ProClassic leaves a beautiful finish-as good as oil without the smell, mess and eventual yellowing. I'm using the Satin now for trim in a large hobby room. Some tips: Use a Chinex brush (Corona or Purdy are good); dip your brush and shake off excess, but don't scrape off excess on side of paint pail or it gums up too quickly; work as quickly as you can; don't put it on too thickly, so it doesn't drip or run-plan on doing two thinner coats-sand lightly between coats; don't over brush-apply evenly, brush a few times to spread, do a finishing stroke from bottom to top, then move on always keeping a wet edge; if you see a drip after you've moved on, you can probably soak it up with a brush tip, but if you see sags, let them go-after it dries, sand smooth and touch up-it will look fine. You will see brush strokes while you're working, but magically as the paint dries, the strokes level out. If you're planning on painting for hours, get two brushes and trade off. I don't like it when the brush starts to get gummed up. If the paint seems to get thick, add a few drops of water and stir. I tried the Floetrol, but didn't think it made that much difference. If you have some scrap pieces of trim or shelving, practice on it a bit. If not, practice in an inconspicuous spot first-like the inside of a closet or behind a door you usually keep open. Trim is not hard with ProClassic, IMO. The learning curve for painting doors was much longer.

Paintguy, Thank you so much for your in-depth response - which of course triggered more questions:) hee hee Trim - After your post and speaking with the SW and BM sales guys I think I'm set on doing a latex trim. It just makes more sense. My trim is very dark. So the SW guy told me to use the All Surface enamel because he said the waterborne Pro Classic cannot be done in dark colors. He recommended using a Preprite Holds Gloss Primer on it and then the All Surface enamel gloss. Do you think that is a low quality paint? I looked up Graham paint - none in Charlotte, NC. So I looked up Muralo. They have it listed at a hardware store here. Could that really be superior to a SW or BM bought from a paint store? Oh and the SW guy also told me no dark trim can be made in a waterborne - he said only light to medium trim colors in waterborne. He also said the painter could put in a float or slow trowl product to allow the spread of the brush marks to spread smoother. Wall color - I totally agree about the chalkiness of flat. Plus I am doing dark rich colors that may mar easily. I used BM Regal washable matte in the last house and liked it. But the SW sales rep told me Duration Home is much superior. He said the finish isn't quite as "creamy" as the Cashmere, but it holds up much better. Also, Cashmere and Duration Home in matte cannot be done in dark colors, only in light to medium tones. He said I had to use Color Accents for dark colors like crabby apple red. He said the dark could be done in Duration Home only if I did it in satin or semi. I don't know if the Color Accents is very durable and it will be in a semi-busy area. And I don't know if it goes on nicely. You mentioned the Duration Home looks "gritty" Does that mean you like the BM Regal Matte better, or do you have another washable choice brand you like best? SW guy says it's not quite as nice as Cashmere, but close. If I go satin won't both look nice? If I use satin in both will the Duration still be more durable? Lastly, we went to see a painters work today. He had a lot of flashing on the medium tone painted ceiling. He said it was a normal issue. It was very obvious around the recessed lights, which they said where dropped down and painted around and it was very obvious at the ceiling to wall cut-in line. SW guy told me that it was because he didn't keep a wet edge and that with a dark color on the ceiling the painter should have the cut in guy go first, followed immediately by the roller. YOUR Opinion? The thing that turned me off mostly about this man's work was the fact that he caulks last in the attempt to make the cut-in line sharper. He says he paints over the caulk, but we saw a finished home and there was no doubt the white caulk could be seen between the cream trim and the light green wall. I thought it looked like a odd way to get a straight line. What concerns me more though is my trim is dark chocolate, so obviously caulking last wouldn't work. This was a HIGH end custom painter, doing million dollar homes! I have never, in all my homes, seen it done this way...is it a new practice? Sorry so long. Thank you again SO very much for the responses!!! Squirt

Oil is being discontinued everywhere for health and environmental reasons and down the road, you will also have to do extra steps to remedy before using latex. Over 20 years I have personally painted the interior and exterior of our two homes with latex - every room, including trim, baseboards, doors, and kitchen cabinets. There is no need for oil, especially with great latex alternatives and painter can use a narrow sponge roller on the wider flat areas and a brush in the curved area if you have a concern about brush strokes. I used these on my kitchen cabinets and finish Is perfect.

Thank you ALL for your comments and advice! I will get a sample of SW Pure White to compare it with the other options. Among the initial colors, I am now actually leaning towards Decorator's White for the walls - it definitely works in the kitchen and it actually may balance our (mostly) warm furniture in the living room. Using this paint in both rooms would tie the two spaces together. For the trims, I am leaning towards Behr Ultra Pure White or BM Chantilly Lace. Considering this is a room that gets A LOT of natural light (particularly in the morning, windows facing east and south), would there be any particular recommendation for the sheen? I was thinking eggshell for walls and satin for trims. We have a small daughter, so we value durability and ease to clean...