I just primed, and painted my ceiling with Farrow & Ball primer, and Wimborne White in the Estate Emulsion. It's a nightmare. It's flashing after a third top coat. The primer went on beautifully, and looked better than the Estate Emulsion. At this point, I don't know what to do. I'm considering the BM Waterborne paint, but I've read that flashes, too. Any thoughts anyone? For my time, and money, I definitely won't be using Farrow & Ball on a ceiling again. I'm hoping a professional painter can salvage the Blazer Red, I've put on the walls. So far Farrow and Ball for me has been a huge disappointment.

"Forget about the VOC's, whatever amount in ANY water based paint is not going to harm anything." Nothing could be further from the truth. Depending on the state you live in, a latex paint can have a VOC level of 150 grams per liter (gpl) before tinting. Colorant can add up to another 100 gpl for a deep color. In a gallon of paint (about 3.9 liters) that equates to up to 1 kilogram or 2.2 pounds of VOC emissions that are released. In a typical room that uses two gallons, that's over 4 pounds of liquid that will turn into VOC emissions. On the other hand, a paint like Natura that remains 0 in any color releases virtually nothing. Bottom line, latex does not equate to low emissions.

New house, high ceiling in kitchen, lots of windows, concrete floors, no trim, oak and sapelle woods. In Seattle area (Whidbey Island), so cloudy. Painting in BM white christmas (slight gray/blue) throughout, and pearl river (gray/blue/violet) in upper den that has wood flooring. A walkout basement studio area will be super white or chantilly lace. I plan to do the ceiling color the same as the room wall color, in each room. I was going to do eggshell, because designers seem to think matte finishes will look dingy over time and difficult to clean, whereas eggshell will last longer. In using most white and light grey with a high LRV (75-88), now I am wondering if it's better to use the eggshell to give the white a little brightness with some light reflective qualities. Anyone think that the Aura matte finish in whites look pasty, bland or blah? I will be using Aura paint and see they now have an Aura spa paint for bathrooms and its in a matte finish! Do people use matte when its rich deep color and an eggshell for whites? I did see that the pigment concentration in the matte and eggshell is high, 47+.

I don't know Sherwin Williams paint colors so I cannot say how any one would match to F&B. F&B All White is their brightest, whitest white without undertones if I recall correctly. What I do know is that most paint lines have an equivalent -- the brightest white. I would look at those from SW and from BM and others. A lot of the way any white will look depends on location. The same white paint will look much different in Texas, where the light is very strong and New England where it may look more gray due to the light. Noon has the brightest daylight. I would suggest looking at paint samples then. Also in the a.m. and late afternoon. See which looks best to you at all times of the day.