Paint Ideas (Artists Welcome and Appreciated!!!!)
POSTED BY: 6ixStringJack
UPDATED: Saturday, February 25, 2012 05:59
VIEWED: 7923
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Benjamin Moore "Aura" paint.............
It is SO good that I'm at a loss for words. I think it's so good that to even call it "paint" is a huge insult. It's not paint. It's "Aura". The only reason they call it paint is because people wouldn't know what Aura was otherwise.
Here's all the pros I loved about working with it and seeing the final product.
1. Value - Sure, it's $55 a gallon with a contractor discount, and a whopping $65 a gallon without it, but the spread is UNBELIEVABLE. Even if it covered completely in one coat, I planned on doing two coats, so for my 15'x15' bedroom I bought two gallons today. I'm glad I love the color now that it's up, because I barely put a dent in the second gallon after the 2nd coat was done! (Make sure you buy the "Aura" roller if you use this paint. Lamb's wool is fine for any of their other lines, but after using the specific roller I'm a true believer that it gives the perfect spread and that my trusty lamb's wool would have left way too much of this paint on the walls).
The directions say that you only get about 400-450 sq feet/gal, but it was more likely 600 or more.
Sure, I "wasted" about 50 bucks worth of paint here, but I'll use that somewhere else later. The great news is that I'll only have to buy one gallon each for my hallway/stairwell and 2nd smaller bedroom. I was sure that I'd need at least 2 gallons for each area. (Here's where the value comes in. If I bought cheap crap at Home Depot, I'd have to buy two $30-35 gallons for two coats)
2. Coverage - For DARK colors, there is no substitute. My stark white primered walls were no match for this paint. (Supposedly it's self priming too, but I can't speak about how well that works, since I had loads of primer up already)
If I were an expert painter, it wouldn't have needed more than one single coat. My cutting-in skills are a bit novice though, so the area between the ceiling and where I could get the roller to reach without hitting the ceiling were the ONLY spots that didn't look completely covered after a single coat.
3. Washable Walls With a Low Sheen - A low sheen is important on walls because the lesser the sheen, the more light is absorbed and the less chance that any imperfections in your walls will be noticable. If you're buying average paint from a warehouse, you'll want to go with at least an eggshell sheen if you ever hope to be able to wash grease marks off the walls from people with dirty hands pawing all over them over the years. Aura's Matte finish is 100% washable with 2 coats though. It's the lowest sheen other than Flat, which you would only put on ceilings.
4. Mold/Mildew Resistant - It comes with this resistance, but if you're going to use it in your basement, you can buy an additional packet to be mixed in the paint for even stronger resistance for about 5 bucks.
5. Drying Time - Only 45 minutes and you're ready to put on the 2nd coat. After I was done with the first coat, I went out for a smoke and by the time I was back I was ready to cut in the 2nd time and the time it took for me to roll out the paint from start to finish gave the last two walls plenty of drying time before I got to them. No other paint on the market dries as fast as Aura.
I'm a True Believer in this paint now. Any time I can use it in my house I will. Hell... I feel like I've just been pulled into a cult, it's that good.
My only negative comment about the paint is superficial, since it will go away in a few days.....
This paint STINKS!
I usually love the smell of latex paint and primer as it's being applied, but I really hate the smell of this paint, which makes it even harder to apply in February when you can't crack the windows. I won't go as far as to say that it's foul smelling, but it's definitely not the pleasant aroma that paint usually gives off, and it is quite strong in closed quarters.
So....
Results!
You remember the primered "before" picture:
Well here's the after
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Hey Kwicko,
You seem to be the resident color expert here. 
I have a 12'x7.5' oriental rug I've inherited from my grandma that I want to incorporate in my house.
Don't worry, she's still with us. She gave her two orientals to my mom after she moved into a condo and they've been sitting in a roll in her basement for the last 10 years. Now that my bro and I have houses she gave them to us.
My bro, being the good person he is, knew my favorite color was blue, so he took the red one. I really do like the blue one better, but I'm at a loss about how to incorporate that into my plans.
I want to either put it in the 2nd bedroom (which would be a perfect fit, leaving about 1 1/2 feet of exposed dark hardwood floor around it, or in the living room in the sitting area.
Largely, it is a dark Navy-type blue. It has dragons and patterns on it as well though. They range from off-white to yellow and red. 85% of this rug is a dark blue though.
In the living room I plan on having light-to-medium-colored hardwood floor and a dark beige-brown wall scheme. I don't know how well this rug would work with that.
The small bedroom, however, is not set in stone at all. It's going to have VERY dark hardwood floors (think, Hershey bar brown), but the walls are up for grabs. It's a relatively small room (only 15'x8.5'), and it has a North-East exposure, so even during the day the sun exposure will be at a minimum, so the walls have to be a light color.
I'm considering blue for the walls, but I really HATE all the light colored blues I'm seeing. Can you think of any other alternatives given what I'm telling you?
No other factors are involved. Just the oriental rug and the dark floors. Most furniture I have is used or cheap and will be replaced someday with stuff that matches.
Thanks,
6
"A government is a body of people, usually notably ungoverned." ~Shepherd Book
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