The rise of paint color matching machines and the meticulous preparation required for Farrow & Ball's super matte Estate Emulsion formula have contributed to its decline in popularity. Meanwhile, alternative British family-run quality paint brands are rising to the occasion, offering more core shades than Farrow & Ball and a more refined aesthetic.
The middle classes are falling out of love with Farrow & Ball. So, with spring cleaning and home makeover season here, how can you ensure your interiors impress the neighbours?
From Dead Salmon all over your bathroom to Elephant’s Breath in the bedroom, there was a time when no upmarket home worth its salt was painted in anything other than the eccentrically named muted tones of Farrow & Ball. David Cameron famously drenched the shepherd’s hut where he wrote his memoirs in Mouse’s Back , while the brand was even rumoured to have been chosen to decorate Windsor Castle.
Reassuringly expensive at £128 for a five-litre tin, with an enviable image and heritage palette, painting your home in Pigeon or Broccoli Brown was a sign you had both class and great taste. Until recently, that is. It seems the once untouchable brand, synonymous with luxury, has fallen foul of ‘The Burberry Effect’ and – like flashy designer labels – become too popular for its own good. How has this happened?
The invention of paint colour matching machines has landed a big blow indeed. The meticulous preparation and multiple coats reportedly needed to get a good result with Farrow & Ball’s super matte Estate Emulsion formula also became a turn-off for many decorators, along with its reputation for being hard to wash and susceptible to scuffs.
The real kicker, however, could be the erosion of its original ‘artisan’ reputation. If you’re looking to turn your walls and neighbours green , which alternative British family-run quality paint brand should you use now?
The paint company has lost its allure as an artisanal brand and is viewed more as a mass-market product now David Cameron painted the shepherd’s hut where he wrote his memoirs in Farrow & Ball's Mouse’s Back Founded in Dorset in the 1940s, Farrow & Ball was sold to Danish paint company, Hempel Group, in 2021 for around £500million. While still British-made and expensive, being seen as mass-market has undeniably dented its allure, leaving other independent brands to steal Farrow & Ball’s thunder.
So, if you’re looking to turn your walls and neighbours green , which alternative British family-run quality paint brand should you use now? In-the-know interior designers are fans of Little Greene – offering more core shades than Farrow & Ball and with links to the National Trust – plus its sister brand Paint & Paper Library.
Eco-friendly Edward Bulmer Natural Paint and Norfolk-based Fenwick & Tilbrook are also well regarded; as is Mylands, London’s oldest family-owned paint firm, founded in 1884, with a recently renewed Royal Warrant. You can’t get posher than that. And for anyone keen to keep the rest of their interiors looking refined, we reveal five other previously fancy but now falling-from-favour homewares to reconsider during your next renovation...
Encaustic tilesHandmade, tricky to lay and eye-wateringly pricey at upwards of £168 a square metre, encaustic colourful patterned tiles were, until recently, a must-have style statement in any fashionable hallway or bathroom. But being stain-prone and highly porous, many experienced ‘tile regret’ and are shunning them for bombproof porcelain lookalikes. Even Bert & May, whose tiles arguably started the trend, now offer porcelain versions as well. Capietra.com have a good selection of encaustic-lookalikes, from £24 per square metre.
Pot filler tapsOnce a staple in Cotswold-style kitchens and sold by high-end companies like DeVol, for up to £700 each, pot fillers are wall-mounted cold-water taps for filling pans in situ on the stove. But issues with leaks – and the constant need to clean off all the inevitable cooking grease – has seen them being ditched for more practical boiling hot-water taps by the sink.
The Qettle boiling water tap dispenses, hot, cold, boiling and filtered water, for £545, qettle.com. American fridges Big American fridges are not in vogue and more subtle, integrated fridge freezers can elevate your kitchen Bigger is no longer better – and huge, showy American-style fridge freezers are decidedly déclassé.
Just as huge kitchen islands are being ditched in favour of more subtle peninsulas, so too are designers hiding integrated models behind doors or below countertops, whispering quiet luxury. For integrated fridge-freezers from brands such as Samsung and Bosch from £699, see currys.co.uk.
Read More I was unlucky in love… until I realised my home was a secret 'man-repeller' Glass shower screensForget vast glass screens that act as magnets for fingerprints and water marks – now the chicest showers are those enclosed by a pony wall. These half-height tiled walls topped with a small glass panel are easier to clean and discreetly screen the bather from view. Clickbathrooms.com sell made-to-measure shower screens for pony walls from £348.
White bouclé chairsFirst made popular by tastemakers such as Soho House, with price tags around £2,000, white and cream bouclé chairs have since flooded the High Street, with cut-price versions plastered all over Instagram. Interior designers looking to add all-important texture to a scheme are opting for wool, stain-resistant velvet, faux fur or even 1970s flashback corduroy, instead. For easy-clean, ‘smart’ velvet covered armchairs, starting from around £780, try sofa.com or swyfthome.com.
Farrow & Ball Decline British Family-Run Paint Brands Eco-Friendly Paint Fenwick & Tilbrook Little Greene Edward Bulmer Natural Paint
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