I followed one of the recent threads on paint types/colours recently and though it might be helpful to post my own experience.
We were decorating a hallway, which already had emulsion on the walls, gloss on the woodwork and distemper on the ceiling.
Most of the walls in the house have already been emulsioned in the past and we have used Dulux emulsions and been pleased with the results. However, on this occasion, we decided to try Farrow & Ball paints and see for ourselves how they compared.
Distemper - Having spent many messy hours removing distemper from other ceilings, we decided to try something different in this hallway. We chose 'House white' from the F&B distemper. It was a bit of a paint to paint on (with the surface seemingly sucking all of the water out immediately). I thinned the distemper to the maximum suggested by F&B (which improved things a bit). Coverage was ok...but you do need to rebrush as it is drying if you want to avoid visible brush strokes, so this limits how quickly you can paint a ceiling. In our situation, the coverage claimed by F&B was a little optimistic. But pleased with the end results and even though it took a long time to apply properly, it was probably quicker (and certainly cleaner) than removing the existing distemper
Estate emulsion - Chose the same 'House white' for the walls. The colour match with the distemper is good (no noticeable colour difference, although the different finish is noticeable). Didn't thin the paint at all and the coverage was very close to the F&B claimed figures. Easy to apply...we used a roller and then brush to remove the 'pimpled' effect. Have to say though, that there seemed to be very little different between this and a Dulux matt emulsion (the mixed to order Dulux...not the 'pudding paint')
Eggshell - Chose 'off white' oil-based eggshell for the woodwork (described by my parents as "smokers white"). This was the most pleasing to work with...have previously tried the water-based eggshell and could not recommend it...this was completely different and went on well, with no 'clogging' of the brush and the finish is good in both colour and 'mattness'. We did also use the F&B undercoat...which did the job well...but feels rather expensive.
Summary -
I'd recommend the distemper to anyone looking to re-decorate a distemper ceiling.
The colour combination looks really good, especially the 'off white' woodwork
The emulsion is good...but don't see a noticeable different between this and the Dulux emulsion. I'm not a fan of the 'pudding paint', but the colour-mix stuff has a similar texture and coverage and is less than half the price of the F&B emulsion. We will probably get a colour-match on the F&B from Dulux and compare the next room (which we will now do in the same colour)
We were decorating a hallway, which already had emulsion on the walls, gloss on the woodwork and distemper on the ceiling.
Most of the walls in the house have already been emulsioned in the past and we have used Dulux emulsions and been pleased with the results. However, on this occasion, we decided to try Farrow & Ball paints and see for ourselves how they compared.
Distemper - Having spent many messy hours removing distemper from other ceilings, we decided to try something different in this hallway. We chose 'House white' from the F&B distemper. It was a bit of a paint to paint on (with the surface seemingly sucking all of the water out immediately). I thinned the distemper to the maximum suggested by F&B (which improved things a bit). Coverage was ok...but you do need to rebrush as it is drying if you want to avoid visible brush strokes, so this limits how quickly you can paint a ceiling. In our situation, the coverage claimed by F&B was a little optimistic. But pleased with the end results and even though it took a long time to apply properly, it was probably quicker (and certainly cleaner) than removing the existing distemper
Estate emulsion - Chose the same 'House white' for the walls. The colour match with the distemper is good (no noticeable colour difference, although the different finish is noticeable). Didn't thin the paint at all and the coverage was very close to the F&B claimed figures. Easy to apply...we used a roller and then brush to remove the 'pimpled' effect. Have to say though, that there seemed to be very little different between this and a Dulux matt emulsion (the mixed to order Dulux...not the 'pudding paint')
Eggshell - Chose 'off white' oil-based eggshell for the woodwork (described by my parents as "smokers white"). This was the most pleasing to work with...have previously tried the water-based eggshell and could not recommend it...this was completely different and went on well, with no 'clogging' of the brush and the finish is good in both colour and 'mattness'. We did also use the F&B undercoat...which did the job well...but feels rather expensive.
Summary -
I'd recommend the distemper to anyone looking to re-decorate a distemper ceiling.
The colour combination looks really good, especially the 'off white' woodwork
The emulsion is good...but don't see a noticeable different between this and the Dulux emulsion. I'm not a fan of the 'pudding paint', but the colour-mix stuff has a similar texture and coverage and is less than half the price of the F&B emulsion. We will probably get a colour-match on the F&B from Dulux and compare the next room (which we will now do in the same colour)