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 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.

This is off-topic and very nosy of me but I am fascinated to know how this happened and how you know?!

Husband/partner was the decorator? I would be fuming if I was cheated like this. It’s underhand and totally wrong.

I always supply the paint or I check the yin’s if they arrive with a decorator. The guy we use now is perfectly happy to use it and he buys it. In fact he’s here with F&B tins and decorating right now.

[quote Itscoldouthere]@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.[/quote]
They are the same company as Laura Ashley paint (does it still exist?)

I've been really pleased with the f&b walls in my house. I like the way the colour looks different as the day light changes.

I wouldn't put it in the hallway or entrance as have noticed it marks quite easily.

Get a colour match for the first two coats and for the third and final coat, use the real deal. You will notice a huge difference and save a bit of money. Colour matching does not give the same result. How can it? The ingredients in the paint are not the same. It’s like saying you drive a fiesta and it’s the same as a (insert pricier brand of small car).

@Chumleymouse Dulux fan here too for durability and finish. I have only ever tried wilko own brand paint & Crown though so I cannot comment on F&B.

Hasn’t anyone tried Benjamin Moore yet? The coverage, depth of pigment and levelling are as good as it gets.

@Dogsarehairy a very long time ago Laura Ashley paint was made by F&B but that hasn’t been the case for years. I don’t know if Laura Ashley still sell paint but it isn’t made by F&B now.

I’m intrigued, @Empressofthemundane, but looking at the stockist map on their website there are only three stockists in England north of Oxford and one each in NI and Scotland so it’s unsurprising that take-up might be patchy.

We've used Benjamin Moore, hence recommendation upthread. So much better than F&B.

Having painted our dining room in Dulux and a bedroom in F&B over the last 6 months as furlough projects, as an amateur decorator with limited abilities, Dulux all the way! The coverage was just so much better, one coat as versus three. The F&B colour (pavilion blue) is nice but overall it looks patchy which annoys me every time I step in the room. When it comes to my house, I don’t mind paying more for things that look great and compliment a period property. I do mind paying more though for something I’m not happy with!

Hi all, I've been thinking about using F&B to paint relatively small areas (Victorian panelling that we're planning to put in our soon-to-be new dining room). Has anyone used it in the dining room or over panelling and has any thoughts, please? TIA 😊

I was convinced by the plan to get a cheaper knock-off by colour-matching it too - had about 20 samples of grey paint from lots of (mainly cheap) brands, and the F&B one was the nicest. I went to B&Q and had a sample made in the same colour, took it home and put it right next to the original sample and they were completely different. The B&Q one was bloody purple.

If you’re colour matching I would go to Brewers or a similar type of decorating specialist. Apparently they match Johnston’s by using the proper RAL codes, not by scanning it. Bloke told me it’s done under license from f+b and it’s the closest way to do it properly.

The modern finish F&B are good, the older versions were not hard-wearing at all

@PurplePansy05

Hi all, I've been thinking about using F&B to paint relatively small areas (Victorian panelling that we're planning to put in our soon-to-be new dining room). Has anyone used it in the dining room or over panelling and has any thoughts, please? TIA 😊

We have just done some panelling in the finish called "estate eggshell" and are very pleased

I have estate emulsion Old white in my hall,up the stairs and on the landing ( also in my bedroom as I love it) and with two teen boys charging about I'm happy to say it still looks great after two years.
I painted it myself with a brush and roller for all the high bits and used two coats.
I'm working my way around the house and happy to spend the extra twice a year as I know I won't be disappointed.

@ThanksItHasPockets

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.

This is off-topic and very nosy of me but I am fascinated to know how this happened and how you know?!

Because it's my mother.

But who painted her walls? Was she scammed? Didn’t she see the tins?!

Thank you Flippyferlopy, good to know! xx

No wasn't scammed it was mu dad who did the painting. My mum choses a F&B colour, as as he doesn't want to spend unnecessay money for an overpriced (in his opinion) product that he felt wasn't worth it he gets Dulux.

My mother just assumes it's F&B, her and her friends do all that talk about about pigmentation, light etc. (Not all the time - that would be weird - but when talking about decorating!!)

As I said a brand built on confirmation bias.

Have used F & B quite a lot in the past, but won't do so now- it has become far too expensive, and there are plenty of alternatives, even just store 'own brands', which are just as good if not better.

We have F&B. I think you can get away with a colour match for some of the paler colours but the strong colours are best to buy the original.

@CherryValanc,

Brilliant!

If they were really that good they would not need branches in Wimbledon Village, Hampstead Village etc etc.

It is real Emperor’s New Clothes...

I was just looking at my LG paint and noticing hat it changes colour in different lights etc.

But so does my Dulux trade extra Matt. Which was much easier to apply.