Why We Use Farrow & Ball
Farrow & Ball is the paint I keep coming back to, and after years of using it throughout our house, I think it’s worth explaining why.
I’m sharing what makes their paint different, why I think it’s worth it, how to order, and my honest advice for how to make it work if you’re watching your budget.
Consider this your complete Farrow & Ball primer.
Can you color match Farrow & Ball?
People ask me this a lot! And it’s a little tricky to answer because technically, yes, you can color match.
BUT!
The depth in their colors comes from a specific pigment formula that other brands can’t replicate, so a match gets you close, not identical.
Here’s A Way To Save Money
If you are really wanting their colors in your house, but can’t quite splurge on it all, focus on where it really matters.
Buy your accent colors– trim, built-ins, anything bold and statement-making– directly from Farrow & Ball, where you are after their .
For large neutral walls covering a lot of square footage, a color match from another brand works just fine, and the difference is far less noticeable.
The Colors Are Just DIfferent
This is hard to explain until you see it on a wall, but their colors have a depth and richness that’s unlike anything else I’ve tried.
It comes down to how they’re made– Farrow & Ball uses a much higher proportion of quality minerals, pigments and resin than most paint brands, plus 12 exclusive pigments selected specifically for their color intensity.
Here’s The Best Part
Their 12 pigments are used across every single color in their range. This means everything works together naturally.
Building a cohesive palette with their colors is so much easier than it would be with other brands, and I really do think that’s part of why our home feels so cohesive.
How to Order Farrow & Ball
You order directly from their website and they ship to the US. Sample cans (my favorite! I’ll explain soon!) are around $9 with free shipping.
Full cans are a bigger investment, but I really do think in this case, you get what you pay for.
Is Farrow & Ball Paint ever on sale?
No, they don’t ever have sales, but they occasionally run a deal where you can get three sample cans for the price of two. This is worth keeping an eye out for if you’re planning to test a few colors at once!
A Note on Sample Cans
This is one of my favorite things about Farrow & Ball– their sample cans are made with the real paint formula, not a watered down version.
This means you can use them for so much more than just testing colors.
I’ve painted picture frames, lamp bases, vases, and little shelf objects with sample cans. A $9 can goes a long way when you’re adding color details around your home.
(But not all colors are available as samples)
Some archived colors only come in a larger can if you want actual paint or as a paint swatch if you are just wanting to see the color.
We chose Romesco with just a color card and it worked out perfectly, but it’s good to know going in!
Want Help Choosing Your Own Colors?
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably staring down your own paint decision right now.
You can see exactly which six colors we use throughout our downstairs in our home color palette, the same one referenced throughout this site.
Ready to learn?
Come join us! Inside the Home in the Hemlocks Color School, I walk through this exact process: how to build a color palette from scratch, and then exactly how to take it from your screen to real paint on your walls– Farrow & Ball or otherwise.
It’s the same method I used for every room in our house, broken down step by step.
Learn more ->