Paint is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to give a room a glow up. Just changing the color of the walls can change the mood in a room – from dark to bright or boring to fun! I have tried many brands of paint throughout my DIY journey and want to share my favorite paint brands with you and why. Please note the paints I recommend in this blog post are for walls or trim. Paints for furniture are a whole different story.
Coming in at #1 – Sherwin Williams Paint
My most favorite paint for all things walls and trim is by far, Sherwin Williams. There are a ton of options depending on what your budget is and the coverage you are looking for. For cabinets and trim, my favorite is the Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel. This paint is self-leveling and dries so smooth. You can brush it, roll it, or spray it and it will leave the most beautiful finish you’ve ever seen. It’s also nice that it has a built in topcoat so your trim and doors will not remain “sticky.” It is probably one of the most expensive paints Sherwin Williams carries, but in my opinion is worth every single penny. I used this paint for my closet built-ins and the finish on them is beautiful!
For the walls in my house, I usually go with Super Paint. Super Paint is not as expensive as the Emerald line, but the coverage is great. I live in Texas and the walls in my house have a heavy texture to them so I always paint with 2 coats just to make sure I get into all the little crevices. Super Paint is my go-to for walls in the common areas of my home. I like the consistency of this paint and the coverage.
The other thing I love about Sherwin Williams in general, is that they have physical stores where the employees are very knowledgable about which paints work best on specific projects. They also have peel and stick paint squares of their most popular colors that are available for purchase versus buying a paint sample. The employees at my local store are always so helpful and are so nice!
Favorite Paint for my Kids’ Rooms – Clare Paint
I really love Clare Paint for walls – especially for areas where my kids hang out. I love that it’s a small company, woman owned, and love that the paint is Greenguard certified. The biggest drawback from using Clare paint is that they don’t have a physical store – everything is ordered online at www.clare.com. They do offer paint swatches but you have to pay for them and for the shipping.
As far as the quality of the paint, I absolutely love it. Granted, I have only used paint in the Eggshell finish on walls. The coverage is fantastic – I would say very comparable to the Sherwin Williams Super Paint as far as consistency and coverage, with the added convenience of no VOCs. I painted both of my kids’ bedrooms with Clare paint because I wanted to make sure I was using a paint that was safe to use around my kids. My son’s room has an accent wall in Goodnight Moon and my daughter’s whole room is the color Baby Soft. The smell is not bad at all and only lasts a couple days or so. I usually use an air purifier as well to help get rid of the smell.
Favorite Affordable Paint – Glidden Diamond Wall Paint
Last year I partnered with Home Depot for a campaign featuring Glidden Diamond Wall paint, and I was really impressed with the coverage. Since then whenever I have a project that I am trying to save money on, I use this paint. When I worked on my office closet, I bought this paint for the walls. It is very affordable, ultra-scrubbable and the coverage is fantastic. It is also Greenguard certified! I have used “affordable” paints in the past that are very watered down. You end up doing more work because the coverage is not as good so you have to paint multiple coats, especially if it’s white paint over a color. This paint, however, is a great consistency – not as thick as SW or Clare but for the price point, it is awesome! In fact this is the paint I plan to use on my garage, which is a project I want to tackle later this year.
For my nephew’s room I used the Pure White Base and actually color matched the blue I had in my son’s bedroom. Again, I was really impressed with the coverage of the Glidden. The blue accent wall I did only took one coat! That is pretty impressive especially since my expectations were not that high because of the price.
Final Thoughts
Choosing a paint can be so overwhelming. I’m sure there are other brands that are great as well – I just haven’t used all of them so I can’t say. 🙂 I am the type of girl that if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it. So I will continue to use the brands that work for me rather than take my chances. Hope you found this information helpful and let me know if you have any questions I can help you with!
Happy DIYing!
