Having in the past bought several different brands of paint for painting lounge and bedrooms etc I have always ended up putting two coats on to get a decent finish.

Can anybody recommend a good paint (matt or satin) which would enable me to do the job with just the one coat.

Personally, I always buy Titan. Never put more than one coat on, and it doesn't fade, so you can touch up with no problems. I learnt in the UK, that its a waste of money using cheap paint.

Do you use it straight out of the tin or does it need thinning with water ?

I use Tital too, have bought other makes here but much prefer Titan.

Rosemary

No, I don't thin it, just use it straight from the tin. I would thin it a little bit if I was using it on a new wall, but then you would need two coats anyway for a new wall.

In my experience it's always best to thin any spanish emulsion type paint (no matter what price/quality) with water, otherwise you may find bits of the old paint lifting and sticking to the roller.

Just buy the most expensive paint you can afford but depending on the base colour or if it is a new wall then you may well have to apply two coats. I also use a T Krom Fixative first as it helps to keep the paint on a flakey wall. Just one more thing..add a certain amount of water to make the consistency like creamy milk..too thick and its difficult to apply and too thin it will run down your brush or roller. Anyway I am off for a mat finish!

Many thanks to all for advice. All the walls I have painted so far have been new so probably accounts for having to put two coats on. Now I hope - doing a repaint - I will only need the one coat.