Postcard From Christine Klotz in Wimborne, England (Part 2 of 2)

Farrow & Ball Lead Showroom Manager Christine Klotz just returned from a visit to the company’s factory and headquarters in Wimborne, England. We asked her to share highlights of the tour and a few things she learned.

GDG: What was your favorite part of the tour?

CK: Seeing the wallpaper made was my favorite. To me, wallpaper is complete luxury. It makes a confident statement, whether the pattern and colors are bold or subtle. I love that! There are at least three pairs of eyes that never leave the rolls as they go through the block printing, troughs, and ovens. All of the wallpaper is made from Forest Stewardship Council approved paper, which is an amazing effort toward keeping things “green” along with the fact that our paints are Zero VOC and don’t use any plastics or fillers.

GDG: What was the best thing you learned?

CK: Seeing with my own eyes that everything we say about Farrow & Ball paints and wallpapers is absolutely true! It is very empowering as a manager to know that I can come back to my team in SoHo and report that everything we present to our clients and how we market ourselves is absolutely honest, accurate, and genuinely from the heart and the source. Our paints and wallpapers are Zero VOC and all of our product is made in Wimborne under the tightest scrutiny and discernment. We are truly an international Farrow & Ball family!

GDG: Who is allowed to visit the headquarters in Wimborne?

CK: The Farow & Ball factory at Wimborne is a working site, where all Farrow & Ball paint and wallpaper is made and shipped worldwide. For this reason, unfortunately they can’t host visitors on site.

Have more questions for Christine? Email her at Farrow & Ball soho@farrow-ball.com.

Postcard From Christine Klotz in Wimborne, England (Part I of 2)

Newly Appointed Farrow & Ball Lead Showroom Manager for the Tri-State area Christine Klotz just returned from a visit to the company’s factory and headquarters in Wimborne, England. We asked her to share highlights of the tour and a few things she learned.

GDG: Where did you start the visit?
CK: We started off in London. The first day I was able to attend ICON and Decorex in London. We toured a few of our London showrooms and got to see the differences and similarities in selling and in interior design in general. We were joined by Farrow & Ball managers and employees from Dublin, Edinburgh, Brussels, Paris, and later – Oxford and Beaconsfield. It was so much fun to have a chance to socialize that evening with our international team.

We also visited Dorset, which is a beautiful part of the country beyond Windsor Castle and through The New Forest. Having grown up in London, I distinctly remember The New Forest as our first family trip - with its incredible cliffs, the wild horses of The New Forest, Corfe Castle, and of course Wimborne where Farrow & Ball has manufactured paint and wallpaper for over 60 years!

GDG: How would you describe the F&B Factory?
CK: The Uddens Estate is not exactly “to the manor born” but a functional factory, offices, and warehouse all on the same plot of land that John Farrow and Richard Ball worked on in a tiny shack, back in the 1940s.

The communication between departments is efficient, quick, and accurate because everything is within a two-minute walk.

GDG: What did you learn?

CK: We had an intensive training session and saw how keeping color consistent is truly a science. A small container of every batch of paint gets walked across the road to a lab where a person in a white lab coat does and analysis. Farrow & Ball’s standards are so high that every batch must fall within a small bulls eye for color accuracy, otherwise it is sent back to be tinkered with until it does. This is one of the many reasons why Farrow & Ball is twice as exacting as the industry standard.

Stay tuned for Part II of Christine’s visit tomorrow morning.