Dulux vs Farrow & Ball: Which Paint for Your London Home?

It is the question we hear more than almost any other from London homeowners: should I use Farrow & Ball or Dulux? The question is understandable. These two brands dominate the UK paint market at different price points, and the choice between them can feel consequential when you are about to commit several thousand pounds to redecorating your home.

The honest answer is that both brands make excellent products, and the right choice depends on your specific circumstances: the type of property, the room, your priorities, and your budget. This guide provides a detailed, unbiased comparison based on our experience using both brands across hundreds of London properties.

The Brands at a Glance

Dulux

Dulux, owned by AkzoNobel, is the UK's largest paint brand. Their range spans from budget-friendly retail products to their excellent Trade and Heritage lines. Dulux Trade, the professional range, is the most widely used paint among UK painters and decorators. It is reliable, consistent, and available in an enormous colour range.

Farrow & Ball

Farrow & Ball is a premium British paint manufacturer based in Dorset, known for its rich, complex colours and its association with period properties and interior design. Founded in 1946, the brand has cultivated a reputation for depth of colour and a distinctively chalky finish that photographs beautifully and suits traditional interiors.

Colour: The Defining Difference

Farrow & Ball's Colour Advantage

If there is one area where Farrow & Ball genuinely excels, it is colour. Their palette of around 150 colours is carefully curated, with each shade developed to work harmoniously with the others. The colours are complex, containing multiple pigments that create depth and respond to changing light in ways that simpler formulations do not.

In a north-facing drawing room in Belgravia, a Farrow & Ball colour like Elephant's Breath will shift subtly from warm grey to soft taupe as the light changes throughout the day. This complexity is what makes their colours feel alive on the wall rather than flat.

The naming of the colours, from Arsenic to Sulking Room Pink to Hague Blue, also contributes to their appeal. There is a narrative quality to the Farrow & Ball palette that resonates with owners of period properties.

Dulux's Colour Range

Dulux offers an almost limitless colour range through their colour mixing system. Where Farrow & Ball has around 150 colours, Dulux can mix thousands. This flexibility is an advantage when you need to match an existing colour, match a fabric or artwork, or achieve a very specific shade.

Dulux Heritage, their premium sub-brand, offers a curated palette of around 120 colours specifically designed for period properties. These colours are genuinely comparable to Farrow & Ball in terms of depth and complexity, and they are worth considering if you want premium colours without the Farrow & Ball price tag.

Colour Matching

A common question is whether Dulux can match Farrow & Ball colours. The answer is that they can get close, but not identical. Because Farrow & Ball uses a unique pigment formulation, a colour-matched Dulux version will look similar on a swatch but may behave differently on the wall, particularly in how it responds to changing light. If you have your heart set on a specific Farrow & Ball colour, it is generally worth paying for the real thing.

Finish Quality

The Farrow & Ball Aesthetic

Farrow & Ball paints have a distinctive finish that is immediately recognisable in person. Their Estate Emulsion, a flat matt finish, has a chalky, velvety quality that looks superb in period interiors. It absorbs and reflects light in a way that gives walls genuine depth, almost like plaster itself.

This finish is particularly effective in properties with good original features. In a Kensington townhouse with elaborate cornicing, high ceilings, and generous proportions, Estate Emulsion creates walls that feel like a backdrop, allowing the architecture to take centre stage.

However, the chalky matt finish has a practical downside: it marks easily. Fingerprints, scuffs, and marks show readily, particularly on darker colours. For a pristine drawing room in Mayfair that sees little traffic, this is not a problem. For a hallway in a busy family home, it can be frustrating.

Farrow & Ball Modern Emulsion addresses this with a more wipeable finish, though purists argue it lacks the depth of the Estate formulation.

Dulux Trade Finishes

Dulux Trade offers a range of finishes from flat matt through to full gloss. Their Supermatt is a hardwearing flat matt that, while not quite matching the chalky depth of Farrow & Ball Estate Emulsion, provides an excellent finish with significantly better durability. It can be wiped clean without marking, making it a practical choice for busy households.

Dulux Trade Diamond Matt is their most durable emulsion, designed for high-traffic areas. It is scrubbable, stain-resistant, and maintains its appearance under heavy use. For hallways, staircases, and children's rooms, it outperforms any Farrow & Ball product in terms of durability.

Coverage and Application

Farrow & Ball

Farrow & Ball paints typically cover eight to twelve square metres per litre, depending on the colour and the surface. Darker colours, particularly the deep blues, greens, and reds, require more coats to achieve an even finish. It is not unusual to need three coats of a dark Farrow & Ball colour, whereas a light shade might cover in two.

The paint applies well with both brush and roller but can be slightly more demanding to work with than Dulux Trade. The drying time between coats needs to be respected, and the finish is more sensitive to roller technique. Experienced painters achieve beautiful results; less experienced hands may find it less forgiving.

Dulux Trade

Dulux Trade paints typically cover fourteen to seventeen square metres per litre, with good opacity even in a single coat on previously painted surfaces. Two coats are standard practice for a professional finish, but the better coverage per litre means you need less paint overall.

The paint is formulated for ease of application. It flows well, levels smoothly, and is forgiving of technique. This is one reason it is the default choice for most professional painters: it delivers consistent results reliably.

Cost Comparison

Here is where the differences become stark. Based on current trade prices for a five-litre tin of matt emulsion:

| Product | Approx. Trade Price (5L) | Coverage per Litre | Cost per sq m (2 coats) | |---------|-------------------------|-------------------|------------------------| | Dulux Trade Supermatt | £35-40 | 14-17 sq m | £0.40-0.55 | | Dulux Heritage Matt | £50-55 | 12-14 sq m | £0.65-0.85 | | Farrow & Ball Estate Emulsion | £95-105 | 8-12 sq m | £1.50-2.50 | | Farrow & Ball Modern Emulsion | £95-105 | 10-14 sq m | £1.30-2.00 |

For a typical London flat with around two hundred square metres of wall and ceiling area, the paint cost difference between Dulux Trade and Farrow & Ball can be one thousand to two thousand pounds or more. This is significant but represents only a fraction of the total project cost, as labour typically accounts for sixty to seventy percent of a painting and decorating quote.

When Farrow & Ball Is the Right Choice

Based on our experience painting homes across Chelsea, Belgravia, Knightsbridge, and Notting Hill, we recommend Farrow & Ball in the following situations:

• Period properties with good original features: The depth of colour and chalky finish complement traditional architecture beautifully. If you have elaborate cornicing, panelled doors, and generous proportions, Farrow & Ball enhances these features.
• Living rooms and bedrooms: Low-traffic rooms where the finish will not be subjected to daily wear are ideal for Estate Emulsion. The visual quality in these rooms is worth the premium.
• When a specific Farrow & Ball colour is essential: Some of their colours, particularly the more complex shades, genuinely cannot be replicated by other brands. If you have fallen in love with Hague Blue or Stiffkey Blue, only the original will do.
• Interior design projects: When working with an interior designer, Farrow & Ball is often specified because the colours are a known quantity. Designers can predict exactly how a Farrow & Ball colour will look in a given room, which simplifies the design process.
• Selling a premium property: In the upper end of the London property market, Farrow & Ball colours are expected. Estate agents and buyers recognise the brand, and it adds to the perception of quality.

When Dulux Is the Right Choice

We recommend Dulux Trade in these situations:

• Hallways, staircases, and high-traffic areas: Durability matters more than the subtlety of the finish. Dulux Trade Diamond Matt or Supermatt will look good for longer in these areas.
• Kitchen painting and bathroom painting: Dulux Trade Kitchen & Bathroom and Dulux Trade Bathroom+ are specifically formulated for moisture and grease resistance. Farrow & Ball Modern Emulsion works in these rooms but is not optimised for them.
• Children's rooms and nurseries: Washability and durability are priorities. Dulux also offers a wider range of child-friendly, low-VOC formulations.
• Landlord properties: For rental properties where cost-effectiveness and durability are paramount, Dulux Trade offers the best balance of performance and value.
• Matching specific colours: If you need to match an existing colour precisely or achieve a shade outside Farrow & Ball's palette, Dulux's mixing system offers far more flexibility.
• Budget-conscious projects: When the overall budget is tight, Dulux Trade delivers professional results at a fraction of the cost.

The Middle Ground: Other Premium Brands

It is worth mentioning that the choice is not binary. Several other brands occupy the space between Dulux Trade and Farrow & Ball:

• Little Greene: Similar price point to Farrow & Ball with an excellent colour range and a strong heritage focus. Their Intelligent range offers superior durability.
• Dulux Heritage: Premium colours at roughly half the Farrow & Ball price. Genuinely comparable colour quality.
• Zoffany: A premium brand with a sophisticated palette, popular with interior designers.
• Paint & Paper Library: Curated colours with the same complex, multi-pigment approach as Farrow & Ball.

Our colour consultation service can help you navigate these options, matching the right brand and colour to your property, your rooms, and your lifestyle.

The Professional Verdict

After years of working with both brands across London's finest properties, our position is practical rather than partisan. We use the best product for each specific application. It is not unusual for us to use Farrow & Ball Estate Emulsion on the walls of a drawing room, Dulux Trade Diamond Matt in the hallway of the same property, and Little Greene Intelligent on the woodwork throughout.

The quality of the paintwork depends far more on the skill of the painter and the thoroughness of the preparation than on the brand of paint on the walls. A poorly prepared wall painted with Farrow & Ball will look worse within a year than a well-prepared wall painted with Dulux Trade.

Whatever brand you choose, invest in proper preparation, apply the correct number of coats, and use a skilled, experienced painter. That is the real secret to paintwork that looks beautiful and lasts.

Contact Belgravia Painters and Decorators for a colour consultation and detailed quote for your London home. We will recommend the right products for your property, your rooms, and your budget, without any brand allegiance beyond quality.