I cannot speak to BM paints because I only buy Valspar, but SW is not a great paint. My BFF had to have her new paint job redone (at SW's expense) because her paint was literally coming off with a very light cleaning. The painter used the better line of their interior paints too. Consumer Reports never rates any of their interior paints well.

I tested a bunch of different paints for coverage, overall look, and cleanability. BM (expensive) and Fine Paints of Europe (super expensive) blew away Behr (cheap).

Cheaper paints use cheaper fillers that do not give as good coverage, compared to good paints that use titanium dioxide. Cheaper paints use cheaper latex resins, while better paints use acrylic resins that are harder, more durable, and better looking. BM Aura uses a superior, water-based colorant system rather than UTCs for better colors and better paint film performance.

No matter what you spend on paint, the cost of labor to do a good job applying it absolutely dwarfs the cost of the paint. It makes no sense to buy cheap paint unless you're painting for a quick sale.

+1 to all of that. You will get better coverage and better durability with higher quality paint (BM is just one of several good brands). It's more expensive upfront---but not over the lifetime of whatever you're painting. A gallon will go further, and you won't have to repaint as often.

We have BM throughout our house and tried to use other paints color-matched to it to patch things here and there (notably, not all cheap---some we got for their green qualities before Aura came out!) In the end I had to go back and buy BM again. It really is better quality paint (and gives me some respect for the PO's realtor, who picked it).

Also, BM recently donated paints for a community art project I worked on. We used their residential low-VOC paints (because that's what they had available, and we were working with kids---think it was Aura), which are now up on traffic signal boxes in our city---so if you really want a test, I can let you know in a few months how it weathers the real world! :)

I've painted with other paints, and the only other paint company I would consider, other than BM, would be C2. The coverage of both BM and C2 is far superior and they are easier to work with than other brands. I have not tried Farrow and Ball, but from what I understand, they are way more $$ than BM.

I will delurk for this one:-) I have used SW paints for years and have had no problems at all, some Glidon and one room of Valspar. BUT this year as we start going back though the house, 11 rooms, I decided to give the BM Aura a try..Lovely lovely paint, the colors are rich and clean. The matte finish is truly scrub-able. I have White Chocolate matte finish in my kitchen and love it!!!! All the Aura paint colors 'harmonize' with each other, yes that sounds strange, but they do. So being creative with color doesn't make for jarring transition room to room. Really fun paint to decorate with. It touches up seamlessly.

DH about had s stroke at the cost till he saw the paint on the walls and even he sees the difference. BTW he thinks the smell, there is a bit, reminds him of fresh baked bread, but as soon as it dries and it dries very fast, you can't even tell the room has fresh paint. Won't use anything else now.