apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I used to use Benjamin Moore but had a bad experience several years ago with its basic white, so for the last 12 years I've happily used P&L.

But BM recently came out with a fungus-fighting flat paint which I tried out in my steamy bathroom a year ago (in 'pistacchio green', actually a light blue) and it's held up pretty well.

Architects and painters prefer BM over most paints. Painters tell me it goes on better than other paints. Architects tend to specify BM over any other brand because they send us nice 6 volume sets of samples of hundreds (thousands?) at a decent size. That being said, I am an architect, but when it came to painting my own place I went with BEHR as they were offering $10 off a can for a total price of $10 a gallon and BM is $40+ a gallon.

i'm donald kaufman all the way - it's worth the extra buckaroos, as the colors are so much more reflective and stay beautiful in any light!

martha stewart. i'm sure it's made by another company. it's like spreading sour-cream based icing over a delectable chocolate soufflé torte with whipped airy mango couis and lemon zest chiffonade

benjamin moore. goes on, typically, in two quick coats. just today, i ran out, got some paint (brick red i think) and painted a little bed nook i have...and hour later, i have a new bedroom. janovic plaza at 72nd street is my paint source. anyone get paint from home depot yet?

I also use Benjamin Moore a lot, although I also have some glossy Martha Stewart white and I once worked with a production designer who would only use Pratt + Lambert colors. A BM rich navy blue I used in a former house went on easily in two coats, but I am not as lucky as Tim with red. I use "Exotic Red", which is beautiful but takes a whopping six coats after the primer. I love the color in sunlight and one wall makes the whole room rosy, but I'm not looking forward to the next round of touchups.

I've used Benjamin Moore and Pratt Paints. For trim, B-M Dulamel (oil-based)is the smoothest you can get. It lays down beautifully without brushmarks.

Benjamin Moore latex wall paints are nice and thick, so they spatter less than lots of others.

My favorite wall paint is Pratt and Lambert Accolade Velvet. You'd have to say it has an eggshell sheen, but the gloss is lower than most eggshell paints. It's tough to work with, but after it cures it looks as if it has become part of the wall, not like a coating at all.

As for colors, the two brands have very different colors but you can get them all in either brand.

My experience with Behr paint: it drags, and it's hard to keep a wet edge. That goes for trim and wall paint. But once it's dry, it looks good and is durable.

I love looking at the Pratt & Lambert color chips at Janovic Plaza
The colors are great. But I always buy Benjamin Moore. There's
a green/gray that I used for my bedroom. It goes on smoothly
and coats easily.

I am a Benjamin Moore girl all the way! I use it in my apartment as well as my tenants. It goes on smooth and
coats well with 2 coats and it is done. The colors are really great!

I also use BM paint..it goes on pretty easily and now that they sell those samples...i'm addicted and now i have about 10 colors on my walls trying to make a decision!

I'm a cheapo. I use Glidden mostly but it goes on quickly and covers well so I have no issues. I skip to satin so it reflects just a touch more without being shiny.

Yes, I bought paint at the home depot on Lexington. That store is kind of odd, a bizarre mix of somewhat decent stuff - the lighting department looked good and the people in the paint department were very nice and helpful. I'd avoid the window treatments area as they were not nice and the in stock selection is crap.

i've never tried BM, but i do like MAB and finneran & haley. both cover well in two coats, without primer. had a *terrible* experience with behr, specifically opera house red. it goes on almost translucently- took five coats, even over primer. never again.

The best paint by far is Muralo -- colors are great and the coverage is superb. Slightly more expensive, it goes on nice and thick to cover imperfections -- perfect for those not-so-perfect NYC walls.

Anyone every use PPG? I usually swear by Benjamin
Moore, but the color I think I've finally decided
on for my bedroom is PPG, and I'm wondering how they are.

Thanks!

Martha has a delicious array of colors, but unfortunately, I found the consistency a tad thin. Using her paint takes too many coats. BM has always been my favorite. Even the off-the- shelf linen white is quite nice.

Benjamin Moore fan here. My store is the only place I found that mixes oil as well as latex, so right there I am a fan. Latex doesnt always get the job done. I have recommended B.M. based on the colors (btw Home depot had the worst colors) Those folks then extolled back to me how well the paint went on the walls compared to other paints they had used.

Farrow and Ball claims to make paint using old pigmentation techniques, the color chart is great awesome Mahoghany Brown, reds... I used it for a trim color once. I would recommend F&B for the richer colors that are harder to get correct, ie reds etc. Or if the room has a great amount of sunlight that will enhance the subtlties of the more $ paints.

Was at the Menil collection in Houston a few weeks back, the Twombly rooms were done in white venetion plaster, I asked the curator about them rather than the paintings. They were magic in the way the filtered sunlight from skylights hit them. I have been comtemplating my bath in the same white venetian plaster.

I have used 60 gallons of paint ovcer the last twenty years and 90% was BM. I am at this point totally disenfranchised by this brand. they change the color formulas pretty often so that the color is never ever ever the same and usually the change is not an improvement eg. removing the green tinge from Abingdon Putty, Covington Blue too light now; Queene Anne Pink cotton CANDY pink rather than the old toned down greyed pink; the Porch and Floor Enamel does not hold up well. The best thing about BM is their marketting and I fell for it for decades.

NOW with a new house in tow, I am about to try the PL line Accolade velvet, RedSeal oil gloss, Pro-Hide and would welcome any more recommendations of ANYTHING BUT BM!

Pratt and Lambert colors are purer than Benjamin Moore. I have used Prat and Lambert for years. The colors are rich and have a depth that Benjamin Moore lacks. Benjamin Moore is very good paint but P&L tops it.

I've used Benjamin Moore, Pratt & Lambert, and Pittsburgh paints a lot, and Behr a little. Here's what I found: responding to P&L's superior color library, BM updated it's own recently with a zillion colors that cover a wider spectrum than their previous collection. BM (available at Janovic Plaza) offers large paint chips (8"x8") for free on their website which makes finalizing choices very easy. The little jars of color samples are great, but are available only in a very limited number of their colors out of the library of thousands. BM paints go on smoothly and spatter little. By any standard BM is a high quality paint. Dark colors should, as with any paint, be applied over a tinted primer for best coverage with fewest coats. I don't think BM falls short compared to others in this regard.

Pratt & Lambert paints are magnificent but even more money than the BM line which is expensive enough. P&L is not so much better though that it's worth the extra money. Janovic is dropping the P&L line in 2006 I think.

Pittsburgh has a decent color library and also offers very large paint chips for free via the internet, but the paint doesn't have quite the same the 'creaminess' or ease of application that BM or P&L does. It is, however, about 1/3 or more cheaper, and for larger spaces, the cost savings may be worth it.

Behr is the most limited in it's color library, but is dirt cheap when on sale. It gets sticky on the brush kinda fast in latex and just doesn't look all that luxe. It's a good basic choice with a fun website and computer available at Home Depot to find the 'right' color.

i'm moving into a new studio apt that is VERY sunny. a designer friend recommended BM glossy white. ANY thoughts? it's a studio w/very high ceilings and bright. but it is a studio so white would make it look larger. thanks...

White is a matter of taste. And there are about 1000 versions of white to choose from at Benj. Moore. It all depends on how you will decorate the room and what look you want. Woody Allen's "Sleeper"? Santorini? A warm white with a hint of rose to soften the room? A hint of blue to cool it in summer? A hint of yellow to brighten a north facing room?

But "gloss"? I strongly recommend against high or semi-gloss for a bedroom. Especially in white. BM's gloss finishes are shiny. VERY shiny. In white, they are likely to be blindingly shiny and always look wet. Gloss also highlites every wall imperfection to the point of distraction. The walls must be nearly perfect to look good. Eggshell or pearl finishes are better options.

Note: A glossy finish can bring light into a small room that is painted with a darker color. It's a good choice for people who are drawn to rich pigments but have small spaces. But even then, a semi-gloss is adequate since darker paints tend to be shinier to begin with than lighter tones.

Keep the ceiling white, though, or at the very least lighter than the wall color or it will always look like it is in shadows.

bm need two coats always...accolade one coat..if you are a good painter