You're maybe near an ACE store...
* Check out the ACE-Royal line.
* "Regular" ACE-Royal is low-to-mid $20's/gal.
* The newer "Royal-Finest" is ~ $6 more/gal., but has the super-washability of 3M's Scotchguard. This is some VERY good paint. Upper-$20's-to-low-$30's/gal.
* Both of these series are Low-VOC too.
* We go thru LOTS of ACE!
* I'll put these paints up against 95% of ANYTHING out there.

Ralph-Lauren paints.
* VERY good paint here too.
* Thankfully it's out of Home Depot!
* Premium paint & has been Low-VOC for years now...
* Low to mid $30's/gal.

C2 paints...
* MY fave, and VERY, VERY good paint.
* Very few retailers tho (like us!)...
* Low to mid $40's/gal.

Then there's FPE....
Lordy-Lordy.
This stuff's the "Bentley" of paint!!
Once you've used it....pretty much "game over" for other paints!
(...and I've used some of it!)

Faron

Hi Faron, thanks for your post.
Unfortunately, we dont have Ace, wish we did by the sounds of the paint, I definately would look at the one.

We do have Ralph Lauren, it is at our Home Depot store, will check that one out.

We also dont have C2 or FPE.

I have used Valspar and Olympic, nice results for the money. I've also had luck with Behr & Ralph Lauren. I really like RL's deep colors, especially the reds.

Pleasantly surprised at the quality of Valspar.I am usually a Ben Moore person because I like a thick paint. Found Valspar to be of acceptable thickness.

My sister uses only Ralph Lauren as she likes the color palette. She does a lot of painting so must like the quality as well.

JR

I think the Valspar premium line is very good.
I think the Martha stewart paint is horrible. If you find a color of hers you like, I'd get it mixed in Behr.

I have used Valspar Signature in several rooms and am pleased with it.

I just painted our MBR and closet in Valspar Signature Series, Granite Dust, I believe, and LOVE it.

I've had good luck with Valspar and I use Behr a lot too. Last that I painted was kitchen cabs in a dark espresso so I got the paint with the primer in it, pretty sure it's Behr, and liked it. Only needed 2 coats for the finish I wanted.

I once bought some Dutch Boy that came in the twist off top (think that was the brand). It was awful, like painting with water colors.

I like that I can usually get the high end colors in the store brand paint like Behr or Valspar. They wont mix those colors in the cheapest brands tho. But you won't want to use that anyway!

I am always a Sherwin Williams girl, but when we decided to paint our front door on the spur of the moment, we picked up some Behr from Home Depot, and we astonished at how great the paint was. With no primer, we were able to go from a midrange orange to a dark reddish brown in one coat. Pretty amazing. If I remember right, Behr always rates really highly in Consumer Reports.

Most of my house is painted in Valspar. Love it.

Have you priced the contractor grade Ben Moore paint? It's called Super Spec and runs about the same or just a bit more than the big box store paints. I love the thick consistency and great coverage, and that way I'm guaranteed the accuracy of the Ben Moore colors (I adore their historic palette and have had problems color matching to other brands).

Behr came out with a paint several months ago that has the primer mixed in with the paint. My DH used it in our bathroom and liked it very much.

We have used valspar and behr paints in our house for years with great results - went on well and havent fallen off yet and the colors are lovely! Use flat for walls and no issues with cleaning up spots- even in my kitchen. I have one room painted in Ralph Lauren- in 1999. I have to admit I hadnt heard much of BM paints until this forum. Before there were big box stores we used Sears paint.
I just bought two gallons of Martha stewart paint for the bathroom- hope its not that bad!

What exactly is a high end color?

I only buy Behr's Paint and Primer in one..I like it better then BM.

(...runs and dives for cover...)

Echoing what others have said - Behr is thinny, runny, drippy; Valspar - was pleasantly surprised

Prior to these forays into "big box" paint, I had only used Pratt & Lambert regularly.

We had only used BM until our last painting project. We used Valspar from Lowe's, and it was great. We always prime first and use 2 coats of paint.

Lowes is opening early 2011 where I live, I think I will give the Valspar paint a try for downstairs. Thanks everyone.

We use Behr Ultra Premium Plus (Primer and paint in one) and it is the best paint we have ever used, by far. It's nice and thick and covers well and the colors are very deep and rich. Well worth the money.

I tried Martha Stewart paint and hated it. Never again.

I only use Beauti-Tone Designer Series which is made in Ontario. Great proprietary colours, very good to work with and goes on sale about once a month (usually about $7 off for flat). Higher end Sico is also nice and they make the premium house brand for Rona. I think they still manufacture in Canada but they are not Canadian owned anymore. Will depend on your area but I find the service in many Home Hardware's to be excellent. HH's are franchised so you are supporting a local business as well as Canadian manufacturing. Beyond all that it is a very good product.

I've had very good results with Ralph Lauren Paint. Behr paint is used over a large part of our house and I'm less than enthusiastic with the results after a few years. I wouldn't use it again.

Ingrid

I used a primer from Lowe's, followed by two coats of Valspar Summer White in DS2's garage because he received a gift certificate that pretty much covered the cost of materials. I did not enjoy the paint and don't think the result is all that great, either. (I'm accustomed to Farrow and Ball and have never gotten a bad result from it; I love that stuff.) I don't know if Valspar comes in different grades, or, if so, which one this was, but the result is drippy and the coverage is thin and uneven.

Depends on what you want to spend?

Ben more has a great Regal line that’s thicker, than anything I’ve worked with, however the Behr paint comes very close.

Ben Moore Regal is roughly $52.00 a gallon w discount.

Behr is $36.00 a gallon With no pro discount.

sherwin Williams has great paint but for example the super paint line won’t cover in one coat, I used a color called Wheat Bread , which didn’t cover as well as the behr did with one Coat.

the paint matched perfectly from two different manufacturer, which I was surprised especially because it was a semi-gloss.

i typically use what the customers want, I’m not a paint snob but for what it’s worth I won’t use organic paint as it takes to many coats to get a solid color.

I believe paint n primer is more of a gimmick as primer provides better Adhesion and no flashing, when patching.

I like the peel stop primer as it’s super thick.

My Choice is Ben Moore Regal or high end Behr, however I’ll paint with whatever you like.

Foster and Ball has nice simple colors for What it’s worth.

you pay more for name vs what’s in the can for the ”Polo” or interior designer paints.

Handybjob this thread is from 9 years ago, well done!