I think it is excellent quality paint, as far as how it goes on, that is. It is comparable to BM, maybe a little better, in that respect. What I am incredibly disappointed in is the Rust that I used in my dining room. It burnishes horribly, shows every roller and brush mark, and if a finger touches the wall, there is a white streak that won't go away. The wall can't be cleaned, because the cloth or whatever used to clean it leaves marks as well. Ellen offered to talk to the Dulux dealer about it and came back with the answer that that base is considered a "no touch" paint. Well, people live here, and there's bound to be a touch on a wall at some point. But, this is ridiculous. I really don't know what to do about it. It is such an awful mess.

Anyway, I have Cognac in my great room and den, Dusk on most of my ceilings, and Mustard Seed in my guest room. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Cognac. I just painted Bronze on one wall in my den and the kitchen, but it won't be there long. It's a beautiful color, but it's just not right for me in these rooms.

All in all, the paint is excellent, except for the dark base matte, which has been a nightmare for me. Good luck!

It goes on great, in my experience, although I have still never used a sample pot--just went with the large paper samples and then bought the fresh-made paint. We've used the Dulux Lifemaster Eggshell and Semi Gloss.

I use Ellen's paint almost exclusively in my house. I find it is easy to apply, creamy enough that it doesn't require a lot of coats and wears well.

I'm sorry to hear about your problem with Rust, Janetta. I have an Old Brick accent wall. My family tends to use the corner to steady themselves while removing shoes at the front door. I don't have the problem you describe. Different base perhaps?

I was a lifelong confirmed BM user before I discovered Ellen's paints.

I have many of EKs colors too: Mustard Seed, Cognac, Wheat, Ashen Green, Berry Red, Lavendar Mist, Aqua and Parchment.
I haven't had any problems like you have had with the rust. My Berry Red powder room gets water splashed on the wall and so far no problems and it's been up two weeks.

I painted the guest room lavendar mist myself and DH painted the basement mustard seed. We have also done two other rooms with BM and as a novice I couldn't really tell the difference. We hired someone to do the rest and he said the paint was fine and he usually uses BM. What he did like though was the color when it was finished. He thought the Ashen Green would be too dark but when he was finished he commented on how much lighter it looked!! It was probably the full spectrum effect.

I ordered sample pots of the paints and painted poster boards with a cheap brush and you could really tell the difference from job the painters did bc their brushes were much nicer.

What colors are you thinking about using?

I have not used EK paints; I use BM exclusively, but have experienced the exact same burnishing problem with a dark rust. I called the paint store, BM, no resolution. The new paint store I go to recommends not using any color with a deep base --- so why do they make it??? --- she said there is so much pigment in the deep colors that it deflates the quality of the paint.
I had the same experience with another brand of paint in a burgundy. It was still rubbing off several years later when I painted over it. I used two coats of primer. I don't know others' experiences, but I for one am done with very dark colors. Sorry you are having this problem.

I have five different shades of Ellen Kennon paint in my house, from a light yellow (Buttercream) to a medium brown (Chesnut) on the walls. It is the velvet sheen, a matte finish with a very slight sheen. It went on beautifully. No problems with burnishing or touchups, and I have the Chesnut in an area that gets a lot of wear.

Thank you everyone for your input. Iwas using a sponge brush so maybe that had some sort of effect. Glad to hear it is similar to BM

I am thinking about the mustard seed and cognac.
Hoyamom, your MBR was the inspiration for that color. Also where did you get your paint from. I believe I am in your area(Dullus area)? I only saw 2 dealers in Alex.

Hey Denali! Cool - someone else in my neck of the woods!

I used the store in Rockville - I am in Ashburn so it was either go one way or the other and I chose to go away from 95 south. LOL Also, when I talked to Ellen she said that store was very familiar with her paints. When I picked up the paint I asked the guy if he did a lot of orders for Ellen and he said A LOT!!
Thank you for the compliment about the MBR but I saw the color in Demifloyd's house photos and the way she described it it sounded like something I would like. I also love the mustard seed. Here is a picture of my family room with it - you might have already seen this picture though. Mustard seed family room

Here is the mustard seed kitchen

I just ordered 4 sample pots of her paint. I ordered honeysuckle, buttercream, mushroom, and beige.

If anyone has any rooms painted with her paint and want to share, I would love to see them. Hoyamom, your paint looks wonderful!

Hoyamom

Thanks for letting me know about the store in Rockville. I guess I will head up there too.Might as well go with the one she says mixes a lot of paint. Love the mustard seed. I had not seen those pictures before, only your bedroom and bathrooms. I would like to paint my DR either mustard seed or honeymoom from the Aura Affinity collection. They are very similar. I know I'd like to paint the ceiling Tumeric from the affinity so I'm thinking that it will coordinate honeymoon.

Happyladi - Thanks for the compliment - the paint is wonderful. I just feel happy when I am in the room.
Did you do a search for EK paint in those specific colors on this site? On the Ellen Kennon website there is a link to examples of the colors in homes. I think she said buttercream and mushroom are big sellers.

Denali - I heard that BM Aura was a nice paint too - let us know what you decide.

hoyamom
just saw your house pics on the Ellen Kennon web site. It looks just wonderful!!!!

Yes, the Aura paint is very nice. My bedroom and bathroom is painted with it. The color is thicket.

I know - I went on there last night and was surprised when I saw that she had put a lot of my pictures on there! LOL She didn't put the berry red bathroom on there but I am not finished decorating it yet. I really haven't finished my MBR either. I need to post some pictures of the Wheat but will wait until it's a sunny day.
Let us know what you decide!

Hoya,
Your LR is too pretty!

I have tulip leaves in my kitchen, oasis in my LR and honeysuckle and sage in my guest bath. My other rooms are painted with Aura. I had some trouble with the consistency of paint mixing with EK. I prefer the Aura paint for quality.

I used EK Camelhair (Velvet Sheen) in the kitchen (3 yrs ago) and it is great. And I should add that there is plenty of bumping into it and splashes, etc.....and no problem. HOWEVER, I used EK Putty (a light grayish-green) in my DR and did have trouble with the Velvet Sheen finish. It showed smudges very easily, and this is a room that doesn't get much use. I decided to go ahead and repaint with EK Putty in the eggshell finish, and I'm very happy with the results. I guess I lucked out with velvet sheen in the kitchen, but going forward I will use eggshell for any future EK wall finishes. (Oh, yeah, I have 2 boys.)

--DJ

had to chime in here about the white marks; i recently did a kitchen reno and painted the walls BM's iron ore; have the same exact issues as the OP; white marks wherever someone bumps into the wall, difficult to remove without creating new marks...very frustrating
Guess its just the colors and not the brand?
Fortunately, or maybe not so fortunate, but i don't have little ones running all over so that helps, but the big ones are sometimes worse, if you know what i mean ;

In my old condo I had several EK colors and had tested about a dozen others from sample pots. They all went on very easily with the one exception of a Ruby sample pot. So I agree that the pigment may be the problem.

Also, how do you like the Dusk on your ceiling? Now that my life will be settling down a bit (my third move in less than a year will be coming up next month but I hope to be there for a while) I was looking at paint chips again and was strongly considering Dusk for the walls in my bedroom. I fell in love with the paint chip but as we all know a paint chip doesn't necessarily give a good idea of what it will look like on a wall...

Thanks,
Jay

millej, I have Dusk in my daughter's room and it's incredibly soothing--especially since she never straightens it!

Jay,

Ellen Kennon came up with the Dusk for me, as well as Cognac --it is so good to see that others love the same colors!

Here is a photo of Dusk on the ceiling and wall--Cognac is on the other walls.