I think you probably know that we used BM Satin Impervo. It was the paint I read most raves about on the Build a Home and Painting forums at the time (including searches of older posts)...Other than Cabinet Coat, which seemed to have equally good reviews, but didn't come in the colors we needed, nor was available in a local store.

BM solid content is 37.7%. Sherwin Williams runs between 38 and 40%. The difference is probably not noticable. So then you look at the quality of their tints and customer service as the two other factors (solid content is key with paint, tint quality second and if you ever buy more than one gallon, number three should weigh in if all else is equal). Personally in color matching I've had much more success with Sherwin Williams than with BM so I'm assuming either they have better equiptment or better tints. Because I am more likely to get a quality color match I stick with Sherwin Williams.

In addition, for me, the BM sales people SUCK I mean totally suck. The SW folks greet me by name, keep an account for each of my houses with special tint information on file so I don't have to haul in an old can, label it as I ask (ie dining room, etc) and will mix for me over the phone without hassle. In both Texas and Alaska I've found the same to be true, so I stick with Sherwin Williams (and I prefer their pro line of paints in particular for cabinets as well as primers).

I prefer SW. We several different brands before painting our old house and nothing held a candle to SW's quality. It also withstood three very active children and lots of wall scrubbing. However, I do prefer BM's colors. Service here is great in both places. You can get samples from both companies, I'd suggest doing that and getting a feel for which paint you like better, then find your color.

Good luck!

Love my SW folks. I had to touch up a hallway and when I went to go open the paint, it was all separated and had mold growing in it! Ugh! I called up SW because it was a custom color and voila! Thirty minutes later, I had a new gallon that matched *perfectly*. "Thanks for stopping in, Mrs. Lisa. Do you have all the supplies you need for your job?"

My Ben Moore store, while more "glamorous" doesn't seem to have an earthly clue about customer service.

My local SW even gave me a fandeck for free!

grlwprls, that sounds exactly like my store...they're so well trained, really know paint and all of their stains, and go out of their way to make you feel like you're a regular even if you're only there once or twice a year (as in the texas store). I will always be a loyal customer, and their products are top notch, though I will say, I wish they'd quit tempting me with new brushes (those lovely display walls are worse than the grocery store candy isle for my son). heh heh

I thought it was just MY Sherwin Williams store that was so great. That's the only place I will go for my paint now. Very, very good service. Apparently, the company understands the importance of good customer service and does a good job training their people.

After I bought two gallons of paint for our kitchen, we didn't like the way it looked on the wall and went back for a different color. They didn't even charge me for the first gallon of new paint! And they thanked me for my business!!

So, it isn't just my Sherwin Williams guy that treats me really special?

The last time I was there, I came in with a color I created mixing two Behr colors. Though I didn't know, it was 5 minutes before closing. When I realized that, I figured he would just have me pick it up the next day. Nope. He worked on that color concoction until it was *just right*, and he made certain I got my customer discount on top of the sale price. And with a smile.

LOVE that guy! ;^)

I agree about the SW customer service. Although I've never had anyone there be less than polite, competent, and helpful, one lady there has really done a great job for me. I had just bought a gallon of Ivoire and it didn't match up w/ the Color to Go sample I had bought. She patiently tweaked my paint for 45+ minutes and then gave me a free gallon for my trouble. And of course, she then stored my "custom Ivoire" color under my account. Plus she always gives me a discount w/out my asking. Another time, I had experimented w/ a BM color that I had mixed w/ another color--SW perfectly colormatched it for me.

Paint quality has been fine from both stores (SW primers, Duration & Cashmere and BM primers, Aura Interior & Exterior & MoorGlo Exterior).

To be fair, our BM store has been nice, also, but I just don't get the same comfortable feeling there. But, one of their guys also worked diligently to color match for me one time, also. On the other hand, one of the owners (an older lady) was a bit condescending to me one time over something that *they* had priced incorrectly on the shelf, which I found to be off-putting. I just don't get quite the same "vibe" there, overall.

All that to say, my personal favorite is SW :-)

Speaking only from my experience in NYC for the past 40+ years, I have yet to meet a professional painter who does not prefer BM. That's not to say SW is not used here. But it's clearly not the "painter's choice" around these parts.

our cabinets will be painted a SW white. (don't ask, because i just can't remember which color!) but anyway, our cabinetmaker uses SW so i found a white that was acceptable and we went with that. didn't want to mix anything custom as i wanted paint that was readily available in case i needed for touch ups.
i used BM for the past 12 years in our old home; not for any particular reason except the BM store was closer. i find their color "okay" ...but just "okay". BUT i'm afraid i spent most of my professional career messing with color so NO ONE is going to come out with anything i'm not going to want to tweak in some way. as far as quality i haven't noticed one iota of difference between BM and SW. but i don't consider myself a paint brand aficionado, just a bit crazy about the color. as martha said above there is definitely a preference for BM in the NYC area but that doesn't really mean much to me.

About SW and color matching--I took in a pail of paint that I had created from "a little of this, a little of that, and several splashes of several more" because I had run just short before finishing the room, and needed to match it for the trim as well. He had it matched perfectly in less than 20 minutes. So who has what color shouldn't be much of an issue, I think--SW can match it, if they have the sheen you want. Their service (and record-keeping) also makes them winners in my book.

I've never use BM, so can't comment there. My father-in-law was a painter at one point and always insisted on using Martin Senour paint.

Wow, apparently I have been hypnotized by the BM store...it's the only place I go.

I will have to try SW, although it is across the street from the BM store, hope they don't see me...

I'm pretty sure that our local paint store that carries BM, Pratt & Lambert, Yolo and Ralph Lauren brands is locally owned not company owned. We always get great service. More often than not, it's my go-to place for paint.

I've also used Rodda, Kelly Moore, Miller and SW. Our home's exterior is painted with SW, chosen because I saw the color on a local home, loved it and the homeowner was gracious enough to tell me the color and brand. I received great service when I sampled a quart and selected a complimentary colors for the trim and door. However, we did have a problem with the paint job that began with a SW's mixing error. One 5-gallon bucket was slightly off in match from the other buckets. We checked the cans and the formula label says the cans were mixed the same way but somehow or other, they were not.

That error was compounded by idiot painters who didn't know enough to mix paint from new cans with open cans. Because they didn't and because the paint match was off, touch-ups on our house looked like polka dots. The painters had to go back and paint the whole length of a board and we'll have to do the same any time we touch up. These same idiot painters painted our front door while it was closed! Yeah, we made them re-do it. Twice. And it still wasn't great. They then had the nerve to ask if they could bid on interior paint work. Over my dead body!

But I digress.

This was an isolated experience with SW and it sounds as though it's not the norm - that's good to hear - but it does make me hesitate about using their paint again.