I'm using SW paint, but others' colors. Of 3 paint colors, only 1 is actually SW, one is American Traditions (Lowe's), and another will probably be BM (once I narrow it down). I want to use SW's "Harmony" line (no VOC), and also--their paint samples are cheaper. So far, I just take in a paint chip (of any brand) I like and they mix it up for me to sample. I'm up to 16 now.

Happy hunting.
Tracey

I know Behr gets no respect here but I used it our entire home and can say the color was right on with the sample, it went on easy, had good coverage and did not splatter at all. We used Eggshell. Maybe Behr needs to open some indy shops and add $15 to the price of each gallon to get some respect. Note: I am not questioning the quality of BM or SW as I have known others who have used it and were quite happy.

Ack! No...please, don't give the Behr folks any ideas! :) I'd rather they keep the paint affordable. We've been very pleased with our Behr experience thus far.

USe whomever you want just compare product data sheets to see if you are getting equal quality products. Any good paint store can color match. THE GOOD ONES DON'T HAVE TO USE THE MACHINES - they are trained to match colors. Just take a good sample or chip from the color you want to the paint store.

All makers of paint have at least 3 grades of paint quality. Painters/contractors grade, commerical/professional grade, premium/top of the line grade. Go with the later two grades for best coverage and performance. The higher the sheen the better cleanability (IN GENERAL), however, the more sheen the finish has the more it shows drywall imperfections. Don't use flats in bathrooms or rooms with high humidity. Test for adhesion if covering old paint.

GOOD LUCK.

Hi Chris,
Just an opinion on your color-matching statement...

It seems like those kind of "eyeball-matching" paint stores are dwindling. Color-matching scanners now are VERY good. The old-fashioned way can involve a day of tweaking for a whole $10 quart. MOST OF the time, the customer is in a hurry and can't wait. Obviously, because we have C2, we're not a Big-box store.

Our brand-new Datacolor 110 scanner set up for C2-baseing is SUPERB! Can't tell you what it costs, but it's a few $$grand. Most of the time, they're out the door in 10min.

Smaller stores obviously might not want to spring that kind of $$, so an "old-pro" would have to do it...if there IS one!

Faron

Yes color scanning is good but you don't havwe to know paint and colors to do it. Just a warm body and a roll of printer tape.

We have a couple of really good paint stores here in my town that have very good, old school paint matching employees that can match about anything. They understand that colors can change between alkyds and acrylics, flats to semi-gloss, and satins.

I'm sorry, but if you go to Home Depot or other stores of that nature and return a gallon because it didn't come out right, they just put it in a discount bin and make another gallon that won't match either. IMHO

It would help if I checked my own spelling before posting.

I should have said that you don't have to be trained the same way to run the machine vs. "eye balling". There is an art to gettin' it right.

Sorry bmh!,
I kinda dragged this OT!
* Both are good paint brands. Just make sure you make the right sheen/quality-level choices for each area of your home.
* However your paint is matched, just make sure that you're happy with the sample. Use primed pieces of cardboard to ensure that 2 coats look the way you want...IN YOUR HOME SETTING!
* Remember also that color-chips AREN'T PAINT (except for C2). Light reflects differently off paint than the printed color-cards.

Chris, believe it or no, sometimes I do have to "tweak" our resulting sample-scans :-) ....adding a little red-oxide to "reduce" a green influence; or adding pthalo-blue to move a red towards plum. Scanners sure speed things up though!
* Taking a day to build a sample by sight isn't an option most of the time. We always ASK however, but invariably the answer is "well, I'm in a hurry...".

Later,
Faron