OnePlan - thank you for drawing my attention to this - and what a beautiful kitchen you have. Right up my street! In response to the question - I don't believe there's a right or a wrong paint to use. It's ultimately down to personal preference and the type of finish you're looking for. I've used both AS and F&B with great results. Provided that you use the paints correctly (giving them a good stir / applying the paints with a good quality brush or roller) it's ultimately down to the prep (and in the case of AS paint, how you seal it). F&B is excellent and as you can see, OnePlan's kitchen has been beautifully painted using F&B. My kitchen, on the other hand, has been painted using AS with equally great results. As part of my business I will also paint kitchens. If you want a classy, clean look, I suggest you use F&B. If, however, you want to add some depth and character why not try AS. I use AS paint on all of my stand alone pieces of furniture - I love the colour range (it's completely unique), I love the chalky texture and I especially love the way I can create an aged patina with it, giving the illusion that the furniture (or whatever it is I'm painting) hasn't just been painted. It's what gives my furniture a totally bespoke look. When using F&B follow the instructions to a tee. With AS it isn't always as simple as the instructions suggest. Without going too much into the in's and out's of using AS on different surfaces, if you do decide to use it you'll need to consider the following: 1. If the surface of the wood is particularly shiny, I suggest you lightly sand the surface before painting to create a 'key' which will allow better adhesion of the paint to the wood. 2. If the wood has knots / dark varnish and you're wanting to use a light coloured paint, my advice is to prime before painting or there's a chance the knots will come through / the varnish will bleed into the paint. 3. As for sealing the paint, I would use a water\-based varnish as opposed to wax as the varnish will stand up better to everyday wear and tear. This may sound like a lot to consider, however, if you use the F&B, you will still need to prep the surface before you paint, so ultimately, the workload will be pretty much the same bearing in mind that with AS, one / two coats is sometimes all you need. If you're still not sure, why not get a tester board and a tester pot of F&B and AS and try them both out and see which you prefer. I hope this helps and best of luck! Clementene Coates [http://www.clementenecoates.co.uk/](http://www.clementenecoates.co.uk/)

The love for F&B is certainly a large part just snobbery. Certainly I see a lot of people recommending it who clearly know nothing at all about paint or colours. I rate Little Greene and their sister company Sanderson much higher for less money - but they're still premium paints. From decades of decorating various houses with Champagne tastes and a beer budget, here are my tips - For a chalky finish and more muted colours than most brands, try Crown Period colour range. Around £25 per 2.5l tin. For a really tight budget, but sadly they've stopped doing their ultra matt range, try Wickes. They've got some awful colours (especially some of the pinks!) but also some very useful colours. Price is just £20 for TWO 2.5l tins. Woodwork in any colour but brilliant white can get expensive fast. Consider B&Q 'colours premium' range which can go on any surface (with primer for woodwork). I've done all the interior woodwork in my Victorian house in Victorian White, silk finish, and it looks great. It's not as tough as oil-based paints though. All this assumes you're doing your own painting, which you probably will be given your stated small budget. If you're paying for painting then coverage is much more important than price per tin. Farrow and Ball still won't be a good buy though. Good luck with your project, and with spending your budget on something more worthwhile than a brand name!

Might be worth trying some on a sample of wallpaper first, I used it in bedroom feature walls & stair feature wall in a guest house we had so had suitcases and not so careful guests to deal with. One wall paper was metallic, it still worked. The wall paper was put up 9-12 years ago and as far as I know it's still perfect. I used the Matt one, scary putting it on as its cloudy. http://www.polyvine.com/index.php/en/varnishes/water-based-varnishes/decorators-varnish

At the risk of being controversial, I wouldn't put very much faith, at ALL, in anything you see on Garden Rescue. Some of what they do is atrocious and will quickly fall apart. On a more constructive note, nobody ever seems to consider including a sink. If you have one it could be very useful fro food preparation as well a little bit of washing up, washing hands etc. I am going to find a stone sink for my garden. I will have it attached to a mains feed but one could have a sink on tank feed with an on demand pump supplying it.