My DH uses BM because of its' ease of application and great coverage, how it looks on the painted surface and its' durability aka scrubability.

I have used some of the full spectrum Ellen Kennon paints and last time I paid about $55 a gallon. But the quality and color was just wonderful. I have used another full spectrum paint - Citron from Tucson and that cost about $60 including getting it shipped to WI. That paint was fantastic. So smooth, 1 coat with just a bit of touch up. And the colors were to die for. Citron's paint has more intense colors but fabulous.
BM paint is what many designers use mostly because of the numerous great color choices and also the quality.

I used behr once - I had the same color color matched at BM and I had to use one less coat. (on trim.) The coverage is much much better. I painted my living room with BM, red over just primer, and it only needed one coat. I was amazed.

I like BM's line called Historical Colors. Perhaps other stores could closely duplicate them, I don't know. But we don't paint often...I want to be completely satisfied when we do. ;)

Susan ~

Link provides buying advice for interior paints. From Consumer Reports magazine. Please reply if you wish to see their ratings of specific paints. Some readers place little to no value on CR info; others live by it. I use it as one item of input among many in a buying decision.

Here is a link that might be useful: Interior Paint - Buying Advice

I seem to remember from the paint forum that Behr was very highly rated on Consumer Reports but what I really wanted was personal reactions from people who have used the more expensive paints, especially Benjamin Moore. Thank you for your reply though.

I use a painter's forum for great advice from professional painters. Most of them have very definite preferences about paint brands, and Behr is not very high on their list. These guys are very professional and never talk down to those of us who ask for advice. http://www.painterforum.com/yabbse/index.php?board=2.0

Personally, I think Behr is not a good paint. The paints I love are BM Aura - love the colors and the fact that it always covers in 2 coats (goes on like velvet).....their Regal Matte (washable and flat looking) is great also.

I've also used the highest quality Velspar from Lowes and find it nearly as good as BM and a lot cheaper - but they don't have as good a selection of colors.

I use a painter's forum for great advice from professional painters. Most of them have very definite preferences about paint brands, and Behr is not very high on their list.

Behr paint would not even be on the list,sorry.

, I have to believe there must be a good reason why so many are using BM paints instead of a less expensive brand.

You are comparing a Lexus to a Pinto,which would you rather drive?
Professional painters are working to make a living making other peoples homes looks good.They only use products that will work to that end. DIY home owners generally are looking to do the job the less expensive way ,hence the trip to HD or Lowe's. Behr is just a marketing thing just like consumer reports it is all about the $$. Behr paint is nowhere near the quality of ANY of the top of the line paints from ANY real paint store.

We use mostly eggshell benjamin moore paint. There seems to be slightly better coverage with less dripping and spattering. I recently used sherwin williams duration, but their eggshell had a little more sheen to it, which did not make me happy. The durations is similar in price to bm.
A few months ago we used behr premium in my son's room and the result was great. There is a slight difference in the finish, but not terribly noticable. (A little too much shine on the eggshell) DH prefers bm because he feels it covers better and goes on better. I find we always need 2 coats whatever we paint, no matter what the brand, LOL.
Just this weekend we painted the family room in BM and I nearly choked when two gallons of paint cost 82$. I'm not sure if it's truly worth the difference in price, but I'm definitely not a professional!

ingrid - It seems like BM paint colors are the ones that make me oohh and aahhh most of the time. They just have such pretty colors. The only BM color I've used so far is Woodstock Tan and there's a depth to it that I don't see with the paint I've gotten from Home Depot and Lowes. In the day time it takes on more of a brown tone, and at night, it looks more green. I'm basically a cheapo, so it kills me to pay more, but I can't see myself using anything else now.

Laurie

You are comparing a Lexus to a Pinto . . .Behr paint is nowhere near the quality of ANY of the top of the line paints from ANY real paint store.

The question is, in what respect is the top line Behr (Premium Plus) a lesser paint?

I am an amateur painter, but the cost of the paint is irrelevant to me.

Behr seems a lot thinner to me, more transparent (= more coats needed), which makes the color seem washed out, as though the pigment is spread thinner. (Perhaps they use less pigment, thus the price difference?) I also think their finishes are shinier than the BM equivalents, which makes it look cheaper to my eye, like a shiny chintz cotton versus a rich glowing linen.

I'm a big fan of the BM Aura flat for its velvety matte finish, lack of odor, how fast it dries, and how scrubbable it is compared to other paints.

-- another DIYer

Trailrunner heartily endorsed BM Aura/Affinity matte- finish paint when I was choosing a paint for a recently renovated bathroom. We loved the finish so much, I've convinced DH to have our ~two-years paint job (kitchen, DR, LR, foyer...) re-painted using Aura (FWIW--in the same shade of white, too!).

Speckledcat,

Thank you for posting the link to the paint forum you mentioned above. I spent about 2 hours reading there and now know a considerable amount more than I did about painting. I joined and am waiting to be approved so I can ask them some questions about my paintable wallpaper project.

Hopefully the info will go both ways- I will mention gardenweb and they can come over here for decorating advice :)

I just bought some BM paint for the dining room. The store asked me if I wanted premium grade or contractor's grade. I went for premium, but it does appear that BM comes in two different quality paints.

Has anyone else been asked this?

All brands have different grades, or qualities.

Honestly, as long as you stick to the higher grades you're going to be fine when talking about the more common brands of paint: Ben Moore, Pratt & Lambert, Sherwin Williams, Pittsburgh Paints, Muralo, ICI Dulux, Dunn Edwards, Kelly Moore, California, etc.

They all compete for the same clients/business. Each has something unique to offer, i.e. BenM Aura, SW Duration, Pratt & Lambert Accolade, Muralo Ultra Ceramic, ICI's new Diamond Matte, Pittsburgh Paints Manor Hall.

Exterior is a little different than interior; there is more to consider and it's more important to get the right products.

Interior, can't say it matters all that much when you're looking at the top brands and their top grades. If budget is a major concern where every penney per square counts, then I think Lowe's is the better option. Valspar's Premium is lovely to work with. It reminds my of Sherwin Williams Super Paint in that anyone can be successful painting with it - it suits a variety of DIY painting skill sets.

I shop service too, not just paint. It's important to find a good color resource because the can of paint per se is an incomplete product. It's the store's staff that completes the process by making it a can of color -- and that's what people really buy. Color & finish first, paint second.

Convenience has always been important to me as well. If the Home Depot or Walmart is ALL you have without driving an hour, you can find things that will work. If it's a matter of an extra few miles to get to a real paint store, real paint store is almost always your better option because of that service factor.

Thing is when you're talking amongst the common brand's top grades, there's not a whole lot of difference, IMO. It's more like idiosyncrasies and you just need to find the better fit for your expectations, and if DIYing, painting abilities.

What's funny is the brands that get the most spin on forums like, BenM & SW, aren't really the *more expensive* brands and grades of paint. :-D Fine Paints of Europe, Farrow & Ball, Full Spectrum Color is indeed another realm and where differences from brand to brand, and maybe even grade to grade, are truly significant in comparison to each other as well as to the more well-known, average brands.

funcolors, how would you compare FPE and F&B in terms of quality of color/depth? TIA.

When I bought the BM paint, I asked for the flat finish (the paint is for the ceiling- Lemon Chiffon). When I got it home, I noticed that it was matte finish. After we got it up on the ceiling and it was dry, we noticed it does have a bit of a sheen. We love it! It reflects a bit of light without looking glossy. I would use this finish again in a minute!

I recently painted a bedroom with Valspar signature line in Matte. I've never had great luck in having colors matched and so I just went with the valspar because that is color I chose. It looks as nice as the BM matte I have in other parts of my house and I wouldn't hesitate to use it again. What I noticed though is that it didn't seem to go as far and I had to get an additional quart to finish the room. So the cost ended up being the same as if I had painted the room with BM matte.
It also splattered just a little and the BM does not.
The person at my BM store says that because BM has their own colorants, it is hard to get a good match from another paint line that uses universal colorants.

With paints, it's not just the colors that are different (and any brand at Home despot will be mixed with the same tints...it's only the base paint that differs). It's the level of solids within the paint that makes the biggest difference, and you'll see the higher the price, typically the higher the level of solids. The higher level of solids means less paint is needed on the wall. Think of using a glass of water with a drop of food coloring in it...how many coats will it take to get a true debth of color...lots, because there are basically no solids in the mix. A can of F&B could accomplish the same task with one coat, because their solid level is so much higher.

I guess I'm a bit of a paint snob. I love to paint with good paint. That being said F&B and EK are not available to me here so I used mostly SW because the quality is better than the paint grades sold at Lowes and home Despot (and I wouldn't personally buy paint at Fred Meyer or Walmart...I have and won't ever again). I also prefer excellent service, and I get that at SW as well. I knew I had bought too much paint there though when three of the paint contractors greeted me by name on an early morning paint run (they all buy when the store opens) and two knew my colors LOL Then the guy at the counter greeted me by name and fixed my coffee just perfectly...

I'd rather be known at a good wine bar than a good paint store LOL But I guess that's what remodeling is all about heh heh

They never make me coffee at Home Despot :(

In paint, like in many things, you get what you pay for. I can't wait to live in the NW where I can play with fabulous paints :)

The same can be said for Venetian plaster. I have used the crap at home despot. It comes out fine. But if you use the real stuff from italy...ohhh la la it's SO MUCH better! Both finish and application :) Again you get what you pay for!

Consumer reports actually rates Kilz Casual Colors paints well, and they are sold at Wal Mart.

Are there better paints? Sure. But I'd go to one of the paint forums and ask about each proposed paint you plan to use, because chances are they've had experience with it and can rate it realistically.

I do think that good paint is available for under $60/gallon.

We have always just used paint at Lowes or Home Depot. Then we moved into this new house and I signed up here at GW. I read and read all the current and past posts and saw that people really liked BM or SW paint. So we used BM Aura paint for our kitchen. OMG! What a difference! There is no paint splatter from rolling and it goes on like... like velvet (as someone prior posted!) Now I understand there IS a difference in paint. I just wish I had learned that decades ago as it would have saved many, many second and third coats.

Wow! This was very educational-- thanks for all the advice!

I used Behr many, many moons ago and it splattered too much. Of course I didn't know this until I started experimenting w/ other brands.

W/in the past yr. I tried Valspar again after having used solely BM and was quite pleased. I wasn't pleased when I went back for a 2nd gallon of the same color (ran out w/ 1/2 a wall to go) and I swear the 2nd gallon was thinner and runnier.

Typically I buy BM onlu but I also get it mixed in their Super Spec and pay about $25/gallon on the average.

Each uber brand has its own color sense about it and it all really depends on who ya ask. I can explain.

The final finish of paint matters because we *see* color on many levels. Our eyes see and brain registers color in an order: hue, chroma, lightness. When we sum up an environment as a whole, it's the lightness:darkness contrast that impacts our visual system first. All that means something to how one wishes to color a human environment -- to what degree is entirely a matter of choice. And it's in that choice that one needs to decide what they want, expect, and can tolerate from color.

There is no doubt that FPE, F&B, EK, C2, DK, etc. each bring something different to the table. Because of the differing finishes, and because of the differing colorants, and because of the specialized color processes they each have a special quality of nuance to offer.

Nuance is where the rubber meets the road with color. That's where all the magic is. That's where it's decide how the spectral curves and ups & downs and ins & outs of a color will play with the inevitably varied and imbalanced unique combination of wavelengths of light in a room.

Nuance comes from within color and the components used to create and build that factor each matter -- a lot. The quality of the base in general will matter as will it's whiteness. So the better a can of paint starts out, the better quality of color it's able to deliver. It's the combination of quality base material, caliber of colorant, and art of literal color design, and its final finish or *visual hand* that add up to what we are able to debate, discuss and compare as complexity (or quality of color) and depth of one paint's color attributes to another.

Each brand of paint has the potential *to be the best*. It's simply a case of when they are the right fit for human and project.

It's kinda difficult to directly compare FPE to F&B in terms of color quality and depth. I can give you a few examples. We've all read differing comments about various brand's: EK colors are muddy, F&B has an odd collection of colors, DK's colors are washed out nothingness, FPE has an array of colors that strike the eye harshly, and on and on...

All those comments are true.... according to someone! :~D Color is intensely personal and the huge buffet of paint/color choices available to us means that now, unlike ever before, every paint job is a very custom paint job. Even if the choice is as simple as Home Depot or Lowe's.

So we can deconstruct FPE and F&B if we want to. I can see and agree with whatever characteristics someone else is seeing in those color palettes. Essentially, when it comes to color we are all correct about what we see.

I hope I answered you fly -- and that I made some sense! I'm feeling I may have rambled on like a crazy lady but I wanted to really answer you with good thoughts and not just bunch adjectives together and call it a color review FPE vs....

Appreciated, funcolors...but it's still frustrating! :) Actually, I'm aware that color is subjective :), but was wondering what your subjective, personal take is on the differences you see between the two--what *your* comments like the "EK muddy, F&B odd" (I think of F&B as 'greyed out' in a good way -- always looks like each color has seen centuries of candle smoke, I imagine), etc. would be wrt FPE vs. F*B. If you don't want to share them, I do understand that too.