It's the Old Story...

...You Get What You Pay For...this is especially true about paint. I'm a color consultant for the Link program with Benjamin Moore. In all honesty, I could not recommend something that I do not use...and I ONLY use Benjamin Moore paint. Starting next weekend on Saturday, 6/12, I will be helping people choose paint colors for rooms in their homes in the Sterling/Ashburn VA Benjamin Moore store. This service at the store is complimentary!

The "Regal" BM paint used to be the creme d'la creme of their paint line. That is until "Aura" came along. Aura is the premium line of BM. Yes it will cost about $60 a gallon, but in the long run it will save money! This paint has the primer built into it. You don't need to buy the separate primer (costs money) and paint it on first (costs time). I saw a demonstration that showed a shade of Aura white being painted over deep dark red. Question: How many coats did it take to cover? Answer: 1, one, uno. Amazing!!

But there are other terrific qualities of the Aura line. It has a very low VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) rating or in other words, the base hardly has an odor. The colorant to create the desired hue is also very low VOC. The old technology's colorant was very smelly, it contained glycol and solvent which emitted the odor... but not Aura. When it dries in an hour the VOC goes down to zero. And if you want to, you can go ahead and do a quickie second coat at this time. You don't have to worry about "feathering" in wet into dry paint. You don't have to worry that the second coat is going to peel off the first coat either.

In future months and years, if you need to make a touch up, the new paint has a seamless touch up quality. It will blend in exactly. Also, it is not only washable but SCRUBBABLE. After you scrub, paint will not rub off and will not burnish (shine). I hate that with other paints, you look at the wall from the side, and you can see exactly where the touch up went on. This will not happen with BM Aura. The Aura paints are also water resistant and fade resistant. That is another reason why touch ups don't show.

So bring in your fabric samples, carpet pieces, photos of rugs and anything you want to coordinate, I'll help you choose the perfect paint color. You can now have a pint mixed to make sure how it will look in several locations in the room. In addition, you can order large samples online at no charge. That way you can double check that the perfect shade of beige that we selected is not too yellow, pink, gray or green, too dark or too pale.

See you on Saturdays, beginning 6/12, between 10 and 2 or Wednesdays, beginning 6/16, between 11 and 3. Always call first because sometimes my schedule changes.

By the way...don't forget the drop cloths. (Yes, the store has them too)