For our kitchen cabinets, I used primer + at least 3 coats (4 coats for some doors) with a sprayer, sanding and tacking after each coat, on both sides of the door. The doors look gorgeous, but...

Waited 2 months (!) after painting to let them cure, but the paint is still softer than pine wood. Fingernails dent this paint. Does the paint get any harder?

Everything was done inside, room temperature... I'm so disappointed, this was more than $1000 of paint and many many hours of work.

EDIT: example fingernail dent pic https://lensdump.com/i/ReM9fH

I'm in Denver and get brutal south and southwest sun. My painter quoted me SW Duration, Emerald and Rain Refresh. Two coats with drying time in between coats. Emerald would only be $200 more than Duration and Rain Refresh would be an additional $750 (i.e. $950 more than Duration). My painter mostly does Duration and Emerald, and prefers not to do Rain Refresh because he says the taping is a pain. We're in a dry climate mostly, but heavy rains do pass through, it snows of course, and we get huge temperature swings (seasonally and sometimes in a day). I've read there's not much difference between Duration and Emerald, but Rain Refresh does live up to its promise and is worth it. Is it worth the upgrades based on these price differences?