Best Interior Paint: Sherwin Williams vs Benjamin Moore

Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to own, live in, and remodel many different homes. Along with all the transition comes a experience with paint! I feel like I’ve tried almost all of the top brands. When it comes to color and convenience, Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore are definitely two of my favorites. But if you’re choosing the best interior paint, how do you choose between the two brands?

Benjamin Moore vs. Sherwin Williams

I knew I wanted an all white interior but there were soooo many options.

These two brands of paint really emerged with my favorite colors. I actually used BOTH Sherwin Williams and Benjamin Moore throughout the entire house.

This gave me a good side by side comparison I’ll share with you here. Ultimately, we ended up using a combination of these throughout our homes, giving us a little side by side comparison.

After painting the entire interior, wood trim, exterior, cabinets, and fireplace , I think we’ve learned a thing or two about house paint!

Benjamin Moore Wall Paint

We used Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace for the entire interior walls of both our new remodel home and our beach cottage. This is a crisp, bright, neutral white.

What I love about Benjamin Moore Paint:

• Benjamin Moore’s line includes dozens of rich, designer colors (rumor is they are proprietary in some complicated way and can’t be easily matched) 
• Compared with a lot of other brands, their paint goes on like butter – it’s so smooth and thick, we often needed only one coat
• They have paint samples available online (*use cautiously, see below)
• Their Paint Color App is interactive, helpful, and fun – lets you explore and keep track of colors

Downside to Benjamin Moore Paint:

• Benjamin Moore paints are available only at their name brand shops and a few select stores, making it difficult to find (and purchase more if needed!)
• Cannot be color-matched
• More expensive than hardware store brands (but worth it!)
• Does not seem to be preferred paint choice by painters ( I spoke with 3 separate house painters and they mentioned the limited availability keeps them from using it)

Sherwin Williams Wall Paint

During our home remodel, we used Sherwin Williams Pure White for our new trim work and doors. Its a beautiful neutral white with just a touch of warmth.

For the exterior, I opted to go bold with Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black. It’s a deep, neutral black that I’m now obsessed with.

What I love about Sherwin Williams Paint:

• Hundreds of paint colors, many the top choices of designers so it’s easy to turn inspiration into an actual project
• Easy to locate (available at Sherwin Williams stores which, at least in my area are pretty numerous and more recently, also at Lowe’s) 
• First choice of many painters in my experience

Downside of Sherwin Williams Paint:

• Sample paints come in large 1 quart sizes but because sample paint is not real paint (see below), this means you end up with a lot of extra sample paint
• High quality but not quite as smooth or as much coverage as Benjamin Moore – we needed additional coats
• We personally found the satin finish to have much more shine than described 

So, which is the best interior wall paint?

Looking at both Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams, I think they are both exceptional, high quality paint that I would always choose over store brand options. I find myself more often drawn to Benjamin Moore colors but definitely appreciate that Sherwin Williams is more readily available.

Event though I think both brands are one of the best interior wall paint brands, the biggest drawback for each of them is the price and size of their samples.

Considering that paint sample jars are not actually intended for projects (seriously! read here), it’s a costly and wasteful process weighing color options.

For all paint projects, I suggest using peel and stick samples like Samplize.

Overall, if you’re looking for the best interior paint for your home, I don’t think you can go wrong with either Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams!