shanibh, all paint needs time to cure - it may feel dry but it takes weeks to cure. Until it's cured you shouldn't touch or wash it because it will come off as you have found out. I know those who are knowledgeable may have more to weight in on this subject.

I'm planning to use BM aura paint which is washable etc. even as a flat paint. You might want to consider using that instead of RH paint.

sky

Did you prime first? Sky is right about the cure time. But, not priming would lead to the uneven coverage.

Thanks to both of you for your messages. I did prime first... I didn't know about the wait period so this is helpful.

Sky,

Do you know if the RH colors will look the same when mixed with the Aura paint?

Shani

You should be able to get a close match if the person mixing the paints does a good job and is careful. You would have to repaint all the walls because you could never get a perfect match unless you were using RH paint from the same lot number.

Thanks Amysrq and Sky...

Restoration Hardware has great paint colors but lowsy paints. The problems of poor coverage and easily marred finishes are typical of a poor paint. They are more apparent with the darker colors and less apparent with light colors going over a light color. I took my RH paint to Benjamin Moore and had them match the color, which they did very well, and I had no problems with the BM paint. I guess we shouldn't expect too much from paint that is sold in a furniture and fixture store.

First of all-restoration Hardware developed their color pallette using Benjamin Moore Colors, so there are pretty much exact matches available for most RH colors. I can tell you off the top of my head that the match for Latte is BM "Crisp Khaki" #234 and the match for Silver Sage is "Grey Wisp" color #CC-1570.
You could use BM Aura or BM Regal to save some money-the Regal should price out pretty close to the RH paint. The Aura will be much more durable once it cures (give it 30 days before you try to clean it). I'm an Aura fan, but Regal is very good paint as well.
I learned my lesson many years ago after painting a powder room with RH paint. Fortunately it only cost me one gallon on a small job.

I ordered 5 sample colors from RH. Weeks later I received 3 in the mail and was told the other 2 were on backorder. Nobody told me that at the time I ordered of course. When I opened each tiny can, the paint was a solid mass. At first, I thought maybe they were frozen solid because of the weather at the time. After sitting inside my house for five days it became apparent the cold temps were not the issue. I called RH to tell them I couldn't even stick a spoon in the paint. They apologized but had no explanation. I was given a refund and told to throw away the paint.