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Farrow and Ball

Classroom | Field Results

Why have I never heard of it?

Probably because Farrow and Ball is an English company located in Wimborne.  You can learn more about their history here.

Avant-garde Alchemy

Put otherwise: this is chemically cutting edge with an old world flair.

Reams of Resins

Putting watered down paint in your home is not much different than putting watered down coffee in your body.  Tastelessness aside, in both scenarios you are not going to attain the results you originally set out for.  The point here: Farrow and Ball uses more resin in their paint than competitors.  Since resins (glue that binds everything together) are what dictate paint performance and properties, this is not a point to be overlooked.  The stuff that makes paint adhere to a surface, makes it weather and wear resistent; there's a lot more of it in Farrow and Ball's products.  This is a major reason why we feel confident using and recommending these products.  

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Would you like some paint with all that pigment?

Farrow and Ball doesn't just use more resin than competitors, they heap and heap and heap and heap on the pigments (possible to due high resin ratio).  The end result is an incredible depth of color, which manifests with the shifts in lighting.  It's not necessarily their colors that are unique, it's the depth of color.  So even if competing brands of paint match a Farrow and Ball color, they can never re-create the depth.  

A Decipher For Design

Color, especially choosing it, is intimidating.  Home makoever shows make it look easy, but when you stop and try your own hand at it many hit a color block.  Maybe you can related to just a few of these concerns:

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  • How do I know if the colors I am picking will match well together?  

  • Will these colors flow across different rooms?  

  • Which white, out of hundreds should make the final cut?  

  • Is there a sufficient contrast between dark and light colors, or not enough?

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Farrow and Ball's 6 Neutral Groups is the best tool we've come across to navigate these color concerns.  Each individual grouping is composed of 4 colors; the grouping themselves are distinguished by the underlying color tones present in the neutral colors.  There are the green whites, the yellow, red, blue, and so on.   

 

Why is this helpful?  Perhaps you would like a monochromatic design.  In that case the 4 colors in each neutral group will work as a scheme in their own right. Easy.  Or maybe you are feeling more adventurous and want more contrast?  All you have to do to be succesful is to match any given color to it's corresponsing neutral group.  You can be sure that just about any warm color will go well with the red neutrals, or conversely any cool color with the architetural neutrals.  No need for color genius here.  And this is where Farrow and Ball has done everyone a favor by limiting the pallet to just 132 colors.  It's much easier to match color to neutral group when there are thousands of choices to sort through.  

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Etch-A-Sketching With Farrow and Ball Color

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Here's a great way (and totally free) to give the neutral system a shot: 

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  1. Draw out your floor plan

  2. Choose a neutral group (usually whatever catches your eye the most)

  3. Pick 3 colors from your neutral group for the hallway; one for the trim, one for the walls, and one for the ceilings.  For now, plan on the ceiling and trim color being the same in every room on your floor plan.  

  4. Select a wall color for each room adjoining the hallway.  Choose only colors that correspond with your selected neutral group.  Don't get lost in the details.  Now is not the time to worry about things such as accent colors or architectural details.  Just think big picture.  Don't be afraid, especially if you like monochramatic shemes, to invert wall and trim color in rooms adjacent to the hall.

  5. Now it's time to re-examine your color choices.  Are the colors you selected the same intensity?  Intensity is the next trick to getting colors to contrast well and flow.  By intensity we mean how dark or light a color is. Blue can be dark, light, or somewhere inbetween.  Try if you can to keep your colors the same intesity.  At the very least, do your best to keep light colors from being in the same sight line as dark ones (because that's an effect best left for accents).  

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That's not the hard is it?  For more color tips check out Farrow and Ball's website, or contact us. 

Floor Paint

Floor Paint

As you can see in the picture, floor paint is not restricted to floor applications.  The specs list the product at a 40% sheen level, but it dries down to a 30%.  This is on par with what many would consider a satin and it looks great on cabinets or millwork.

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THIS PRODUCT IS AWESOME.  The resin used is an acrylic-polyurethane blend. That's right, polyurethane.  They used the very thing used to protect paint in the paint!  You can see the benefits for yourself in the videos below:

Test Round 1: Common Household Ingredients

Coming Soon!!!

Test Round 2: Impact Resistence

Coming Soon!!!

Full Gloss

Full Gloss

Full Gloss

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