Is there a difference between Farrow & Ball 'Old White' and 'Bone'?

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They look EXACTLY the same on the colour chart. Have looked at it in all different lights and cannot see any difference between them. Am I missing something?

None, they are both white with a hint of pretentious

Sorry I hate overpriced paint. Just me.

Didn't they do one called 'dead mouse' or something?

only the cleverest most beautiful people can tell the difference, you are obviously not worthy of using farrow and ball paint.

I'm sorry for being so rude
I'm not sure if they are different but hopefully someone polite will come along in a minute to help.

Ex is a decorator and specialises in this type of thing. If we were still on speaking terms I could ask him...

old white is a sort of green grey, and bone is more of a brown-y tone.

and, anti pretension as i am, farrow and ball works out better value less than dulux when you actually use it because you need less.

You need to buy two dinky little sample pots and put squares of paint on your walls where the light hits them differently. Then you will see
I think I had Bone in my last house. Or it might have been String. Or Dead Mouse. Anyway whatever it was it looked different in the shadows to in the light, twas very nice.

Flight, I'm kind of siding with you on the pretentiousness front (awaits bashing from most MNers for slagging off F&B paint).

Bettymum & civil - thanks for the guidance. I will probably be going with a darker shade, but have spent the past week trying to fathom if there is a difference between those two!

Oh and civil - re. value of paints. The trick with Dulux is to go to a builders merchant and get the trade paint. It is far better quality (for similar price) than the paint sold in DIY stores. Our builder gave us this tip and we have been astounded by the difference. Only needed one coat, where before we have needed three.

I only buy it when it's on the remainder shelf at the local decorators merchant...a quid a litre, can't go wrong, most of our rooms are lovely quality

dulux/crown that is! The only pot of F&B I bought was a drippy, drippy gloss, nice colour but ugh the mess!

I think Bone is darker. Both are v nice. Clearly I am laying myself wide open to accusations of pretentiousness here, but although it's easy to get a Dulux colour match, the other difference is that F&B reflects light differently than more commercial brands so colour isn't the only factor in the decision. Having said that, I've just had our house done in F&B colours via the Dulux remix service so the better light reflection wasn't enough to sway me!

If anyone is planning to go down the Dulux colour-mix route, the trade paint can also be colourmixed

Thanks - actually I used to run an interior design/ renovation agency, so I can be pretty confident in saying that you can get the colours mixed at the trade counter and get the flat matt (which is much nicer) the f&b still has a far better finish. But I'll agree that the value comparison probably doesnt extend to trade. I'm not sure i understand why it is pretentious - because of the names? or the price?

I completely agree that the f&b has a nicer finish - I love the chalkiness of it.

I think the pretentiousness comes from the cost and it all being a bit "I've got farrow & ball" paint. Personally I couldn't give a hoot who made the paint in mine or anyone else's house. But a lot of people round here choose F&B paint just so they can brag about having it. Which makes it a bit wanky and pretentious. But that is more the individuals prob

they taste slightly different when you lick the finished wall. Bone tastes slightly of feta, while Old White has a hint of langues du chat.

Whereas as we all know all Dulux shades have a strong note of Haribos and B and Q own brand tastes of Lambert and Butlers.

old white is fractionally greener and is the darker of the two. i prefer bone (we have that in living rooms, old white on the woodwork in the bathroom). you can buy a colour card that's actually painted - rather than printed - chips to give the most accurate idea of colour, but it'll never replace seeing a larger area of colour actually on the wall (i.e. samples)

Precious...quote of the week

millenium - that's the colour card I have, and I swear they are identical. Maybe they put the wrng colour against one of them, and stuck the same colour on twice?

They do look similar on the colour card, but there is a difference.
A F & B stockist will have bigger colour boards for you to look at, but the best way to see is to buy a sample pot of both.
Don't put a big square of paint on the wall..... paint onto a big piece of card or paper, 2 coats at least.

Then you can see the colours next to each other and on their own, you can move then to the light areas of the room and to the dark areas. (you should see the colour in daylight and evening light to be sure you like the colour) and you then don't ruin your existing room with big blotches of paint that you have to paint over.

I have been dwelling too much on this and decided the reason it is pretentious is that it is trying to be something it isn't.

yes you may have an antiquated texture on your walls but that doesn't mean you don't live on a new build in Swindon. And you probably don't have heaps of enamelled kitchenware, to boot.

In fact in order to create the desired effect you would need to be resident in one of those living museums. Complete with several cotton petticoats and a snood.

I guess in the right kind of house it probably looks really nice, but there again you create an elite, tis a little naff really especially when all the colours are variations of 'string'.

I'm probably just not gettign it though.

No, I admit I am prejudiced. I ahve just had a look. The colours are beautiful and I am pleased they are eco friendly.

Sorry.
I tend to rebel against anything that becomes 'the' fashion accessory, really, because suddenly everyone is having the same colour on their walls and it gets so competitive.

i suppose i just dont see that choosing a certain colour doesnt mean you are trying to look like you live in a french chateau - just that you like the colour.

agree that everyone having the same styled houses is sheep like and silly, but i'm not clear that it is pretension, unless people think its makes them better or something. me - i just like the colours.

There is a b and q colours everywhere paint called rice cake which is v farrow and ball half the price washable and lovely!I can't reccomend it enough it looks great in all lights too.

i first discovered them because my folks had a very old house and needed something that breathed properly or the plaster would fall off f&b was the only choice in those days. ditto for colours, f&b were the only place that did really muted colours (before colour matching widely available think?). so i have a long time loyalty to them, along with my experience that i've never once regretted the f&b paints i've used, but whenever i've got something else it's been not quite right and (sadly, i'm aware it's twattish but i can't help it) it bothers me.

The coverage on F&B paints is just so much better than any of the others. I keep trying to buy cheaper stuff when I'm painting a room, get the match pots and the F&B always comes up looking best. Fired Earth also good (but equally expensive ).

MillenniumFalcon, where does your talk name come from? It's bothering me (in that it sounds really familiar, but I don't know why. Please put me out of my misery).