Fancy paints like Farrow and Ball are they worth the money?

[scottishfarmlady]

Or are dulux etc just as good?
paint advice please for internal walls in an old house.

Thanks for eggshell tips and for your compliment orlando. It's potentially quite nice but a lot of writing is practised on the walls. It's very lived in .

I've used F&B, Fired Earth, Laura Ashley and Crown period. They're all good but find F&B colours do have more depth as described by puppy. If you want an interesting neutral or off-white, F&B the business. I'm also keen because they're low-odor and low-chemical (can't remember the phrase) without actually being organic. Crown paints go on a treat, v.easy to paint with & found their satin not v.shiny so am thinking of using it elsewhere in our house as we're about to repaint. Matt emulsion impossible with small children, we painted throughout 2 years ago and only the Crown satin has held up in DS's bedroom. I think F&B now do a emulsion that's tougher so worth investigating maybe?

Erm... if you are not particularly bothered with a spectacular matt finish or natural looking sheens, or any other breathable ability... choose the colour you want from the expensive paints range, get a sample tin, paint a card (to test in your own walls -colour in shadowed walls is very different to the way it look in a sunbathed wall). And once you get the colour your want take the card to... any Dulux suplier that has a scanner and they will do it for you. Dulux has far more mixes than those in their huge colour chart displays.

I'm particularly fond of the dusty colours used in the U.S. and although Dulux don't advertise them directly, normally they have them. Now, my love of Dulux is because their Dulux Once range, which seems a bit more expensive at first sight but... you use less paint and it takes much less time to finish. Finishing in a day or two is well worth the extra price.

Not tried a full wall with F&B, as the tester pot coverage was poo, but I feel I need to stick up for Laura Ashley stuff here (my lord, did I REALLY just say that???) as converted to it in 2 rooms after Dulux Once and Dulux matching service completely let us down. Coverage was amazing - one coat of a rich red in the bedroom was enough, where a Homebase olde worlde range (not sure of the name, and not that much cheaper) took 4 coats until we gave up and said that will do. If your F&B tester gives good coverage, go with it. If not, don't bother. You'll have better things to do with your time than paint your walls 4 times.

Dulux Matching appears to depend on the lighting in the room BTW, which you'll not know until you get the tin home. We weren't prepared to install fluorescent strip lights in the bedroom to get the same shade as the shop...

What are your walls like? How old is your house?
Our old place was Farrow and Ball in all the rooms-loved the colours BUT anything stuck to walls with blu tac when removed would remove the paint with it!!!
And when i had PND and threw a dining room chair at a wall it scraped the paint straight away.

I have now returned to Dulux

the quality of the paint - due to the pigment etc - is much, much better. so, if you like the colours, i would def recommend them. also, because the coverage is so much better, actually, they work out chepaer than you might think because you need less. but i would never, never use them on a sale prject.

I would just add that F&B estate emulsion is spectacularly matt and velvety - it's very kind to uneven walls. We had a crumbling old house that really needed replastering, but got away with heavy grade lining paper and Estate Emulsion, the bumps and blemishes just faded away in most lighting. Which can be an advantage if you are selling.... It sure is cheaper than plastering.

The colours do come out much stronger and brighter on the walls - better stockists have painted colour swatches the size of postcards.

For my part I felt it was worth it but I do like those colours and they suited our style. Cheap paint is an absolute false economy - after the fourth coat you will be cursing it.

Dulux trade are also very nice paint, better colours than the DIY store range.

have a friend who is a decorator and he says u can get all F and B colours in the dulux range. He also recommends that if u have grubby little hands marching from room to room use the dulux range until they r bigger as cleaning f and b walls is not good as colour changes with each wipe. We have f and b all of which r lovely but r about to use dulux in childrens rooms and hall.Seems silly to waste money on f and b when u can buy same colour that lasts better. U can tell the quality of f and b.

Message withdrawn

Dulux aren't as good the colours just don't have the depth We have dauphin in our living room and it is stunning day and night.Our front door is french grey oil eggshell but it has just been done and ia m hoping it will last.

love F & B - it goes on soooooooooooo well.

I like F&B - have used it in kitchen and bathroom (Green Ground and Lamp Grey). The finish is more matt and velvety than Dulux or Crown matts, though I don't think it's quite so easy to slap on. I usually use a paintbrush but then I'm very anal about painting .

Fired Earth is dire dire dire for painting with, you have to be so careful to mix it properly and regularly as it gets very sludgy and chalky once you've got past the top layer in the pot. Nice colours but not worth the aggravation IMHO!