What is the deal with Farrow and Ball paint?

[ilikeyoursleeves]

I had never heard of it before I came on Mumsnet! Why is it so different to say, Dulux etc?

Is it worth buying or is it the DIY equivalent of shopping at Boden?

Love FE too, but not as much as F&B.

I need to check out F&B colours, but only after I've chosen our bedroom blind fabric colour.

I need to check out F&B colours, but only after I've chosen our bedroom blind fabric colour.

I need to check out F&B colours, but only after I've chosen our bedroom blind fabric colour.

Opps, triple post......sorry

orienteer - so, you feel your bedroom blind fabric is important

Don't agree with the idea that professionals only go with dulux etc for the mark up,

Dad is a decorator..and i pay for the pain so hes not bothered ...and he really dislikes F&B

paint

I used to sleep with the Farrow and Ball colour card under my pillow. Colours are GORGEOUS. I am a TOTAL fan.

jollster i recently bought the colour card thing, where you get all of the colours in bigger size. its brilliant, only £15.
its bt my bed. sad but true!

As someone who is completely crap at interior design, I think the big plus of F & B is that the colours all seem to be lovely. I've never had an "Oh my GOD! How come I've got that hideous SICK colour on my wall" moment when using F & B. This is something that regularly seemed to happen to me before.

I also agree that colour matching somehow just doesn't seem to cut it.

We use the F&B modern emulsion. You get the great colours but it's easier to use. The estate emulsion can be chalky, harder to paint with and more difficult to clean (if you've got kids). You can also use the modern emulsion in kitchens and bathrooms.

I have done a near complete repaint of my house and have used a multitude of different paints. FB, Crown emulsion, Dulux, trade eggshell, gloss, external wall paint, woodstain varnish, varnish, Cuprinol fence paint, primer+stain blocker, bathroom paint and just about to use external metalwork paint. Must have gone through at least 120 litres of decorative cover.

The paint that I hated was Dulux emulsion, I painted two rooms with them and they streaked badly in that I forgot to keep on stirring/mixing the paint as I approached the end of the tin and so there were tone variations with every roller of paint (now planning to repaint two of the streaky walls again as the finish was that bad). The diamond trade eggshell was a tough one to apply in that it is thicker and quicker drying but has a great finish (used a professional long haired brush and the approriate one directional long strokes) - the new (primed) doors and (primed) skirtings had great finishes (avoided gloss on them as I find gloss doors too shiny and eye catchy... doors and skirtings are not the focal points of a room. The FB modrn emulsion provided excellent consistent colour, yes there were a few patchy streaks but that was more down to me recoating some areas too soon (I painted using a roller FB directly onto new high grade lining paper to hide wall imperfections, yes the roller sprayed paint but the floor was covered up and rolling gave a better more even and consistent finish and is a lot quicker than the brush which I still did use for the edges). The Crown paint I only used brilliant white and it appeared to work without a problem, but I can't see why any brilliant white emulsion paint should be a problem as it is so simple, used the Crown paint as it was on special offer.

I still need to paint a freshly plaster boarded room and skimmed ceiling. Planning to roller on cheap watered down paint as the undercoat (similar colour to the top coat) and then roller on FB modern emulsion on the basis it has the best colour, ease of application and finish.