Great point about the Aura. Application is a little different, but a good paint is SO worrth it!

Hi Julianna! I have been meaning to ask you how it was going as a staging Realtor. Just thinking of you again today!

Yes, Aura does dry quite quickly so you can't cut too much before rolling. If you have a large room or many walls in the same colour you can do all the cutting then follow with the painting since the cutting is dry and ready to paint in one hour.

I like painting better with C2 it doesn't dry as quickly but it is not self-priming which is too bad.

I have not had perfect success with color matching - it's not my first choice.  Attended a presentation on Aura paints - most impresseive that flat paint can be washable and used in a bathroom.  Great that any color can be mixed for Aura paint.  No odor, fast dry - gotta love it!  Painting your whole house by yourself - bet you have greater respect for the painters out there, eh?  I just redid a rental suite - and I was "done" long before the job was!  Hope you have great success on your sale.

Dane: I am a big Aura paint fan (no pun intended). Benj. Moore colors go on better and last longer than many other brands. And the Aura colors are delicious. I will occassionally stray and use a Farrow and Ball color (it makes Benj. Moore look like a bargain), only because they have some colors that you just can't match in any other brand.

It really is worth it to spend a little more to get better quality and colors.

Ahhh..you hit a soft spot....as a former color consultant at a BM store, I adore Aura. I cannot tell you how wary people are of this paint, because it seems impossible and ridiculously priced. No matter how you slice it, however, their is no way you can lose. For 1 brdm, you traditionally need 1 G. primer +2 G. of paint.  Even a Walmart, that equals more than $54.00, which is what AURA costs per gallon.

Same room + AURA paint = 1 g. at $54.00. No priming, usually no re-coat (reds and clear yellows will remain the bane of the industry, and are the exceptions. But all colors are guaranteed in two coats, which is fantastic, since some reds, even in premium paints, have required 4 and 5 coats!). In one hour, you have a premium, highly washable finish... up and complete, and in one hour after that you are hanging artwork.

So choosing AURA saves 2/3rds on your time, and about 30% off you paint bill for ONE ROOM. Imagine a whole house of savings! If a contractor says no AURA,  I tell them to hit the road. Contractors don't like AURA, because it is hard to quote thousands of dollars for a job that is complete in one day. Plus, they mark up their product, and 30% less money on paint is less paint cost they can mark up.

I use AURA every latex job I have, every time. No paint affords more VALUE, for my clients, and a great added feature is that it saves me time, which, of course,  saves me money.

I am absolutely convinced their is no better product or value, and once I run the pricing through a calculator with the price of regular premium paint and then with Aura, my paint cuatomers warily took Aura cans out the door and turn their heads at me and threateningly said, "You better be right about this paint or I'll be back!"

I've those same  customers come back, throw their arms around me and kiss my cheeks for hard-selling this paint to them on many occasions. I've had flippers go against their team's advice to take my advice instead, to have them send pics and rave reviews of their one-coat on bare-drywall successes.

But what I love is the no priming. Just this past week, we installed some new crown moulding in a bedroom.  I knocked the burrs off the wood with a foam sanding block, slapped on some Aura in the lovely, clean, slightly green-tinted BM white called Easter Lily, and an hour later we were shooting the crown up  on the ceiling with a nail gun.

It's "Le Package Totale!"

~Michelle

Dane, I am doing great! Thanks for thinking of me. How are you doing... I think you must be doing awesome, that was a great feature you had on Active Rain in my in-box yesterday! Congratulations!

Michelle, thanks for the details on Aura and confirming it is worth every penny and more. You are right about contractors not wanting to use it. Sad but try.

My painters will use the paint I direct them to use or they will not paint for me!

Julianna, I have got to figure out what the 'Feature' is that I'm being congratulated for the last couple of days!

I'm so glad to hear you are doing great. It would be great to see a post from you about how your experiences having straddled the 2 industries. I bet you've got some valuable insight for us stagers!

I will have to try this paint.  I recently painted my bedroom in Harmony - Sherwin Williams premium Low-Voc paint.  I loved how it turned out.    It was much better than Duration.  Their other premium paint.

Now that explains a lot!  Thanks for the info.

By the way, if you ever get tired of the design/staging business the 2-hounds name sounds like a great PUB!!

Sassy from the UK living in Colorado!

I've used Ben Moore for years and was excited with the introduction of Aura. It's great to see new products that are becoming more eco-friendly. I work with paint contractors and privately they've told me that they can't make as much money with the Aura since one application usually suffices. My personal experience has been fabulous- I think the expense is justified since in most cases no primer is needed and you can get by with one coat. It is rich in color and has a depth to it that truly sets it apart. Maybe I should be a sales Rep for Ben Moore.

That's why people like me need people like you!  I wouldn't know a mismatched colour if it were splattered across my face.  I'll NEVER paint my own house ever again; the pro's know what they are talking about and this thread shows that.

Dane ~ I have been using Benj. M. paint for years, it does cost more but it does the job. I recently attended a Benj. M presentation and the Aura line is very good.

Even if you use a top brand paint they always suggest when painting mix a little of each can together in your paint tray, this way the color is always constant. Because they can still be a little different hue from each other.

Your house looks beautiful! Good luck on a fast and profitable sale.

Thanks for sharing and where can one find this Aura Paint in Ontario ??

I am a Bm fan - paint that is and the Aura can not be beat.  We always mix our cans together in a big bucket and then back in the cans so the colors are identical no matter what.

Benjamin Moore only introduced the Aura line in Alberta in June, and I was so excited to finally get my hands on it after reading about it from American sources for more than a year. It really is everything the hype says: no odor, gorgeous deep rich colours, fast drying, scrubbable. (Here they suggest having a humidifier going in the room if it`s more than 25C outside, because our climate is so dry.) And as a former biochemist I`m totally geeking out about the solvent-free pigment being chemically bound by the reformulated acrylic resin...  Anyway, I`m repainting my whole home and a client`s apartment with it as a DIY job, and love working with it.

One caveat: this is not a true zero-VOC paint, it does have small amounts of solvents that are exempted from the USEPA`s VOC regulations because they don`t cause smog. I`m hearing through the grapevine that some chemically-sensitive clients are finding that the small amounts of solvent offgassing is still too much for them and causes dizziness, headaches, etc. So if you have clients who suffer from sick building syndrome, go the extra mile for them and order your paint from a true-zero-VOC specialist manufacturer like Mythic Paints or AFM SafECOat -- or use a natural product like milk paint or clay plaster instead. Natural Home magazine`s website is a great resource for learning about harder-to-find specialty products like these.

I agree. Benjamin Moore is the way to go.. its the only paint I use.