The Best Paint Brands in the UK — Compared by a Decorator

Paint brand recommendations online are mostly written by people who haven't used the products professionally. This is a comparison written from the other side: I'm a professional decorator working across Wandsworth, Richmond, and the wider London and Surrey area, and I use these products on real jobs every week. Here's what I actually think.

I'll cover the brands I encounter most often, what they're genuinely good for, where they fall short, and when the premium options are actually worth the extra cost. I'll also cover what the difference is between trade and retail versions of the same brand — because this matters more than most people realise.

Trade vs. Retail Paint — The Fundamental Difference

Before getting into specific brands, this distinction is worth explaining because it affects every brand on this list.

Paint sold in DIY chains under a well-known name is not always the same product as the trade version of that paint available through specialist decorators' merchants. Trade paint typically has higher pigment loading, better coverage per litre, and is formulated for application with professional brushes and rollers rather than for DIY forgiving use. The trade version of Dulux Vinyl Matt, for example, will cover better, level out more evenly, and dry to a more consistent sheen than the retail equivalent even though they share a brand name.

Professional decorators buy trade paint. When we specify a paint brand in a quote, we mean the trade version. This is worth understanding if you're comparing our costs to DIY costs — the products are genuinely different.

Dulux Trade

Best for: General interior painting, high-traffic areas, budget-conscious projects where quality still matters.

Dulux Trade is the workhorse of professional decorating in the UK. It covers well, dries reliably, is available in thousands of colours, and performs consistently across different conditions. The Vinyl Matt is my default for ceilings and walls on most interior jobs. The Diamond Matt range has excellent scrubbability and is my recommendation for hallways, kitchens, and children's rooms where walls get touched frequently.

The Dulux Trade Eggshell and Satinwood products for woodwork are solid and reliable — good adhesion, good levelling, reasonable open time. Not as luxurious as some premium options but very competent for the price.

The colour range is vast, which means matching to existing colours is easy, and the Heritage range gives access to more nuanced tones if you're looking for something with character without moving to the premium brands.

Johnstone's Trade

Best for: Commercial decorating, exterior masonry, anywhere durability and price matter more than luxury finish.

Johnstone's is a professional's paint often overlooked by homeowners because it has less consumer brand awareness than Dulux or Farrow & Ball. In professional circles it's very well regarded, particularly for commercial work and exterior projects. The Aqua range of water-based satinwood and gloss products is excellent — comparable to anything at this price point and better than many.

For commercial decorating projects, Johnstone's is frequently my first choice because the durability is very good and the price point means the project budget goes further without compromising quality. For residential interiors, I use it when Dulux Trade isn't available or when a specific product in the Johnstone's range is the right fit for the job.

Farrow & Ball

Best for: Period properties, rooms where colour is the focal point, customers with a strong aesthetic brief.

Farrow & Ball is the most discussed premium paint brand in the UK and it divides professional opinion. Here's my honest assessment.

The colours are genuinely exceptional. The way Farrow & Ball pigments behave in different light — shifting between tones as daylight changes through a room — is something you don't get from standard paint. For a Victorian property in Clapham or a Georgian room in Richmond where the colour itself is the main feature, the result can be extraordinary. Dead Salmon in raking afternoon light is a different product to what it looks like on a chip.

The downsides are real. The paint is expensive per litre and the coverage can be lower than trade alternatives, which means more coats on large areas. The estate emulsion and dead flat finishes are beautiful but unforgiving — marks show more clearly than on a scrubbable emulsion and touching up is noticeably visible because the sheen is so low. In a family home with young children, this is worth thinking about before committing.

It also requires more careful application than trade paint. The thicker consistency means it takes more skill to avoid brush marks and laps, and it's less tolerant of fast application than Dulux Trade. When applied well by an experienced decorator it's a wonderful product. When applied incorrectly it shows every mark.

Little Greene

Best for: Period colours, wallpapering projects where colour matching is needed, customers who want something different from F&B.

Little Greene is my preferred alternative to Farrow & Ball for customers who want premium quality and character colours without paying quite as much per litre. The coverage tends to be slightly better than Farrow & Ball and the finish — particularly the Intelligent Matt — is easier to apply well.

The colour range skews towards historical tones and earth pigments, which makes it particularly appropriate for Victorian, Edwardian, and Georgian properties. For interior painting projects in period homes across Richmond or Dulwich, I often recommend a Little Greene specification to customers who want the character of premium paint without the price premium of Farrow & Ball.

The Intelligent range — Intelligent Matt, Intelligent Eggshell, Intelligent Gloss — are water-based finishes that perform like oil-based products in terms of levelling and hardness. They're technically excellent and my recommendation for woodwork in rooms painted with Little Greene walls.

Mylands

Best for: London period properties, customers who want heritage colours with professional-grade durability.

Mylands is a London-based manufacturer that has been producing paint since 1884. It's less well known than Farrow & Ball outside the trade but very well regarded within it, particularly among decorators working in London's Victorian and Edwardian housing stock.

The Marble Matt range has excellent coverage for a premium product and a flat, velvety finish that works beautifully on period walls. The colour range is focused on historically-informed tones — architectural greys, rich terracottas, deep navies — that suit South West London's housing stock particularly well.

If you're in Clapham, Battersea, or Wandsworth and you want premium quality paint with genuine character, Mylands is worth knowing about. It's not as widely available as Farrow & Ball but the results are comparable and sometimes superior for period settings.

Crown Trade

Best for: Exterior masonry, heavy-use commercial environments, specific technical applications.

Crown Trade's standard interior products are competent but not exceptional. Where Crown distinguishes itself is in technical and exterior products. The Steracryl range for exterior masonry is one of the better breathable masonry paints on the market — important for older brick and stone walls that need to move moisture through them rather than trapping it behind a film-forming paint.

For exterior work on Surrey properties — particularly in areas like Banstead and Chipstead where older brick and render is common — Steracryl is a paint I use regularly and recommend with confidence.

When Are Premium Paints Worth It?

This is the question I get asked most often when discussing specifications with customers. My honest answer: it depends on the room, the walls, and what you're trying to achieve.

Premium paints are worth it when:

• The room has good natural light and the colour is the main decorative feature
• The walls are in good condition — premium paint doesn't hide imperfections, it reveals them
• It's a formal room that won't get heavy daily use
• The property is period and the character colours suit the architecture

Premium paints are not worth it when:

• The room has poor natural light — subtle pigment variations are largely wasted
• The walls have significant surface imperfections that need hiding
• High durability and scrubbability are priorities (hallways, kitchens, children's rooms)
• You're working to a budget — the price difference is significant and a quality trade paint applied well will outperform poorly applied premium paint every time

The application matters as much as the product. Premium paint applied badly looks worse than trade paint applied well. If you're asking me to use a premium specification, you're getting the full benefit only because professional application is included.