Farrow & Ball vs. Little Greene - help!

[lettie9]

I know this has been discussed already, but I couldn't find a recent thread, so forgive me for starting another.

I'm trying to decide between F&B and Little Greene for our Edwardian house. I think some decorators haven't liked F&B in the past (?) but I'm not sure why not? The lady in the interiors shop said lots of people now prefer Little Greene, but I just don't like the colours as much.

Help! 🆘

Perhaps FB for walls and LG for skirting? Though skirting will just be white, so perhaps Dulux will do 🤑 I haven't even started to calculate how much FB will cost for 4 bedrooms, two receptions and a kitchen...

LG would be cheaper because it goes sooo much further.

@DanglingMod it's a lot thicker according to PPs?

We've just had our 3 story hallway repainted 6 months after having F&B, every knock was obvious and with 3 lids they are always touching the bloody walls. Decorator colour matched to Johnson's wipeable and it's brilliant.

We have little Greene in 4 rooms and it's very hard wearing and the decorator said went on like a dream.

I've messaged LG about their colour matching service. Perhaps that's the solution. I wouldn't mind a less shiny finish than FB modern emulsion anyway.

I use F&B on my woodwork and some of it has been done four years and looks pristine still. Same for the walls, wearing very well.

LG every time.

Neither...Mylands instead
Quality is excellent and some great colours

Some posters have said LG is better but not why - any reasons not mentioned thus far that we should consider?

Our decorator said LG is like double cream and F&B is like milk, i.e. coverage not so good.

@lettie9

We will be using modern emulsion as we have little ones. I think it has more of a sheen than LG 'intelligent matte' but still matte enough. So I think this gets around what some posters have said about scuffs and marks.

As for oil vs. water based - we will be using water based, so again FB will be ok.

I think it sounds like FB isn't actually much worse than LG? Some posters have said LG is better but not why - any reasons not mentioned thus far that we should consider?

I think loads of us have said! If you have little ones, then they are almost guaranteed to cover your lovely walls with marks that you can't clean. LG marks less, cleans better and although the cost seems similar upfront, it's cheaper because it goes much further - while the quality of the colour is still really high, like F&B and unlike a Johnstone colour match (which is fine but not the same, especially if doing one of the shades of white).

I have always been a F&B fan and did all of my last house in it. Well, my decorator did.

New house and I wanted some LG wallpaper and decided to buy the matching paint to save time/ energy matching to F&B. My decorator was delighted with it and the finish is so much better - I ended up painting our wardrobes with the same paint (it was supposed to be a temporary measure as the plan was to replace the wardrobes but they look brilliant so we are keeping them) and it was such an easy paint to work with.

I agree Johnstone's colour match isn't perfect but better in lighter colours than dark. I colour matched for my children's bedrooms this time as they tend to ruin walls within hours.

I was just asking for any other reasons NOT mentioned above! 😅

I thought the 'cleans better' comment referred to FB estate emulsion. I have modern emulsion in our livingroom at the moment and really don't see any problems with cleaning.

You can't beat Dulux and Crown, and decorators round here use Johnstones a brilliant finish.
F&B/ LG are for the rich "we saw you coming" lot, and laughable in the North

I've always used Little Greene (or Earthborn) whenever I've decorated but bought a house newly finished with F&B. Never again. We've been here just over two years and it already looks grubby, plus the dog has managed to rub several coats of paint clean off most of the kitchen units, at 'itchy back' height.

You sound pretty determined to go for F&B regardless, though!

@gillysSong

You can't beat Dulux and Crown, and decorators round here use Johnstones a brilliant finish. F&B/ LG are for the rich "we saw you coming" lot, and laughable in the North

So is Crown and Dulux for the poor/inverse snobs then?

@BarbaraPapa no no, I am still open to LG! Can I ask if you used modern emulsion or estate?

Little Greene is much better, we painted our hall stairs and landing with just 2.5L and did 2 coats too. We have it in all the downstairs rooms. We used Valspar colour matched to F&B and it’s shit, I hated painting with it, it’s a dreadful formula.

I prefer the LG because you still get that Matt/ chalky look but without the marks that F&B estate is prone to.
F&B modern has a sheen to it and tbh I don't like that so much.

Little Greene! Yes it is like double cream to apply. for comparison Valspar is like thin watery skimmed milk. Ive just tested a Craig and Rose colour today and seemed like really nice paint to work with too.

We used Little Greene in our living room and Farrow and Ball in our bedroom (spare rooms got Mylands colours). We had picked each one based purely on the colour we chose for the room but LG went on better than F&B but both were better than Mylands (which went on really thick and gave us both headaches). LG has gorgeous colours — I love our living room, the colour really changes with the light and manages to be warm despite being a blue.

@lettie9

I'd rather not get LG to colour match FB. Colour matching has never gone well in my (limited) experience.

I love Blackened, Wevet and Ammonite. The LG colour charts looked less subtle or something in comparison, and I didn't like their neutrals as much.

Definitely look at Paint and Paper Library. Slate is a beautiful warm grey which varies from the palest tone to deep and is numbered 1-5 depending. Cotton slightly cooler and fresher. Their architectural colours are ace. We’re using stone on our sitting room. Ammonite, I used in my old bedroom and very lovely too. Didn’t have a problem with marking. They’re both very good paint manufacturers. But eggshell not very robust with F&B and chips really easily.

@minipie

LG is definitely better paint. It covers evenly whereas F&B can go on a bit watery and patchy. (From what my decorator said). Also means you don’t need as much.

LG will also colour match F&B colours. you won’t save any money doing this, unlike using a Johnstones match but you will get a spot on colour match which Johnstones isn’t always.

@minipie this is interesting.

How does the colour matching service work? I can’t see anything on their website. Do you have to ring them? I wish I’d known about this last week before ordering F&B. I’ve used LG before and preferred it but wanted a particular F&B colour. I’ve never found colour matching works but I think I’d take the chance with LG.

I can’t remember sorry - it was 10 years ago we used LG colour matching - I think there was a local LG supplier who would do it?

@Blue5238

Neither...Mylands instead Quality is excellent and some great colours

Me too, I’m at a loss as why Mylands doesn’t seem as popular the marble Matt is fabulous very hardwearing & scrub/wipeable plus amazing coverage the eggshell is the best I have ever used, have used most makes.

I have used both in my house. The wipable matt LG is very good in my children’ s bedrooms. My bedroom is F an B matt finish. It’s not as durable as LG but it is absolutely beautiful. F and B Matt wins for colours and the velvety finish. I wouldn’t use that finish in a high traffic area though.