What interior house paint is the best?

I personally loved the generic I got at Lowe's. It worked wonderfully. I tried Bhers brand, hated it. It was a bear to work with literaly. The Lowe's brand went on easy and has held up very well. I've also used Home Depot's brand, it was ok but not as good as the Lowe's. I've used Glidden and it's nice but expensive.

I saw a documentary on this yesterday. They say the best is non-toxic paint and finshes...that would be paints and finishes with low-VOC or zero VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds). Most paint manufacturers produce these paints now so make sure to ask for them. Choosing a color is a different matter though. That's so much to do with personal choice. I know some places will give you a sample for you to paint on your walls to see if that is the color you want before purchasing in bulk.

I agree with squaretile, most of the time those little paint blocks aren't quite the color you are going to get. Also remember, that the finish you choose for the paint will also have an effect. If you choose a flat finish, that is going to look darker than a glossy would. Also, flat finishes can be a lot harder to keep clean. This weekend I painted with Glidden paint. I mainly chose this brand because it was a little lower priced than some of the other brands, and I liked the colors. I ended up using a eggshell finish (between flat and glossy) and was really surprised by the experience. the paint went on the walls really light and then turned dark as it dried. It turned so dark that I even began to worry about my paint choice. Thankfully, the paint turned a little lighter again once it completely dried and I am really happy about the color. I will suggest using painter's tape because you'd be surprised where you can get stray paint, even if you are very careful. My friend managed to get some on the ceiling!

I'm sure there are others who have a much more "educated" opinion, but I've heard that Behr is great!

I have tried probably every brand there is and my favourite is Dulux. I particulalrly like the Heritage Range, and emulsions, because they are the easiest to clean. I would always choose awater based paint whenever possible because it makes the clean up so much easier than oils.

For my home, we used Nippon Paint on all the walls. I think they have some programme where you can take photos of your walls and rooms and then they can digitally alter the colours to the paint shades you choose and show you the effect. Sometimes the little square you see in the paint brochure doesn't give quite the effect when you see it on an entire wall, or an entire room. I didn't do this digital thing myself, but I think it's a great idea. For myself, I went along with the recommendations of my interior designer. Also we looked at the photos on the brochure and decided that some colours looked good, so we used that scheme. It's very in now to have three walls in a light colour (e.g. robin egg blue) and the fourth wall in a darker shade (deep blue). One of my rooms is that way. I love it! Of course, if you have certain rooms that are quite small and you'd like to make it look more spacious, then beige/cream/apple white colours are the way to go. I did a similar sized room in lighter colours than the blue room, and it looks much much bigger! the power of colours. It's also popular now to paint entire rooms in black for a modern gothic plush feel. but I wouldn't recommend it unless you're really into black! One of my favourite colours for walls is "silvermink". A mocha grey type of colour.