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Q&A / Brands / Is there a cheaper alternative to Farrow & Ball De Nimes?…
Brands · answered by Fini

Is there a cheaper alternative to Farrow & Ball De Nimes?

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Quick answer

The closest cheaper match to De Nimes is Crown Dark Grey, sitting just ΔE 2.8 away — that's very close, near enough to read as the same colour on a wall. COAT Mr. Clifton (ΔE 3.5) is the next best and a cracking modern eco option.

De Nimes is one of those gorgeous washed-denim blues — soft, slightly greyed, brilliant in a hallway or as cabinetry. But you're paying F&B money for it, so let's find you something honest.

The nearest match by a country mile is Crown Dark Grey (LRV 19.9), measured at just ΔE 2.8 from the original. That's inside the "very close" band — on a wall, in real light, you'd struggle to tell them apart. Crown's a proper trade-grade paint at a fraction of the cost, so this is the one I'd reach for first.

Next up, COAT Mr. Clifton (LRV 23.5) at ΔE 3.5. Slightly off the F&B original but a lovely thing in its own right — COAT's a low-VOC, water-based modern brand with cracking coverage, and Mr. Clifton has that same denim character. If you care about eco credentials and a velvety modern matt, go here.

I'd steer you away from Dulux Denim Drift (LRV 26) for this particular job — at ΔE 5 from De Nimes it's a noticeably different, brighter and slightly more blue colour. Denim Drift is a smashing paint and was Dulux's Colour of the Year, but it's not actually a De Nimes dupe. Don't let the name fool you.

Note the LRVs are all in the high teens to mid-twenties, so this is a deeper, characterful blue that wants decent natural light or it'll go quite dark and moody after dusk. That's the whole point of it, mind — lean in.

Practical advice: buy a tester of both Crown Dark Grey and Mr. Clifton, paint two coats on a bit of lining paper, and move it around the room over a day. ΔE figures get you to the shortlist; your own eyeballs in your own light make the final call. For trim, keep it simple with a soft white in eggshell.

Colours from the answer

LRV 21
Farrow & Ball
De Nimes
LRV 26
Dulux
Denim Drift
LRV 19.9
Crown
Dark Grey
LRV 23.5
COAT
Mr. Clifton

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