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SNL -- Farrow & Ball paint

6 years ago

I don't watch SNL, but I saw that they did a skit about Farrow & Ball paints. It's available on YouTube

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtJRJVdUFx4>;

I have used their wallpaper for years, but the paint only one time and I love the depth of color. The skit is right though - if one uses the original Estate Emulsion, touching it gets oils from ones hands on the paint and that's a big mistake - they may go away but they cannot be removed. There is a Modern Emulsion - I have not seen it in use.

I had always thought it was only worth the money for the deep tones but after having seen my DD's LR painted in one of their "whites" (none of which really are white!), I'm sold on their paint in all colors. The paint has so much more pigment in it than mass-produced paint, and the fact that it is all factory mixed from pigments, not store-mixed using colorants, means all their paint has far greater depth and reflects light differently at different times of day and under different light sources. A "white" paint can look like the palest of greens in one light, gray in another and a very faint combination of both in yet another light.

Is it for everyone? NO! I would not use it in an "open concept" house with small children. Scrub-able paint is what is wanted in such a house as it's going to have lots and lots of little hands on the walls.

But in a house with separate rooms, used by adults-only, it really is superb. And I do love the names of their colors (or "colours" as the Brits spell it). Elephant's Breath, Mouse's Back, Nancy's Blushes, Dead Salmon - gotta love these names!

Have any of you used their paints or wallpapers?

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Comments (3)

morz8 - Washington Coast
6 years ago
I've seen the colors and love them, but there are no dealers anywhere near here who carry it. I don't dare begin a painting project with any materials not readily available - I can't stop in the middle of something and drive three hours to pick up that one last custom mixed gallon that I was sure I wouldn't need....
Zalco/bring back Sophie!
6 years ago
Anglo, you might enjoy perusing Little Greene's colors as well. And in the fantastical paint color naming sweepstakes, Rita Konig's beloved Cuisse de Nymphe Emue, from Edward Bulmer Paint, is surely a contender ;-)

Farrow & Ball is American owned and has a huge marketing budget. Little Greene and Edward Bulmer are smaller and worth a look. I see them referenced often in UK magazines.
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Anglophilia
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
It’s American owned but all paints and papers are still manufactured in the UK. I first found them on Fulham Rd in London over 25 years ago.

I love some of the Little Greene and Bulmer colors and the quality of the outdoor paints made by Fine Paints of Europe, a Dutch company, is exemplary. It’s just a lot easier getting Farrow & Ball in the US.

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