We are now going to take a minute to review interior designers favourite Farrow and Ball a traditional English paint brand widely used across the UK. There are many mixed views on Farrow and Ball and we wanted to create this post to help our clients to have a greater understanding of the products they choose when redecorating their home. Does Farrow and Ball really live up to it’s name…. Lets investigate….
History
We will start with a bit of general background and history of Farrow & Ball.
They were established in Dorset in 1946 and are now one of the UK’s leading traditional paint manufacturers. Building on their early success they continued during the post war years by sticking to traditional manufacturing methods when many other companies had abandoned them and switched to producing cheaper acrylic paints with a high plastic content.
Farrow and Ball built their reputation on a quality hand made product with deep rich depth of colours that appeal perfectly to period and heritage properties ensuring an authentic tradional finish. The company state
We use more high quality pigments and resins and no low quality ‘fillers’, which gives our colours visibly greater depth and purity often referred to as the ‘Farrow & Ball look’. Unlike many other manufacturers we use naturally occurring pigments, such as Umbers in their purest form, and we continue to use natural ingredients such as Chalk, Lime Putty, Linseed Oil and China Clay.
Another great aspect is that all paints are ecologically friendly, water based and ‘Low VOC‘ rated. Being made traditionally in Dorset UK using the same manufactoring methods for decades.
Farrow & Ball Colours
Now it is colour that has become the brands signature with their paint colours loved by traditional paint fans everywhere. Their colours match perfectly when decorating within period homes and heritage properties. With their emulsions and eggshells having a deep, rich, authentic, flat, chalky texture and finish. I have to say I do love many of their colours and so do our clients.
Many people will know their greatly named and infamous colours from Elephants Breath, Dove Tail, Slipper Satin and Savage Ground to name a few (great names hay!). However the problem with Farrow and Ball from a professionals prospective is the coverage of the paint and many pro decorators question it’s durability.
They manufacture various finishes to their paint including Estate Emulsion, Modern Emulsion, Eggshell and many other specialist finishes too which all range in sheen, durability and texture. However the major questions most decorators have about F&B in today’s households is that hand marks, knocks amd children can all often be enemies of the paint. It is softer and chalkier than present day brands not standing up amazingly well to the everyday wear and tear of a modern family…. Well it is a traditionally made paint for traditional homes after all and its finish is what many customers love it for.
When decorating your room/ home it is advisable to use three sometimes more coats to bring out the best in Farrow and Ball, so be sure to calculate for this when measuring how much paint to purchase or estimating the time it will take to decorate. As a rule of thumb you would generally estimate double the paint and double the time to a modern day paint brand. F&B must also be applied correctly and we recommend preferably using a professional Farrow and Ball painter and decorator to undertake the work. But if you are looking to decorate your home yourself using F&B please follow the specification sheets you can find on the their website
So what do you do if you love the Farrow and Ball colours but have an army of trouble sum tots to take care of? Or you are working to a tight budget?…. Well what many people do not realise is that all good paint manufacturers can mix paints to match an exact pantone colour matching other brands colours like for like. In many properties we use Dulux trade as a rule of thumb, this is due to it’s high quality, lasting wear and price point. It can also be mixed to match a Farrow and Ball colour offering customers the colour they want with added durability. However this it not in all situations and some properties call for the use of a traditional paint which is where F&B is a great choice.
Farrow and Ball a Decorators View
Farrow and ball paint is a widely discussed topic among the trade circles with many decorators preferring not to use their paints especially their eggshell on wood finishes. A great resource on this has been written by the traditional painter on his excellent painting and decorating blog.
To coin a phrase at the end of the day paint is paint and comparing one brand to the other can generally be a a time consumingly long exercise and can be as tedious as watching it dry! Farrow and Ball is a great product with some truly amazing colours and as professionals we are always happy to use the paint and colour of your choice but we will always offer you the experience of our expert knowledge.
If you are looking for a traditional paint and the deep, rich colours they produce we suggest investigating the following brands (click on the name to visit their sites) :
Farrow and Ball , Little Greene, Papers Paint and Dulux Heritage
If you are not already a customer and in the look out for high quality painters and decorators in the Essex, London and South East area please contact us to see if we can help…. GSDecoration
I have read this several times and it is an excellent post. Keep on writing some more!!
Not sure if you have come across the latest issue with farrow and ball estate eggshell – it is not drying as expected, which is disrupting the production process and causing one more head scratch. As you say, horses for courses, it is not industrial quality paint, but how many F&B hurdles are we supposed to jump?
I have championed F&B for some years now, it isnt a modern paint hence its suitability for the period look in period property, why use a paint like F&B when you can have F&B.the colours are amazing and the names appeal to the romantic within
But, I can no longer defend the indefensible, particularily when Little Greene are able to produce a paint that meets expectations. In addition to this ” the ladies who lunch” are absolutly delighted to be offered LG as F&B was so yesterday !!
Mike
I’ll start by saying that I’m just amateur decorator, but I have more time on my hands now so I do things properly (no more skimping on prep-work just to get the colour on in a weekend!). But I’m so disappointed.
I’ve just religiously sanded, filled, re-sanded, primed, undercoated (Crown oil-based) and re-sanded my cottage windows in preparation for appling F&B water based eggshell. I used a decent brush and even with light brushstrokes, and working fast because the paint goes treacley very quickly I’m left with brush marks on my previously smooth surface. Even with another sanding and another top coat I’m still left with what looks to me like a very botched job – grrrrrr.
.. and don’t get me started on the Estate emulsion I used the on walls and ceilings – streaky even after three coats. No more Farrow and Ball for me, I’ve have finally learnt my lesson!
There is one question after all this and that is, ‘Where do I go to get my chosen colour mixed and what is the best paint type to have it mixed into?’.