Farrow & Ball Paint & Colours
Farrow & Ball paint, mixed to order in Donegal and delivered across Ireland. Every colour in the current range, in six interior finishes and four tin sizes, from a family paint merchant with 45 years behind the counter. Not sure yet? A 100ml sample pot is €8 and it is the cheapest decision you will make on the whole job.
Buying Farrow & Ball paint in Ireland
Foy & Company is the largest paint supplier in the north west and the region's exclusive Farrow & Ball distributor. We hold the bases, the tinting system and the colour cards in store, which means a tin of Farrow & Ball paint is mixed for you on the spot rather than ordered in and waited on.
Every colour on this page is genuine Farrow & Ball, mixed from the correct Farrow & Ball base on our own tinting system. Nothing is colour-matched or approximated.
Farrow & Ball stockists in the north west
If you have been searching for Farrow & Ball stockists near you and coming up with Dublin, you are not alone — most of the country's stockists sit on the east coast. We are in Ballybofey and Letterkenny, which puts us within easy reach of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Tyrone, Derry and the wider north west, north and south of the border alike. Call in and you can see the colour on a hand-painted card, in daylight, before you commit.
Nationwide delivery across Ireland
If you cannot get to us, order online and we will mix and ship. We deliver Farrow & Ball paint anywhere in Ireland, and sample pots go out by post so you can live with a colour for a day or two before ordering a full tin.
Farrow & Ball colours: how to choose
There are more Farrow & Ball colours here than most people can hold in their head at once, so it helps to narrow things down before you start.
Start with a sample pot
A 100ml Farrow & Ball sample pot is €8 and covers roughly a square metre — enough for a decent test patch. Paint two coats onto a sheet of lining paper rather than straight onto the wall, then move it around the room. A colour that looks perfect beside the window at eleven in the morning can turn on you completely by four in the afternoon, and in Irish light that shift is more pronounced than most colour cards let on.
Sample pots are supplied ready-mixed in Estate Emulsion across the 132-colour signature palette. They are the single most useful €8 in decorating.
The Farrow & Ball colour card
The printed Farrow & Ball colour chart is worth having, and we keep them in store. Bear in mind that no printed swatch reproduces a paint film exactly — the card gets you to a shortlist of three or four, and the sample pots settle it from there.
Archive colours
Alongside the signature palette, Farrow & Ball keep an archive of colours drawn from their own back catalogue. They are still made, but mixed to order specifically for you rather than held in stock, so they take a little longer and cannot be returned once mixed. They are also where the more unusual choices live, and very few Irish stockists list them at all.
Farrow & Ball paint finishes explained
Choosing the finish matters as much as choosing the colour. This is the part people most often get wrong, and it is the part our staff spend most of their time on.
Estate Emulsion
The classic flat matt finish for interior walls and ceilings, at 2% sheen. Breathable, chalky and completely without shine, which is what gives Farrow & Ball paint its depth. Best in bedrooms, sitting rooms and anywhere that does not take heavy traffic. Roughly 14 m² per litre.
Modern Emulsion
Same colours, but washable and scuff-resistant at 7% sheen. This is the one for kitchens, bathrooms, hallways and family rooms, and the answer to whether Farrow & Ball paint is wipeable — Modern Emulsion is, Estate Emulsion is not.
Dead Flat
An ultra-matt 2% sheen that works on walls, woodwork and metal alike, which makes it the choice when you want a room finished in one uninterrupted, shadowless colour. It is more hard-wearing than its flatness suggests.
Flat Eggshell and Modern Eggshell
For interior wood, metal, concrete and floors. Flat Eggshell sits at 20% sheen and Modern Eggshell at 40%, so the choice is really how much light you want the woodwork to throw back. Modern Eggshell is the more durable of the two and the usual pick for kitchen cabinets, skirting and staircases.
Primer and undercoat
Farrow & Ball make their Primer & Undercoat in tonal versions — White & Light Tones, Mid Tones, Dark Tones — and matching the primer to the depth of your topcoat gives truer colour and usually saves you a coat. On a dark colour it is not optional. Ask us and we will tell you which one your colour needs.
How much Farrow & Ball paint do I need?
As a rough guide, one litre of Estate Emulsion covers around 14 m² per coat, and most walls want two coats. Measure the walls, subtract the doors and windows, double it for the second coat, then divide by the coverage. If you would rather not do the arithmetic, bring your room measurements in and we will work it out with you — including which base each colour is mixed from, so you are not left with a half-used tin you cannot match again.
Farrow & Ball paint questions, answered
Where can I buy Farrow & Ball paint in Ireland?
From an authorised stockist, either in person or online. Foy & Company mix and sell the full Farrow & Ball range from our stores in Ballybofey and Letterkenny, County Donegal, and deliver nationwide.
Who makes Farrow & Ball paint?
Farrow & Ball, an independent British manufacturer founded in 1946 and still making paint in Wimborne, Dorset.
Is Farrow & Ball paint washable?
Modern Emulsion and both Eggshells are washable and wipeable. Estate Emulsion is a flat matt and is not — choose Modern Emulsion for kitchens, bathrooms and hallways.
Is Farrow & Ball paint breathable?
Yes. The interior water-based range, Estate Emulsion in particular, is breathable, which is why it suits older and solid-walled houses where trapped moisture is a concern.
Is Farrow & Ball paint water based?
The interior range is water-based and low in VOCs. It brushes out easily, has very little smell and washes out of brushes with water.
How long does Farrow & Ball paint take to dry?
Touch dry in around two hours and ready for a second coat after about four, depending on the finish and how warm and airy the room is. Give it longer in a cold room in winter.
Can you spray or roll Farrow & Ball paint?
Both. A short-pile roller lays it off well, and it sprays perfectly once thinned and set up correctly. Brush the cutting-in either way — the flat finishes are forgiving.
Can Farrow & Ball colours be colour matched?
Other manufacturers will attempt it, but a match is only ever as close as their base and pigment allow. Farrow & Ball's depth comes from the pigments they use, and that is exactly what gets lost in translation. Everything on this page is mixed from genuine Farrow & Ball base.
Why is Farrow & Ball paint expensive, and is it worth it?
Higher pigment loading and more of it. In practice that means better coverage, fewer coats and a colour that holds its character as the light changes through the day. On a room you will look at every day for ten years, the difference between a good tin and a cheap one is not really a price question.
What is the most popular Farrow & Ball colour?
Across Ireland the perennials are Skimming Stone, Elephant's Breath, Cornforth White, Ammonite and Wimborne White for the soft neutrals, and Hague Blue, Railings, Green Smoke and Studio Green when people want something with weight. Our own counter tells the same story most weeks.
Expert colour advice, 45 years in the trade
Forty-five years of mixing paint teaches you things a colour card cannot. Which whites go yellow in a north-facing room. Which greens hold up under LED lighting. Which finish will survive a hall with three children and a dog. Our advisers do this every day, so bring in your measurements, your flooring sample or a photograph of the room, and we will help you get it right the first time.
Browse the full range of Farrow & Ball colours above, or call the shop on +353 (0)74 913 4444 and talk it through with someone who has seen the colour on a wall.