I have no experience with the Pittsburgh product, however we just painted our living/dining/foyer area with 10 gallons of Aura (matte) and couldn't be happier with the results. The odor was gone completely within a couple of hours (I am super smell sensitive) and the paint looks so rich that even my husband noticed the depth of color. I say "price be damned and only cry once"....go for the Aura matte.

Pure Performance is the equivalent of BM's EcoSpec WB; both are geared for commercial application, not residential. The difference is that PPG adds VOC's with colorant and BM does not. As for Natura, not sure where you heard about application, but it goes on very easy. Buy a quart and try it first - something you should do to validate your color anyway. As with EcoSpec, both Aura and Natura use 0 VOC colorants so they stay at 50 and 0 respectively after tinting.

I don't think you can really compare Aura with these other high end brands. Aura is really in a league of its own. I'm not saying you will use Aura and have a WOW reaction...you may not. As far as the primer goes, Aura is self priming but there is no reason to spend $48 per gallon for primer. I would recommend primer with any paint because the primer is cheaper than the paint itself.

Thank you for your replies!

begoniagirl, did you do two coats?

paintguy1, what is the difference in commercial and residential paints if you don't mind me asking? I see on the PP webpage that it is recommended for interior home application, among other things including commercial.
And thank you for that info. on the Natura. After more research last night, and your suggestion, I will definitely be giving it a try. It's what I originally wanted anyway and just seems like the best fit.

paintguy, so many people have expressed that same feeling about Aura. Even if I don't end up using it for the whole house, I sure would like to try a little.

Greetings Mamabirrd....In answer to your question, yes we did two coats of Aura. It does cover and paint beautifully but the coverage is richer with two coats. And while I'm not a pro painter, the BM rep that mixed our paint also said that folks have had trouble with the Natura, especially homeowners trying to do their own painting.

Funny you mentioned you have birds and love gardening....we had a pair of Goudian finches until they just kept having clutch after clutch of babies (they were madly in love) at which point we gave them to a friend with a very large cage that could house all those Gouldians. I'm also a rabid gardener here in SoCal.

Good luck with your painting and again, we love the Aura in matte!

Thanks for your reply begoniagirl! I assumed by your handle that gardening, or at least Begonias, were a passion :)

Gardening is what brought me to Gardenweb so many years ago....I'm thankful for all the dear friends I've met and the amazing plants I have received from them through trades.

I love Gouldian Finches and have always wanted to give a few a home. They are so beautiful. After losing my 8 year old Parakeet, I decided that small birds w/ a short life span were just not for me. Although the tiny ones are the most hilarious.
We are owned by an African Grey, a Greenwinged Macaw, and a Cockatiel. They, along with my toddler, run the show around here. I want them all to be around for a long time, which is why this paint decision is so important to me.

So glad to hear about your good experience with Aura and I'm looking forward to trying it out. I plan to sample both Aura and Natura and will be sure to post my results.