say ‘but Coke tastes better so I’ll pay the price’, others are happy with their own brand Cola.
Same with paint, but it’s not all just advertising, F&B use more pigment than most, it makes the colour work differently, because it has a greater saturation of colour, that’s why it changes more in different lights.
They also spend a lot of time and money working out new colours, staying ahead, setting tends, it all costs money and most others just follow in their wake and copy what they do.
I suppose it will depend if you value these things, think they are relevant or not? Lots of people dont so don’t want to pay the full cost and are happy with a cheaper substitute.
But I can say it used to drive me mad, the amount of people who bought a F&B sample pot, liked the colour but went and got it matched then moaned that it didn’t quite look/feel like F&B 🤷‍♀️

Little green is wonderful- get the washable one and if it gets dirty you can wipe it with damp kitchen roll and it looks freshly painted. Expensive but so worth it.

I have several slobbery dogs. Think turner and hooch- so I spend plenty time washing walls!

Wilko emulsion is still going strong in my living room after almost 6 years.

We used to use F&B. I don’t think the coverage or wear was that great. Little and Green was better. Then our local paint store now sells Benjamin Moore. No looking back for me.

Only downside, our painters swore up and down they need more paint than they actually did, now we are stuck with several unopened gallons of custom mixed paint. They were amazed by the coverage. I am very pleased with the wear.

I must be the only parent whose DC didn’t make mess on the walls. Never even had them try and write on them.

I find people using knock off F&B really annoying too. But as a nation we seem ok with fakes in many walks of life. The cost of paint is hardly a massive expense!

Depends how much paint you need ? The cost of farrow and ball to me is extortionate.

@FlopMadeMeDoIt, here is some advice on choosing yellow paint. Just for fun since you are considering yellow.

mariakillam.com/yellow-is-back-avoid-mistake-almost-everyone-makes-choosing-yellow/

It seems to be a brand that has managed to build an brand on confirmation bias that it's unique and exclusive that cost is worth it.

I know of one person who thinks her entire house is painted in Fallow and Ball. It isn't its colour matched Dulux. She is delighted with her walls, and she and others still do the unrivaled pigment and subtle light reflection talk despite this.

I'm not sold on it personally. Having seen it on walls, I just don't understand the fuss. The stuff that looks different isn't lasting or hardwearing.

So many professionals don't like it. Though one thread (years ago) stuck with me. Posters saying that professional decorators didn't like it because they were "lazy". It just struck me how easily the opinion of professional decorators can be dismissed.

Do not use Farrow and Ball, if you want to buy expensive paint then Little Greene is far superior. Yes you can colour match it and most people who say colour matching doesn't work are trying to justify the cost of F&B to themselves.

@PresentingPercy

I must be the only parent whose DC didn’t make mess on the walls. Never even had them try and write on them.

I find people using knock off F&B really annoying too. But as a nation we seem ok with fakes in many walks of life. The cost of paint is hardly a massive expense!

My children have never written on the walls, either. But my hyper mobile DS will sometimes lean on the wall for support, and my gymnastics-mad DD will do handstands against it, and I practise yoga which periodically involves putting my legs up the wall, and any one of us will occasionally brush against it, etc etc. You don’t have to have feral graffiti artists in the house for a very chalky paint like Estate Emulsion to be impractical.

Call me a bore, but I personally think there’s something a little unethical about using other companies for colour matching

Where do you think F&B get their colours from? Each season they, along with all the other companies will update their ranges based on trends from large designers and trend watchers like Pantone.

The point is people don't copy F&B colours just to get them cheap - the issue is the quality of their paint. I'd pay their prices if the paint wasn't such poor quality and durability.

Try the colour matching service offered by B&Q but make sure you compare testers with F&B. When doing our house up we chose a lot of F&B colours, some of the B&Q ones were a really good match however others didn't compare at all so we've a mix of the two.

My painter whinges and complains about using F&B but I force him to

Whole house done from pale off whites to darkest navy and black.

I once deviated away and regretted it instantly. It looked bright and modern even though it was a dull beigey stone colour. Painted over it with Skimming Stone within a week.

No it’s not worth it

I love F&B exterior paint. Honestly if you think a brick wall is boring use F&B then watch it change colour through the day in the summer.
We also have it on our exterior doors.
It costs too much to do inside when we were renovating and we've used Valspar ( not colour matched) I've been pleased with the valspar finish though.

No, we have F&B in a dark colour in a high traffic area, it looks awful after only a few months, we have children and pets but it marks so easily and water marks don't wipe off it.
Wish we had saved a fortune and gone with Valspar.

I think the colours are lovely - you just don’t get the depth with colour matches.

However my painter hates using it. We always have a bit of a battle