The end result of ANY paint project is Preparation. And, the cheapest paint project is with more expensive paint - it covers better, yields more square feet and generally self-levels itself. I personally painted kitchen and bathroom cabinets and here is my preparation steps. Remove doors, hardware and drawers. Sand surface to de-gloss and get "tooth" for bonding. Be certain and get corners thoroughly. Some say liquid sandpaper but I haven't used it to comment. Remove ALL dust with a tack cloth. Prime. I prefer oil-based primer but speak with a professional paint distributor as oil-based products have been changed. Low odor products are readily available however are most likely latex. Paint with a quality brush in the grain direction of each piece of wood. Do doors and drawer fronts flat. Lightly sand and go over with the tack cloth between coats. I used Cabinet Coat. No regrets after several years and daily usage. I suspect any paint will work better with correct preparation. Begin with inside to get the hang of it. Good luck.

...and then there are those who have never driven a Lexus to know why it is different from a Toyota. If you don't know any better when it comes to paint, then you really aren't missing anything. ...and then there are the people who just don't see it, or get if, if given the opportunity to choose Lexus over Toyota. Really, no one cares. It's paint. The best thing to do is stick with what you know and want and that makes you happy. Or, go experiment and decide for your own self so you can *know* for yourself and ignore all the chatter back-n-forth. I chimed in because I think it's really unfair to painters to lob out there that they are intentionally marking up cans of paint to the point that's been implied. I said painters aren't making a living by being paint resellers. If selling paint was where they could make a living do you think any of them would actually paint? They make a living based on their skills and knowledge. Some are better at their craft than others and it is true that some are better businesspeople. The better craftsmen will quote your job based on how much labor will be involved and how much of their time your job is going to take. Time and work. Not paint. Paint doesn't matter in the grand scheme. I've found the less confident painters, the painters who do lesser amounts of high-end residential, commercial, and industrial work use the margin they get on a gallon to help them win jobs. They make it look like their cost for time and work is less than the next guy by using the delta on whatever margin they may get from the paint stores to help cover their landed costs. The bottom line is no different, folks. You will pay a painter what he's worth plain and simple. It all comes out in the wash -- smaller crews to bigger crews -- small volume guys to the poster child for a brand boys. At the end of the day, you are going to pay what it costs for their particular skillset, their time, their effort. Now, the core of this is client agreeing with the painter about how much the painter's skill, time, and effort are worth -- that's another discussion. If a little monkeying around with the numbers, shifting a few hundred bucks from the time and effort bottom line to somewhere else that isn't itemized out to the last cent makes you feel better and helps them get your job, do ya think it matters to them? Nope. They're going to make sure they are getting paid what they need to cover their overhead. As they should. No one is going to paint for someone and lose money doing it. The painters who are honest, savvy businessmen concerned about their reputation and neighborhood spin often don't monkey with itemized paint quotes. You're going to get a price and as long as you don't step too far outside the box to stuff like Fine Paint of Europe, or Farrow & Ball, or some specialized treatment, or prep, etc., their price for their work is what it's going to cost you to hire a professional painter, not a professional schlepper of paint. Fairness matters. Compare apples to apples and work with real numbers, not arbitrary pulled-out-of-someone's hat numbers.

The Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware fell in love with BM paint and thus, they will swear there is no better, regardless. Remember there are a lot more of them out there than there are people who chose to stay with traditional furnishings. I have had no issues with Behr. I have only had a couple issues with SW and BM and that is they never seem to be able to get the color right the first time. I love Pratt Lambert the best. I get the color I wanted. I get the quality I wanted. It is easier for me to shop with the BM people due to proximity but over the years, (since I like to paint at least every 2 years), I have used a lot of paint. Some great paint for me has also been the Olympic/Olympia (whatever it is that Lowe's sells). Having said all that, we covered our gold public area of Cracker Bitz (Lowe's) with one coat of Behr's (Toasted Wheat). Sometimes I think it is related to where you buy the paint, just like the former poster who was not pleased with Ellen Kennon paints. I rarely if ever have a paint that does not go on well, because we clean the walls and mostly prime them (but in the case of the Behr, we did not prime since colors were so close), and I might be disappointed in the colors but I have pretty good results with paint. Back to the priming story. We had an area by our toilet that had to be primed and sanded five times. Painters could not imagine why because they could not see any reason. Later I learned from the tile guys that some problem had occurred with some of the demolition crew taking out my toilet and they had gotten motor oil on the wall which they "thought" they had cleaned. Yes, it was not showing so they "thought" they had cleaned it but the grease was not absorbing the paint and it cost me about $100 extra for that small area because of their "thoughts" on the situation.

Out of the choices Above I'd say BM is your best bet. Behr products are too watered down and their white is more of a gray so that effects the way the colors comes out when tinted. Stay away from SW they are a bit better than behr but they over price for the amount of TITO in their paint as well. BM offers a beautiful color selection and has an exellent product. HOWEVER I would love to put Dunn Edwards in the running here. We have an amazing selection of nearly 2,000 colors (not mention custom color mathces we can do), a superior paint product and a FREE Professional Color Advisor service (that's me) . Plus we have a ton of "kill test" listed on our website and in our store comparing each of our products to the competition. (: but like I said BM is a nice choice!