Painting - What kind of paint is best

Could you tell me what the best paint would be for Crown Molding, made of HDF Board. Crown is wide 10" and would like it to look like wood painted a nice shiny white. Also do you have a color white that you feel looks the best. I also need to paint HDF shelves in closets. What paint would be the most durable.
We are using painters putty to fill all the nail holes in the trim is this a good choice or do you know something better. Any tips on filling the holes, I think it will take weeks or may be months to fill all of them.

Thanks so much for any advice you can give.

There are many, many whites to chose from. The main thing is to go to a paint store [not dept] to buy your coatings. Big box stores tend to chose the selection of coatings based on price, not quality.

Painter's putty is the correct material to fill nail holes with. It is best to press it in the hole with a twisting motion to completely fill the hole. While smoothing/cutting off the top of the putty with a putty knife is the correct way to finish applying the putty, a little practice will allow you to do the same thing with your thumb :cool: the more holes you fill, the faster you will become at it.

Not all enamels are created equal. The cheaper latex enamels may work ok for the crown but on the shelves you need a quality enamel to prevent blocking [items sticking to the paint] I prefer using a waterborne enamel like SWP's proclassic waterborne but it is one of the most expensive enamels. Oil base enamels wear well but tend to yellow with age. A top of the line quality latex enamel will work fine.

Coatings at a paint store tend to cost more than ata big box but they wear better/longer, apply easier and cover better = less expensive :D

Thanks for the information. I assume the SWP's is Sherwin Williams. So happy you included the tip on how to fill the holes. I now have the up most respect for painters, until someone has taken on the task of filling hundreds of nail holes , we don't know how much work goes into painting a room.

SWP = sherwin williams paints

I guess they dropped the "paints" years ago from their name but you can't hardly teach an old dog new tricks :eek: :D

Since nail guns first became popular, I've accused more than one carpenter of trying to fire proof the wood trim - metal don't burn and when you displace the amount of wood with a LOT of nails........... :eek: :wall: