With most paints costing around £37 per 2.5 litres, it’s no wonder that some homeowners are questioning whether Farrow & Ball’s £93 price tag is worth it. After all, isn’t paint just paint?

Well, maybe not.

As it turns out, there can be some big differences between budget and premium paints. There’s the range of colours, the quality of ingredients, the coverage, the final finish on your walls, and the durability of the paint. Plus, the environmental impact to think about. That’s a lot to consider!

Ultimately, only you can decide if a type of paint offers you value for money. But, to try and help you, here are my thoughts.

Is Farrow and Ball paint worth it?

Yes – If  you want that amazing velvety finish

It’s what they’re famous for! Their sublime finish results from their use of natural, organic pigments in higher concentration, rather than the synthetic colours and plastic bulking agents that cheaper brands can use.

Their Estate Emulsion and Dead Flat create a magical finish and depth of colour that responds beautifully to the changing light throughout the day. If your room is all about the colour then these unrivalled finishes will make all the difference.

However, if practicality and durability are a higher priority than the aesthetic of your paint then F&B’s modern emulsion, which has a 7% sheen to it, will be more appropriate.

Yes – If you want that exact colour

I hate to be a negative Nancy about it but colour matching does not work. Yes, you will get a close colour, but you will not get the exact colour.

It all comes back to those natural pigments mentioned above. It’s just not possible to achieve the same colour when replicating natural pigments with synthetic ones. It’s like comparing a home-cooked meal with a frozen microwave meal. They may both be spaghetti bolognese but they are going to taste different!

If you want to go down the colour-matching route then I would recommend using colour-matched testers rather than F&B testers so you know what colour you are going to get.

You can read my colour-matching blog and see some comparisons here.

Yes – If the brand inspires you

Top-end paint brands produce top-end marketing and customer experience, and it’s this that you are also paying for. It feels very different walking into a Farrow and Ball showroom compared with walking into a Brewers or B&Q. So if you love to immerse yourself in their beautiful imagery, and enjoy pouring over their tactile colour charts, then you will probably enjoy the paint on your own walls.

No- If you only want to do two coats

If you use Farrow and Ball then (IMO) be prepared to do three coats to achieve that magical finish. This is just my personal experience, maybe it’s because I’m a terrible painter but I’ve never been happy with two coats, then I do a third and I’m in love!  This is going to cost you more money in paint, and more time if you are doing the decorating yourself, or more labour costs if you are hiring a contractor.

It’s easy to fixate on the time and additional costs when you are in the moment of the mess and upheaval. So another way to look at decisions like this is to think ahead, in three years’ time will it bother you that it took an extra day and an extra £53? Only you can answer this.

No – If you want to stay friends with your decorator

Utter the words ‘Farrow and Ball’ and some decorators will tut, groan and roll their eyes.

If your decorator is one of these then it may be better to keep them sweet and colour-match. But before you appease them here are a couple of things to bear in mind.

• They want the job to be as easy as possible but these are your walls you will live with for years to come.
• A lot of decorators do concede that whilst they don’t love working with it, the end result is beautiful. And for you, it’s all about the end result, not the application process.
• It’s normal practice for decorators to charge you full price on products where they achieve heavy discounts, F&B don’t offer trade discounts so this may influence their willingness to work with their paint.

Only if you think you are getting value for money

Everyone’s value for money is subjective. We all have a budget to work within, and sometimes there are higher priorities in a project than what we put on the walls.

For me personally, designer paint is totally worth the money, but I would never buy a designer handbag when a cheaper bag can do the same job. You see, it’s all relative!

What’s your experience of Farrow and Ball paint? Is Farrow and Ball paint worth it in your experience? Do you love it or hate it? Join the discussion below.

And if you are struggling to choose paint colours for your own home why not book a design surgery appointment? I can help advise you on the best colours to work with the natural characteristics of your space as well as all the items you want to coordinate with. You can check out the service here.