I am a custom painter and don't waste my time with Behr paint or Lowe's. You're local hardware store paints are of no use to me either... Behr wins awards because they deal with the home owner and diy'er. The price point is more favorable for the consumer as well.
Just because a label may say Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams doesn't mean you're getting top quality. They do make "contractor grade" paint which is no comparison to the higher priced paints they sell. You DO get what you pay for.
Benjamin Moore, Farrow and Ball, Fine Paints of Europe are by far the best paints you'll use on your home.... No question. Remember what you use to apply your paint have a lot to do with it as well.

Just had this conversation today. Benjamin Moore for colour. Take the colour chip to Sherwin Williams.
They can copy it for you, as can any paint store, BUT nobody can beat the quality, durability, customer service and cost that Sherwin Williams can.
Benjamin Moore spends it's money on training, promos and advertising in Canada. If you are not a pro then you pay for that.
Sherwin Williams pass those savings on to you with a better paint.
No I don't work for them.

I've always thought it was the prepearation that determined the success of the paint job. That's assuming a decent quality of paint. I've used Behr, Valspar, Vista, Frazee and Dunn Edwards, Sherwin Williams, and others. Never could really tell a difference.

My painter wants to use Dulux - no one is mentioning here. We usually use BM but he has a contract with Dulux.

I always get Kelly Moore paint. They have great colors and the guys in the store are always so helpful.

Prep and priming are key to getting the best out of your paint

Our Sherwin Williams store is not great. I hired their crew to paint the exterior...very sloppy. The overspray on the trim was ridiculous. They also killed one of our trees.

Also, I asked them for a butterscotch color for the interior, and I got mango. It's okay, but when I realized what I had, I decided not to use the paint in every room. They would not exchange it...I have a lot of extra cans of mango paint. I was hoping to donate it to Habitat or The Restore. They won't even take it.

I now use a locally owned paint store, and I am very happy with their advice on color, and color matching.

Dulux - best paint ,hard wearing and covers beautifully and has an amazing range of warm whites which are clean looking- no grey tints. The walls in our house are a beautiful soft white . You can see I'm no fan of the great grey trend- or prison decorating as i like to call it.

have used Sherwin Williams duration throughout our entire home (after using a first coat of SW primer) and have loved it. we used BM for ceilings

Ben Moore hands down. Even their cheap line- ultra spec beats any other competitor with a price tag of only about $30 a gallon.

We used Parker Paint on the interior of our last 3 homes with no complaints. With our current home, we broke down and hired a pro to finish painting the trim. They insisted on using Behr. We live on an island and our choices are Ace or Rodda (a local NW company). I've no experience with either of them.

Thanks everyone for your comments.

I've painted with lots of the common brands and I've changed back and forth because:
-formulas change and paints I used to love now are too thin
-local expertise in the paint store deteriorates or gets better. Last 2 purchases of SW were off in color, yet local HD matched existing SW color perfectly.
-depends on what I'm painting. Really don't like Behr ceiling.

Liked BM but not that from my local discount dealer and not worth the full price to me. Currently using top Behr for walls, and researching what to use to paint whole house full of dark stained beat up wood.

Dunn-Edwards. Mainly because their store is close to my house, and I make many, many visits there as I test and reject and test even more samples until I find the perfect color for my projects. I have been pleased with the quality of their paint.

I've used Benjamin Moore, behr and sherwin Williams. And I find behr is just as good as the others and can cost lot less. It isn't just the cost I like. I tend to use 2 coats regardless of how expensive it is. And since most place can match colors, I am not so concerned going to one place over another just because of colors.

I've used mostly Behr. I like to paint in satin as the seen gives the wall a glow, and on my ceiling it makes my short height (8 ft) seem much taller. In my current house I've had Behr on the walls for 10 years in some rooms and it still looks good. Exterior - just never use Behr!! Their exterior paint mildews way too fast (I live in Texas). Much better luck with Sherwin Williams exterior - get them to add extra mildew protection if you live in a humid area. I've used SW and Ben Moore interior, but don't see enough difference to pay the extra price so generally stick with Behr. Though Consumer Reports just ranked Ace hardware Clark+Kensington the best pick for satin paint - got a friend who owns an Ace store so might be trying his product for my next paint job.

Wow! This is cool! I have used Dunn Edwards for 25 years...there are others...but mainly theirs.

Sherwin-Williams and Clark & Kennsington. It has been my experience that BM does not cover well and requires more coats even though it goes on nice and looks good with enough coats.

\Was hoping to get some cooperative info on toxicity of paints. No one cares??

@hanazair, people care about the toxicity. Sometimes, the best you can do is use low VOC paints. It doesn't mean that they contain no harmful chemicals, but they are a better option. One should not stay in a room that was freshly painted for a minimum of 24 hours. There are natural paints as well. Here is a link to something you might be interested in http://eartheasy.com/live_nontoxic_paints.htm

I made some suggestions earlier in the thread. I don't think most people care what plastics and petroleum products are in their paint, as long as they get the color and sheen they want. Few people will try to make their own, and commercially available natural paints won't be in the paint store; they will have to be ordered. They are applied a little differently, and that requires learning new techniques. They don't come in as many colors, though you can alter colors by mixing. They dry slowly, though since there are no solvents, there is not much smell. Your painter probably won't like them, because they will be different from what he has been used to. Even his favorite brushes probably won't work with them.

Recently used Loews Caspar to paint a bathroom. It took five coats for a paint that was suppose to cover in one coat. Now it's "bleeding". Totally unimpressed with Caspar and will never use it again.

I'm a DIYer, not a professional. Benjamin Moore is my choice, though I've also used Sherwin Williams with good results. Also, I've rarely gotten away with only one coat on anything I've painted -- inside, outside, oil-based, water-based.

We wont recommend nothing we have try ourselves... Sherwin is the best paint for all projects.

Benjamin Moore.

I love Para paints for the quality and consistency. It's a canadian brand found in Lowes though so I'm not sure if it's available in the states.

Benjamin Moore hands down.

Sherwin is better...

Someone mentioned earlier that finish is based on prep. While this is true if your walls are in bad shape, DIYers should know that the more expensive brands are very forgiving to subpar prep and less than perfect paint technique. FYI - I swear by Benjamin Moore Aura. I have been able to add a second coat in as little as 45 minutes. I use a lot of matte paint and when my 8 year old gets his grubby hands on the light paint a shot of diluted simple green and a quick wipe makes it disappear. Retouch is also virtually invisible.

Like the painting contractor wrote above. Don't use Behr ceiling paint!! Their ceiling paint is a very poor quality. 4 coats using the M method and everything else you could imagine and I still have streaks.

Dunn Edwards, without a doubt. Incredibly durable and as someone mentioned up-thread, they will mix the color to match whatever sample you might have.

I was not happy with my Sherwin Williams paint. It was their HGTV line, sold in the SW store, but still expensive. It is now peeling, less than 6 months later. I would like to be a paint snob and say that I will only use SW and BM, but I had much better results with Behr and Valspar. Both look like they were painted yesterday.

I don't know what happens with their HGTV line..We used SW 7 years ago, throughout the entire house...it still looks good..no chips or any other problem

Sherwin cashmere line is best. I know a company who did blind testing and SW won in all categories. Ease of application, clean ability, etc. I have used SW for myself and clients and never fails. There are some great high end choices and boutique lines out there which are also good. Farrow and Ball as example.

I love using both Sherwin Wms & Ben Moore for their colors, and they are all good paint (as is Valspar, Behr, etc). However, for a long-term, no-fade paint, I've been very happy with BM.

The person doing the prep and their skill set can be far more valuable then what brand paint. With that said, if all prep is equal I prefer BenMoore. I have used Valspar, and Bher in pinches or by request, and really saw durability and application differences. I never used the Arua from BenMoore, just their standard flats and egg shells.

It really depends on the job. If you painting a garage or a country club house you probably won't use the same paint grade.

As a professional painter, I can tell you that every paint manufacturer has good brands and bad brands. Paint is one of those products where you get what you pay for. There are very few "hidden bargains" where an inexpensive product is better than the expensive one. As someone else mentioned above, you can get any good paint store to match any color you bring them, although it's hard to match a fabric swatch than a paint chip.

I've also learned to stay away from hardware store paints. Most of them sell very good paint. Most of them are also staffed by people who are more familiar with plumbing supplies and cutting keys than they are with paint. I have a few horror stories about trying to get the same color multiple times from Lowes. Finally I learned that saving $100 on the product wasn't worth losing $500 on labor.

Look into the benefits of No-Voc paint. Great for your health and better for the environment. Benjamin Moore's No-Voc paint comes in all the original colors.

Correction re my comment on 4.16.14:
Must have been tired that day ... I meant to say that, unlike anyone else, C2 Paints prints all of their paint chips and large samples in REAL paint! The chips are large, one color per chip, and the color bleeds off the edge on all four sides, making for ease of use. Other companies print their chips in ink to match the paint color. As a colorist, I can tell you that a bad printing match on a chip can cost you an otherwise happy client.

I've tried many of the brands listed; I liked for interior Clark+Kensington, Benjamin Moore, Sherwin Williams. I do not like Olympic, Valspar, or other cheap brands. I am going to try Behr soon.

However, for my money for interior paint I like Kilz Casual Colors the best. It is really thick [lots of solids in the paint, which is important], covers well, lasts well not only on the wall but in the can. It is also inexpensive. I have a can over 10 years old I still use for touch up. It blends right in and you cannot tell where I touched up! This also tells me that the sheen on the wall [satin] and color have not changed as some paints do. Consumer's Reports has also given it great reviews. However, the problem I have is that Wal-Mart quit carrying it a few years ago, so it is not available in my area.

For exterior, I buy Pittsburgh [PPG] Sunproof. I have a huge 2 story wooden shed and it does well on it.

FYI--PPG has bought up many paint brands: Dulux, Porter, Glidden, Olympic, AkzoNobel [who makes WalMart's Color Place], Devoe, Martha Stewart, and others, plus its own PPG. California Paints owns Pratt & Lambert, Benjamin Moore & Coronado [and others I think]; Valspar owns Devine; manages & makes Clark + Kensington and Ace for Ace Hardware, and Sherwin Williams owns Dutch Boy & bought Valspar this year. So there are a lot less paint companies than you may think.

Whoa--this just in--Walmart is now carrying a new product: Kilz Select Look paint. I can find no info about it, even on the Kilz site. Hopefully Consumer Reports will test it!

How about the comparison of Kelly Moore VS. Dunn Edward for bathroom walls and ceiling? Which one is better?

Saying which is best to compare is difficult because each brand sells different qualities. If I'm painting I want quality paint. We use the best one Valspar offers, and it has always been perfect. Covers great and glides on beautiful. Great color selection themselves and can also mix any color sample brought in.

If I may add something I feel is more important then Brand....

Correct and consistent prep work is more important then loosing sleep over paint brands. Incomplete prep will take an expensive can of Aura from Benjamin Moore, and make it look like garbage. Likewise, effort in the prep can take a builders grade Behr or Valspar and make an amazing finish.

- " But Joe, I'll cover the prep with great paint!"

My answer would be an analogy:

"Would you bake a bad cake with the best frosting"? or "Would you put expired Old gas in your new car? The cake will still taste bad, and the car would run bad!

Two things to purchase and not hold back on: Best roller cover and best roller. Period. Don't try to save money here. A high quality 1/2" nap roller cover for latex paint will have a better "lay" to the paint. The roller it self should be stiff. If it flexes then you will tend to get lines in your paint. Sometimes these lines wont be visible until after it dries!

Regarding finishes:

Flat - Easiest to touch up

Egg shell, satin, and Semigloss are for ware and tear. Does not have to be in the Kitchen or the Bathroom. Sheen finishes tend to have a hardness to them that allows you to clean with a sponge. Typically reserved for trim and doors. (Trim gets touched often, base molding gets kicked and nicked, doors get touched.)

Sheen finishes are difficult to blend when touching up. Specific technique is needed or a entire wall to repaint. Otherwise, you can see the touched up area stand out in some light and some angles (Not the case with flat - I touch up areas in my home yearly and can't see anything)

Don't fall for one coat coverage; please ignore that. Anything can one coat with the right conditions. (Think about how MPG in cars gets calculated; "the right conditions")

People ask "Whats the best for this room?" That is a loaded question for a few reasons:

1. Kitchen - are you a cook? Do you have back splash, or is your back splash just a painted wall?

2. Bathroom - Is it a half bath or a full? Do the users tend to take hot showers with a lot of steam? How is it vented?

3. Do you have people in the home who unknowingly touch the walls? Adults do this as much as children!

Personally, I two-coat everything except repainting a white ceiling. I never use anything contractor grade

I have used Behr, Valspar, and Benjamin Moore in my own home.

I hope someone can benefit from my tips!

Joe

Directsinks

Thanks Joe. Good info. My paint rollers are not in good shape so I will update them! Update/corrections on my post from Sept.: California doesn't own Benj Moore [my error], but Bershire Hathaway owns Benj Moore, Axalta, & Coronodo. Kilz and Behr have the same parent company Masco, and Kilz informed me their new paint is not as good as Casual Colors. Diversified Brands owns Sherwin Williams, Krylon, and Pratt & Lambert, Dutch Boy and Valspar.

Why has no one mentioned Rodda? I'm still trying to find out why we were told Sherwin Williams by the builder, but the painters are using Rodda. Is it a lot cheaper? Not as good? The sheen is way to shiny for exterior in my opinion.

I had couple of problems with Resene in NZ. So far I prefer to use Tikkurila paint for interior. They are just the best. They did a great colour match for my walls.

Our firm only specifies Benjamin Moore. I am a designer and my business partner is an engineer, and initially I used BM because I was able to find the right color (especially shades of red) more often than with any other paint. When she reached the same conclusion from the technical side we decided to make it our brand. However, we did a project in Kauai and had to use Sherwin Williams, and I was very happy with the selection and results from them too.

This thread was a great read. But each of these brands has quite a few different "lines." How to know? Are people perhaps comparing high-end SW to lower-end BM? I guess I have no way of really knowing...

Thank you all for your input/recommendations, I'm a rookie DIYer planning to use Benjamin Moore for my first project: spray paint kid's bathroom vanity cabinet. If happy with the results I plan to paint my Kitchen. Wish me luck!

I like benjamin moore regal select but depends on the project

Used clark & kensington on our beehives … that stuff is durable for many many years out in the elements here in wisconsin with our weather extremes

sherwin williams has a nice product too

what happened to pratt & lambert? they have some lovely colors!!!

those paint samples you buy aren't actually paint…or at least not the SAME paint that you purchase in the big gallons….. they are COLOR samples … read the can carefully …. trust me, do not mix the samples with your full gallon of true paint you will skew the integrity of the end product dont ask the store reps, they are clueless…read the can its a COLOR sample, not a paint sample for a reason

ive used Behr in a pinch for a basement wall … it wasnt bad, but we were selling

and yes there are different tiers of paint quality from each brand … oranges and apples