Issuing an opinion on the best interior paint is sure to ruffle a few feathers.
Unlike drywall, electrical wire, or windows, interior house paint is something that homeowners hold near and dear to their hearts. It's very personal stuff. It transmits light. It has warm-and-fuzzy names like Golden Apple and Nautical Blue.
But the feathers most likely to be ruffled are my own. I have written that it is possible to get designer paint colors cheap by duplicating their hex numbers with the inexpensive paints.
Yet when push comes to shove--price being no object--I'll admit that I would rather take the fancy designer stuff than the generic no-names. After all, if someone handed me a blank check, why knock myself out trying to make the cheap stuff work?
Even picking up a gallon of quality Benjamin Moore in one hand vs. a gallon of the dollar store's finest in the other hand will tell you that the Benjamin Moore is significantly heavier. Granted, this is hardly a scientific test--but doesn't this tell you that the Benjamin Moore may have more solids per gallon than the dollar store's?
1. Ralph Lauren Home
Always innovative. Always surprising. Ralph Lauren Home paint hues tie in with your entire interior, should you choose to buy other RLH products. Sure, a bit on the snooty side, but worth it. If I had unlimited money to paint my interior, I would just choose this stuff. Not only that, the paint itself is high quality, with more solids than most other paints.
2. Pratt & Lambert
Here's where we leave Snootyville for a minute. Pratt & Lambert still falls within the designer paint category, but it is distributed through your friendly, local Ace Hardware. Accolade (acrylic latex) and RedSeal are both great Pratt & Lambert series. To address the issue of skylights, Pratt & Lambert has their Skylight® Latex Ceiling Paint, to give you as much light as possible while minimizing reflection.
3. Benjamin Moore Aura
We
agree with our sister site, Consumer Search, on this point: Benjamin Moore Aura is one of the best interior paints around. It's self-priming, goes on smooth, and has excellent adhesion. Aura's maximum hideability means that one coat--two coats, max--will hide anything underneath.
