Farrow & Ball Paint

[AMD1]

I'm halfway through redecorating our home. I have used Dulux Diamond Matt throughout (kid and dog in house) and very pleased with the finish and washes down any marks. Some colours were matched to F&B at the Dulux Trade Centre.

I will be redecorating the kitchen unit timber doors and Paintfinity has been recommended for this. Anyone used Painfinity before?

[singlecoil]

I hand paint bare wood kitchen doors as part of my everyday doings, and have tried most types. A few years ago we tried some Farrow and Ball because the customer particularly wanted it and turned out to be awful. I don't know exactly which version it was because it wasn't me that used it.

Anyway, I thought I would try some of the F&B Estate Eggshell (matt is unsuitable for kitchen doors) and am pleased to discover that it's the best paint I have ever used for this particular application. I can't imagine I will be using anything else in the future.

[Wozy68]

singlecoil said:

I hand paint bare wood kitchen doors as part of my everyday doings, and have tried most types. A few years ago we tried some Farrow and Ball because the customer particularly wanted it and turned out to be awful. I don't know exactly which version it was because it wasn't me that used it.

Anyway, I thought I would try some of the F&B Estate Eggshell (matt is unsuitable for kitchen doors) and am pleased to discover that it's the best paint I have ever used for this particular application. I can't imagine I will be using anything else in the future.

Then SC, you aint painted enough furniture.

Beautiful colours, but so do Zoffany, Little Green, Dulux, Johnstones, Paint & Paper library, Colortrend et al. We have used them all.

F&B I'd agree is better on furniture than it is on walls, but there are many more out there that are better, especially when it comes to dark colours.

Edited by Wozy68 on Thursday 4th June 22:14

[singlecoil]

Wozy68 said:

singlecoil said:

I hand paint bare wood kitchen doors as part of my everyday doings, and have tried most types. A few years ago we tried some Farrow and Ball because the customer particularly wanted it and turned out to be awful. I don't know exactly which version it was because it wasn't me that used it.

Anyway, I thought I would try some of the F&B Estate Eggshell (matt is unsuitable for kitchen doors) and am pleased to discover that it's the best paint I have ever used for this particular application. I can't imagine I will be using anything else in the future.

Then SC, you aint painted enough furniture.

Beautiful colours, but so do Zoffany, Little Green, Dulux, Johnstones, Paint & Paper library, Colortrend et al. We have used them all.

F&B I'd agree is better on furniture than it is on walls, but there are many more out there that are better, especially when it comes to dark colours.

Oh I've painted plenty of furniture I can assure you. But I should have made it clear that it's not the colours I like (and even if I did it wouldn't matter in the slightest because I paint in whatever colour my client chooses) it's the paint itself. It's how it goes on, how it covers and how it looks and feels that I like.

[dirty boy]

Just finished painting a front door in F&B after painting a whole salon in cheap white paint.

Never used it before, but I couldn't help but say to the wife, within about 3 brush strokes, how much better it went on.

Coverage was superb, 1 coat was nearly enough, but it had 3 as it's quite exposed.

VERY expensive though - would use again regardless.

[Wozy68]

singlecoil said:

Oh I've painted plenty of furniture I can assure you. But I should have made it clear that it's not the colours I like (and even if I did it wouldn't matter in the slightest because I paint in whatever colour my client chooses) it's the paint itself. It's how it goes on, how it covers and how it looks and feels that I like.

If you have the chance, give ColorTrend a go. Lovely paint (Well according to our painters).

[prand]

dirty boy said:

Just finished painting a front door in F&B after painting a whole salon in cheap white paint.

Never used it before, but I couldn't help but say to the wife, within about 3 brush strokes, how much better it went on.

Coverage was superb, 1 coat was nearly enough, but it had 3 as it's quite exposed.

VERY expensive though - would use again regardless.

That's what I think about F&B emulsion, great coverage, a lovely matt finish, but I've found it does mark very easily.

[aspender]

FWIW I did some touching up of our F&B Estate Emulsion (Ammonite) bedroom walls and it was fine after. No noticeable difference to the un-touched areas.

[RobinOakapple]

Wozy68 said:

singlecoil said:

Oh I've painted plenty of furniture I can assure you. But I should have made it clear that it's not the colours I like (and even if I did it wouldn't matter in the slightest because I paint in whatever colour my client chooses) it's the paint itself. It's how it goes on, how it covers and how it looks and feels that I like.

If you have the chance, give ColorTrend a go. Lovely paint (Well according to our painters).

I'll give the ColorTrend a go if you give the F&B a go.

[Wozy68]

RobinOakapple said:

I'll give the ColorTrend a go if you give the F&B a go.

We've probs painted 10000 litres of the stuff. Like I've said, not bad on furniture, dark colours and especially on walls it can be shocking.
Beautiful mind, just not that practical and especially for families.

[RobinOakapple]

Wozy68 said:

RobinOakapple said:

I'll give the ColorTrend a go if you give the F&B a go.

We've probs painted 10000 litres of the stuff. Like I've said, not bad on furniture, dark colours and especially on walls it can be shocking.
Beautiful mind, just not that practical and especially for families.

That will depend on which version you are talking about and where you are applying it. I'm talking about the F&B Estate Eggshell, and on kitchen doors made of wood.

[singlecoil]

RobinOakapple said:

Wozy68 said:

RobinOakapple said:

I'll give the ColorTrend a go if you give the F&B a go.

We've probs painted 10000 litres of the stuff. Like I've said, not bad on furniture, dark colours and especially on walls it can be shocking.
Beautiful mind, just not that practical and especially for families.

That will depend on which version you are talking about and where you are applying it. I'm talking about the F&B Estate Eggshell, and on kitchen doors made of wood.

Bare wood or previously painted (or varnished wood)? I would use it on bare wood but I don't fancy its chances on anything that had had paint or varnish on it, not unless the previous finish was completely removed.

[Wozy68]

RobinOakapple said:

That will depend on which version you are talking about and where you are applying it. I'm talking about the F&B Estate Eggshell, and on kitchen doors made of wood.

Yes Estate eggshell, and all our furniture doors and frames are wood.

The original question was about painting F&B on walls and the like. I've worked on many many sites where F&B has been used and the painters are pulling their hair out and especially with darker colours because you can't touch the paint in.

We've used it for years on furniture and generally it goes on fine. In our painters opinions, not as good as the likes of Colortrend though. We have had issues with the darker colours, especially reds from F&B.

It's not the worse paint in the world for furniture by a large margin.

We have just renovated our own home. My wife was determined to use some F&B in places, but what is F&B is all light colours, other than the dark blue of the utility furniture, and it was a nightmare. If I'd known she'd specced it I'd have had it mixed. It doesn't want to dry, it needs many coats and it seems too chip easily. Never again.

We still have to paint furniture with the make customers want, I can only go on practical experience and I'd say especially in a home and on walls (Which was the OPs opening question) especially with children. I wouldn't use it if its a darker colour if possible.

Edited by Wozy68 on Friday 5th June 10:55

[HotJambalaya]

The colours are nice with FB, cant comment on the longevity yet though. However my builder/decorator who'd never used it before, commented how nicely it went on, and how much more was left then he expected.

Spoke to someone else that does a few flats and she echoed many of the comments here, that it marks very easily.

Very expensive though, doing a whole flat in it now and it keeps mounting up, feel like I'm in FB every few days....

Never tried Little Green, interesting comments with regards to using less, might give it a try next time around, though I hear its even more expensive then FB?

[ladderino]

aspender said:

FWIW I did some touching up of our F&B Estate Emulsion (Ammonite) bedroom walls and it was fine after. No noticeable difference to the un-touched areas.

The patching only applies to the dark colours. I've just painted our snug in Stiffkey Blue and Strong White both in the Estate Emulsion. Can touch up the Strong White as much as I like, but try to do the same to the dark blue and it's obvious and have had to repaint the entire wall.

To be fair though, the tin does state that patching will appear unless painting against wet edges.

I like the finish of the Estate Emulsion but its durability is terrible - I tried to scrub off the marks made when the stove installers lifted the stove in and the paint came off instead.

We've painted the kids rooms in the modern emulsion and this is much better - it's just like the Dulux Bathroom paint though so does have quite a high sheen factor.

One of the biggest draws to us for Farrow and Ball is that there's a showroom in Beaconsfield and the staff there are exceptionally helpful at helping to choose colours. Having seen some of the comments here though, I'm keen to give Little Greene a try.

[gizlaroc]

Problem with F&B is it takes so bloody long to paint, you need so many coats.

Serious, for furniture/cabinets, use Zinsser BIN primer (dries in 15 mins and paints on anything without prepping) and then Little Greene Oil Eggshell.

I did our whole kitchen in a day using that combo.