Any idea why he said that? I would think if the appropriate finish were chosen, it would be an ideal paint for just about any interior surface. I won't use anything else on my walls now. Love Aura!

I've used matte aura on the walls of several of our rooms with great success. We also repainted old kitchen cabinet face frames with an Aura satin (brushwork). We ordered new kitchen doors and drawer fronts and those were sprayed with the satin Aura. We have been using them for a year and are pleased with the appearance and durability. We chose the Aura formula over oil-base because we needed to go with a grayed white with our granite counters and didn't want the paint yellowing with age.

We did use a Benjamin Moore product called Extender to slow the drying time when painting the cabinets.

I also recommend sampling your sheen level. I had planned to go with a semi-gloss, but the Aura seemed to have a bit more shine the Sherwin Williams waterborne paint we previously sampled, so we opted for the satin.

The Aura does dry quickly. Not a problem with the wall application, but we used a flowing agent with the spraying and brushing of the cabinets. Do not use Flotrol. Benjamin Moore makes a product to use with their Aura line called Extender. It slows the drying time.

I would sample the sheen level before buying your paint. I had planned to go with semi- gloss, but the Aura satin gloss factor was comparable to Sherwin Williams semi-gloss in a waterborne paint.

Excuse the repetition in my response. My window didn't seem to show my entire note and I assumed that I had accidently deleted a portion.

We've used Aura in a few rooms, two painted by professionals and two painted by my father-in-law. They all found the paint thicker and harder to apply than regular paint and did not enjoy painting with it.

Excuse the repetition in my response. My window didn't seem to show my entire note and I assumed that I had accidently deleted a portion.

walnutcreek-

I brushed some of my kitchen cabs with semi gloss Aura and they came out great, I really love the color saturation and the paint, it's thick and goes on beautifully. I have also used it on walls (roller and brush) and never had any problems, yes, it dries quickly, but that's a good thing IMO, you can recoat in an hour. Our cabs got 2 coats and have held up really well, and we are hard on stuff and really use our kitchen (cook, can, etc.).

I have also used C2 for cabs (love that too) and FPE, which is my absolute fav for painting furniture, in fact, when I repaint a couple of kitchen cabs this winter (not cuz they need it, I want to try a new color), I'm going to use FPE in a high gloss, I painted a small table in FPE and I want to try it on my cabs.

Good luck-

sandyponder

I was thinking Aura only came in matte, hmm..

That said, I've used the matte and love it but wouldn't use it for cabinets. Since it sounds like it's in other finishes, I'm not sure why the painter wouldn't recommend it.

Oh, interesting point, Shee - I thought that Aura came in any finish, but now that I think about it I have only ever used it in eggshell. When I look on the BM site about Aura specifications, I find this, so now I'm not sure if all finishes are available:

Gloss: Eggshell

Cleanup: Water

Recommended Use: Interior, Exterior

Recommended For:
INTERIOR: new or previously painted wallboard, plaster, masonry, wood, wallpapered surfaces; primed or previously painted metal; new or coated acoustic ceilings.

EXTERIOR: new or previously painted wood, fiber cement board, hardboard siding, aluminum, galvanized metal, brick, cured masonry and previously coated ferrous metal surfaces.

For woodwork, I much prefer SW Pro Classic. It was recommended by a painter, and I can see why. It levels beautifully.

I prefer Behr Premium (paint & primer in one) for my walls, though.

auntjen � he said it was because it was a waterbased paint which was okay for walls, but that latex was better for cabinets. And thanks for the quote from the BM website.

I may be that he plans to use a sprayer and did not realize it could be thinned out with Extender. I don't know this for a fact. Thanks for that information, brownsvillian. I will have to ask him how he plans to apply the paint.

I had planned on purchasing the eggshell finish since I have read that the Aura has more sheen than other paints.

sandyponder, thanks for the info on the endurance you have experienced for Aura painted cabinets for 2 years.

mom270, I think you may have it exactly right that he just does not want to use the paint. I have read that if you paint the correct way for Aura that it is wonderful to work with. The paint strokes that need to be used for Aura are quite different from painting with other paints.

I know your question is regarding cabinets, but we used Aura Linen color in our bedrooms and did not like it. Didnt know about needing different paint strokes as Walnutcreek mentions, so maybe that was our problem. On several walls, the paint appears to have a much different texture when viewed at from different angles, almost stippled, hard to explain. We tried recoating but it didnt help. We did like the thickness of it. However it was very $$, because it certainly did not cover in one coat. Previous walls were a yellowish beige.

Well, I misspoke what he said; this is taken from his e-mail: I have used bm aura but it would not be appropriate for cabinets in my opinion since it is a latex wall paint. A latex enamel would be fine if going over latex, but not this product.

Any of your thoughts and comments would help me make a decision.

There's a guy in the Paint Forum named paintguy who I find knowledgable and helpful. He must be a pro. Looks like you can send him an e-mail through Garden Web. I also find funcolors very knowledgeable about paint.

The link below from My Perfect Color shows Aura available in Matte, eggshell, satin, and semi-gloss.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aura info at My Perfect Color

Well, I misspoke what he said; this is taken from his e-mail: I have used bm aura but it would not be appropriate for cabinets in my opinion since it is a latex wall paint. A latex enamel would be fine if going over latex, but not this product.

Have to say I can't imagine what the hell he's talking about. The word enamel really doesn't mean anything. And Aura is a waterborne product so I'm not sure what point he's trying to make about "latex". "Latex" is another word that brings its own butcket of ambiguity to the discussion.

I don't know much about paint, but have been trying to educate myself. The painter in question said he normally uses Kelly Moore Paint and would pass his discount along to me.

All of his reviews on Angie's List are first rate, and there are many. What do y'all think about Kelly Moore paint? I can't find much info on the internet about it.