Well, it depends on what you're expecting.

I am a big, big fan of full spectrum paint (and I regularly use it), but I find Ellen's colors don't do anything for me. They seem either too garish, or somehow, just off. (I've sampled about 15 or 16 of her colors.) But I very much think that full-spectrum paints do make a big difference so I use Donald Kaufman or Citron paints (both f/s lines) when I can find shades that meet the effect I'm looking for. But often, I can't, so then I have to either doctor up regular paint or choose to use a non-f/s color.

The sampling process can be a little tedious for any mail-order paint, whether EK's or not. That's just the way it is, if you want paint that isn't available locally. However, I usually wind up painting 6 -10 sample boards for every project anyway, so the only additional fuss is just waiting for the paint pots to arrive. I live in such a rural area, sometimes I can get sample pots by mail faster than I can get myself out to a good quality paint store, anyway.

OTOH, I don't particularly like ICI Dulux paints, so that's an added downside to EK. Other f/s lines use different paint bases.

If you're interested in exploring the idea of f/s paint, I suggest you get a copy of one of DOnald Kaufman's books on the subject (with gorgeous photos to illustrate it) from your library. Then you'll have a better idea if the whole notion works for you. If so, then the extra trouble of seeking f/s paint will seem less onerous.

Molly~

EK's full spectrum paints make a definite difference in my home.

I think it's in the "eye" of the beholder; some people walk in and immediately ask, "what is it about your paint?" They often describe it as rich, luminous, changing, having an unusual depth, or sometimes just can't articulate exactly why they notice it. Others don't notice it at all.

I certainly do--every day.

My experience was more akin to housekeeping's than demifloyd's -- I purchased the EK chips but never even purchased any sample pots because the (good-sized) chips were so completely not "me." In my previous house I used some Donald Kaufman because I found colors of his I loved but, again just for me and my experience, no one, inc. me, ever had an experience like demifloyd's.

I think of myself as being v. color astute / aware, and maybe it was just those spaces and their lighting conditions, but I never ever saw those "magical" color changes throughout the day / year. It was always paper bag brown in the living room -- a color I adored, but it never appeared different. Go figure. (This house was at sea level.)

So in this too-big house (I feel that way because today I was dusting) I just used regular Benjamin Moore, Aura and Pratt & Lambert paints and wouldn't you know, with those paints / colors I've seen the color change throughout the day / season. How crazy is that? No really, isn't that nuts?

For example, in the living room we have BM Cedar Key and I'm telling you, at times it is a rosy taupe and at other times it's the color of cement, and at other times it's greige. (And this house is ~5400' in altitude.)

Oh well! So I cannot say that EK paints are / are not worth it: they weren't worth it to me because I couldn't find colors of hers I liked enough to even order sample pots and my experience with full spectrum paints has been kinda flat ....

Interesting; the only EK color I've actually purchased (and I love it) is Pumice, which is evidently an EK version of a DK color.

Something to think about. When we paint, we are often painting over another color, onto a primed surface-white but still somewhat porous- or we're trying to cover as much wall space with as little paint as we think we can get by with. In very high end interiors, the walls get primed, filled, sanded and smoothed then painted with a minimum of three coats of good quality paint. The more paint, the greater the depth and richness of color,(especially true of deep rich colors like red or eggplant), the truer the color to the chip because there is no residual undertone of the former color showing through, and there is no unevenness from the paint being absorbed more in some primed areas than others. Higher quality paint has more pigment and frankly with more coats of any paint you can achieve more pigment on the surface of your walls. SW and BM are great choices, and you can get amazing results with more coats of both brands. Glidden, Behr, Valspar, all have great color choices too and the one common thread between them is the need to apply more product for the desired effect. I'm not much under the spell of F/S paint though I think it's a great product. F/s relates to light, and without light there is no color regardless of the paint you use. All paint is subject to the full spectrum of light available in your room and with the correct coverage will give you a beautiful and durable finish.

Housekeeping - it is interesting to read that you don't like the ICI Dulux paints that Ellen Kennon uses. I sometimes wonder whether my love of EK paint isn't in part due to the ICI paint. I find that the Velvet Sheen paint goes on beautifully. To my eye, it actually has a velvety sheen.

I like EK paints but I switched to the Ultra Eggshell ICI Dulux versus the velvet sheen. I also love the Citron Paint. That is amazing paint, so smooth.
I painted the kitchen and dining room in my rental house EK Taupe. What a perfect neutral color especially for this house. It really helps set off the tile floor beautifully.
I plan to paint my next rental house in EK or Citron paint as well. What I like about EK paints is that many if not most of them work with each other so you have less trouble getting one room to flow with the next.

I've used two EK paints, and the darker one--tulip leaves--really is a color with more depth. It felt like painting with water colors (dark base, and lots of pigments, so it was difficult to apply) but it's noticeably different than any other paint. The lighter color was thick and easy to apply. It covered easily in one coat, but I can tell that if I'd done several coats it would have had the same richness as the tulip leaves.

I still love my colors of EK and Citron painted walls. My light terracotta rooms are my favorite for depth, changability and beauty. The only problem, I do not like, my flat Sapphire(Too purple to call Sapphire) is extremely fragile. Being very dark, it shows any touch, even a wool duster for ceiling cobwebs. I have been redoing everything in eggshell to correct this problem. Love the flat velvet look, but can not touch, not a problem with light colors, just very dark.

I adore the EK paints and now won't use anything else.

But it should also be said that EK lives relatively close to us (She's in Louisiana, a few 100 miles away), so the geographic and lighting conditions where she develops her colors are very similar to ours -- and I think this is a big factor in how the colors play with the light.

If you're in the northeast or west coast, your natural light conditions will simply be different, and the colors that work best for your geography should be different as well.

Expanding on what Sweeby says, I think it also depends on who is mixing the colors locally. I got her samples and then the paint that was mixed for me locally did not look like what I thought it should have. It is unfortunate but I think we all know that not everyone is going to do everything the way Ellen would do it in the mix.