Picking the perfect paint finish is all about learning the pros and cons of each one and then exercising your right to choose. In other words, it’s one part knowledge and one part personal preference. Here’s a little rundown of paint finish possibilities along with a few facts about each one to help you hone in on the one that’s right for you.
Flat paint: This is a great choice for hiding imperfections in your walls and it’s by far the easiest to touch up. The cons are that many people say that it shows more wear than its more wipe-able counterparts (like eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, and gloss) but we have found that with a Magic Eraser and sometimes just a kitchen sponge there are a surprising amount of scrapes and marks that come right out. Paint quality is getting better and better, so non-durable and easily marred flat paint of the ’80s is a thing of the past. Plus because it’s the easiest finish to touch up without any telltale signs of a patch job, those few stains that can’t be wiped off can easily be eliminated with a smidge of fresh paint.
Where we used it: We actually chose flat paint for all of our rooms except for the nursery, the kitchen, and the bathrooms since it provides such a smooth and even look (hiding all those dings and cracks that are much more obvious when the paint is more glossy). Oh and all of our ceilings (save for the ones in the bathrooms) are painted in a flat finish as well. Update: in our new house we use satin on all walls except for the kitchen and bathrooms since we have a mobile kiddo and like that it’s slightly more wipeable and durable.
Eggshell paint: This is a slightly less matte version of paint with a tiny bit of sheen added to introduce a bit of wipe-able protection that is a tad better at holding up to fingerprints and other wear and tear than flat paint is. It definitely still looks pretty matte on the walls (nothing glaring or shiny) but it does add a nice little buffer of protection. Although the hint of sheen makes it a bit harder to touch up than flat paint, it’s still definitely possible.
Where we used it: Nowhere. Now this isn’t because it’s a bad choice- we’re simple people, so sticking with the few finishes helps us keep track of what’s what (if every room were a different finish it would be hard to keep it all straight).
Satin paint: This is ever so slightly more glossy than eggshell but still not as shiny as semi-gloss. In fact it’s a lot closer to a flat or an eggshell look than a glossy one. As you may guess it’s therefore even easier to wipe down but also a bit harder (although still not impossible) to touch up due to the shine factor. It’s a nice elegant choice in a more formal space where you’d like a bit of shimmer without going overboard into super shiny territory (like a candle-lit dining room for example) and many people go with satin for their bathroom and kitchen walls as well.
Where we used it: We went with satin for the nursery because we reasoned that it would provide a little more wipe-ability while still hiding the majority of our wall’s imperfections since it’s far from the shiny texture of semi-gloss or gloss (which emphasizes any dings or dents as opposed to hiding them). It still went on very smooth and was a nice “compromise” when it came to adding a bit of kid-friendly function to the space. Update: in our new house we use satin on all walls except for the kitchen and bathrooms since we have a mobile kiddo and like that it’s slightly more wipeable and durable.
Semi-gloss paint: This is a great choice for areas that are exposed to more water and grease than the average room (ie: bathrooms and kitchens). Some people fear that semi-gloss paint is a bit too shiny for their liking and opt to go eggshell or satin in their kitchens or bathrooms, but for unparalleled protection and wipe-ability, semi-gloss really is the more thorough choice. Of course it’s not as easy to touch up but the durability that it offers is a great perk. We actually painted our kitchen backsplash in semi-gloss paint (along with the rest of the room) and 2+ years later it’s still in perfect condition (even with grease and other cooking side-effects working against it).
Where we used it: Both of our bathrooms are semi-gloss (including the ceilings) along with the kitchen (but the ceiling is flat in there since there’s less steam & moisture). We also opted to paint all of our interior and exterior doors in semi-gloss paint along with all of our home’s molding and trim (it’s so much more wipe-able and easy to maintain). And as a side note, for some reason while semi-gloss paint is hard to touch up on the walls without getting that telltale “ring” around the newly painted area, trim can easily be touched up time and time again without any issue – which is always a good thing.
Gloss or high-gloss paint: This finish provides the shiniest, most lacquer-like effect. As you can imagine, it’s super wipe-able and durable (it has a lot of flex in it) but it highlights imperfections in a major way (a small ding in the wall that would virtually disappear when covered in flat paint would look a lot deeper and more pronounced when covered with gloss instead). It’s also extremely difficult to touch up without creating a noticeable “ring” where the new paint is applied. So it’s best to repaint an entire wall with glossy paint when you need to refresh it (instead of applying spot touch ups which can be easily detected).
Where we used it: Nowhere, but again it doesn’t mean it’s a bad choice. Some people think it can be a bit overpowering on the walls (especially in a modestly sized house like ours) but that’s really a personal preference thing. We’ve seen small rooms look like glittering jewel boxes with dramatic glossy paint jobs- and it’s always a great choice for painting furniture (it really gives you that lacquered look). Even doors and trim throughout a house could look glamorous and sleek painted in a high gloss finish instead of the standard semi-gloss one.
So what about you guys? Do you have any finishes that you prefer for certain jobs? Any nightmarishly bad finish decisions that you had to redo (we painted all of our house’s trim with flat paint before realizing that was a terrible idea- talk about a major project to take on twice!).
Psst- Got more paint questions? Check out the top of our How To page for all of the answers that you seek.
Great paint advice! I’m currently painting every room in my house and needed this. Question though….what do do with those chair rails? Do I leave them the trim color? Do I paint a darker color beneath? Thanks….love your site and congrats on the little one!
Hey Chris,
That’s all personal preference. We’ve seen chair rails look amazing when painted the same tone as the trim, the walls, or even a third accent color. As for the wall under them, that usually looks better in a darker color than the wall on top if you’re choosing to create a two-toned look (it can look top heavy if the darker color is on top). In the end, there are so many ways to go with a room like that. Just experiment by bringing home a ton of paint swatches and see what you love!
xo,
s
We love flat paint for our ceilings, but with two small boys, we opted for satin paint for all of our walls other than the bathrooms where we too used semi gloss. i’d never use olympic paint again, tough…
I’m repainting my kitchen and plan to use Olympic. What did you dislike about it? I haven’t bought the paint yet, so I have time to change my mind.
Chris, we painted our chair rail down the same white and then painted above different colors. Check it out: http://ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com/the-grand-tour/
Because all the walls here in Texas have texture, I try to keep the sheen to a minimum. I use flat on everything except kitchens and bathrooms and the laundry room. And of course, glossy on the wood work. The problem is that the former owners of my house were willy nilly with paint finishes. There are lots of places I haven’t been able to tone down the shine yet.
http://40daysof.wordpress.com/2010/06/27/progress/
Great advice, will be bookmarking for future painting endeavors.
I second the “never again will I use Olympic paint” sentiment, Amanda! I bought it exactly once, to help a friend paint a dresser for her son while she was pregnant(we bought it because a) it’s no-VOC and b) it was on sale) and four coats later you can still see right through it. Valspar is my BFF.
We have textured walls…our house is a 100 yr old stucco and the previous owner painted all the walls in a flat paint, because as you’ve said it covers imperfections better. Which is the obvious choice since we have textured walls. But after living with it for a while, we decided to repaint the living room in eggshell. We will eventually be repainting everything but we started with that room. I dont know why we like it better. Maybe its because we are too lazy to do touchups? I was wondering if you guys use something specific for the baseboards? Maybe you mentioned it and I missed it, sorry! We use a semi-gloss for those. Thanks YHL!
Lauryn- Yup, we use semi-gloss for baseboards, trim, and interior doors.
Laura- We didn’t use special kitchen or bathroom paint in any room except for the full bath, but thankfully all three rooms have held up well. We used Behr in the kitchen and half bath and Olympic Bath & Kitchen Semi-Gloss No-VOC in the full bath.
Liz- Nope, no problems at all!
xo,
s
Hi Sherry,
Did you use a specific kitchen-and-bath paint for those rooms in addition to using semi-gloss paint? We’ve been having some problems with peeling in our bathroom and have to re-do it. We didn’t use kitchen-and-bathroom paint last time because they didn’t make a low-VOC version at the time. I’m especially concerned about VOCs because we have a small child and I’m pregnant (my husband will be doing the painting, don’t worry). Do you have a favorite low-VOC paint that you think will stand up well to moisture? Thanks!
This came at such a perfect time. We’re about to repaint our kitchen/living/dining room (all one big room) and I was worried about choosing a flat finish for the kitchen ceiling. We’ve heard different things from different paint pros.
Have yall had any problems with ‘stuff’ on the ceiling (ie: grease or food splatters) not coming off?
I’m going to respectfully disagree that eggshell doesn’t touch up as nicely as flat. I use eggshell in all of my bedrooms, living room, hall and dining room. I’ve touched up every single one of those rooms and you can’t tell the difference between the original paint and the touched up areas. I’ve had bad experiences with flat in that when you wipe it with a cloth or magic eraser, it comes right off the wall.
This is an extremely helpful post. I have trouble keeping all the different finishes straight. Thank you thank you thank you!
I love the look of Flat paint, however with a toddler running around we needed a paint that could withstand explosions of crayons and Markers [eek!]. The Magic eraser does wonders but using it on flat paint [with some elbow grease involved, especially with the crayon] I have noticed the paint will peel off from all that rubbing. It has with stood the semi gloss though!
We used eggshell in all of our rooms except the bathroom and laundry, where we used a semi-gloss. We have 140 year old plaster walls in every room, so anything glossier would really show the imperfections.
As plaster goes, our house has really smooth plaster, so I chose the easier to clean egg-shell. Previous owners of our house used a semi-gloss white on all of the trim, which I am not fond of but too lazy to scrape off and start again.
This is perfect! We are starting to paint in a few weeks!
Interesting! I would not have thought to put flat paint anywhere but the ceiling. We made a huge mistake painting our guestroom in a satin finish. Since we used a dark brown paint and it’s a small room, I thought the glossiness would help the light bounce around. Instead there’s a glare that highlights our horrible paint job! Oh well.
We used satin in the bathroom and kitchen, with a flat ceiling (on the advice of the paint guy at Lowe’s; I probably would have gone semi gloss for the ceiling in the bathroom but he acted like I was crazy). I might use satin in the rest of the house, or eggshell. I’m not a huge fan of flat paint, it seems to catch dust easily and absorbs light.
Thank you so much for putting this together. We’ve been having such a rough time trying to pick out finishes for our new home.
I agree that keeping it simple and only doing a couple of different finishes throughout your home helps you keep track of it for touch-ups. I only did Flat and Eggshell in my home and I still have trouble remembering what’s in what room sometimes!
Question – do you have a particular shade of white semi-gloss paint that you prefer for your trim (name and brand)? Thanks!
Benjamin Moore Matte finish!!! Was recently turned on to this, and have done two rooms in it now, and love it. You get the look of flat, but it’s completely washable and durable. It’s relatively new in the BM’s line, and a real winner. (And no, I don’t work for Benjamin Moore!) :)
Just what I need! Thinking about painting a room or two in the house over the long weekend. My husband and I bought our home about a month ago and I’m still deciding what color to paint the living room and hall, it’s all connected into one so it’s a little difficult to decide. Right now it is flat paint (at least that is my guess) and we both like the type, just not the color. Just wanted to add that I picked up some Greased Lightning in the orange sent at Lowe’s and so far it has been amazing at getting out smudges and stains (and pencil marks) in all the paint.
we have faux paneling in our home and eggshell seems to work better for us than flat, the flat paint just looked too dull and with 2 big dogs the wipe down of muddy paws and scuff marks is definitely much easier. oh first timer mistake using satin in the livingroom…yikes too shiny,good thing we can dim the lights. so happy we’re repainting next week! for our home eggshell for all rooms, satin for kitchen and bath & semigloss for crown & baseboards
Great post! We’re huge fans of flat paint. With an 85 year old house with plenty of dings and (patched) cracks in the walls it works wonders to hide all those imperfections. Plus, with no kids we don’t usually need as much wipeability. Although, the dog makes up for the lack of kids as far as messes go. : )
Interesting to see you used magic eraser on flat paint with no problems! Unfortunately, I used a magic eraser on our living room paint (flat) a week after painting, and there are huge stains now, plus there are dirt/scuff marks and we’re clean people but have a dog–eggshell seems to be working better for us now. I agree it is all personal preference and what works for each individual, just surprised the magic eraser works for you guys on flat paint, it does wonders on my baseboards and such, but they’re semi gloss. :)
Thanks for the tips! I’m actually about to take on the task of repainting my entire house (not all at once, but room-by-room!) while my husband is away on deployment. It’s a small house, about 1300 sq. ft., so it won’t be too overwhelming.
BTW, I just saw your bedroom on the Nest! :)
http://ideas.thenest.com/decor-tricks/decor-style/Slideshows/5-secrets-to-a-sexy-bedroom.aspx?page=2
I love the flat also. If my kids get it dirty, a microfiber cloth or magic eraser always get it out.
I have to say, having opened my fair share of paint cans in my day, I have tried all the finishes. Flat paint doesn’t get its fair shake in my opinion. I am not the biggest fan of flat when it feels like a chalkboard and avoided it for a long time. Then one day, I realize how much better the color shows up in flat b/c it’s not reflecting much light. You see a truer version of the paint sample you pick in the store. I’ve noticed that the Valspar paints from Lowes in flat are actually quite smooth. No chalkboard finish, but definitely has some wipeability to it. I use it pretty much all the time or I revert to eggshell. Just a tip for those perhaps afraid of flat. I’ve grown to love it!
We used semi-gloss (Valspar–the best!) on our entire house because we have small children. The sales people tried talking us out of it but I haven’t regretted it at all. You would not believe how often I have to scrub those things.
Anyway–maybe next time around (when my kids are a few years older) I’ll be brave and go down to satin.
We’d never used high-gloss for anything before, but we’re using it now for some outdoor chairs (exterior high-gloss). You’re right, it looks great on furniture.
Helpful info! It is kind of overwhelming to go to Home Depot and not only have to pick a shade but also pick a finish.
Great tips! I’ve sort of clueless on these sorts of things, it’s great to get some advice (as someone who has never had to choose paint for anything before).
Right now we’re trying to cope with an apartment that’s painted in all flat paint (bathrooms, kitchen, trim, everywhere!). It really is murder to keep clean (especially the floor trim) because it sucks up all of the dirt, (dark gray) kitty fur, and (black and red) towel fuzz and will never let it go. I can’t wait until we have a house some day and I can paint the bathroom in a reasonable semi-gloss.
We bought our house in April of this year and have been repainting it ever since. Working through all of the rooms, we’ve gone with a velvet finish (aka satin), and since we have a wee one on the way, it seemed like the most logical choice for when they touch every wall. We can just wash the little smudges right off the wall no problem. For the trim and doors, we went for a semi-gloss, which is looking fantastic.
Our house was built in 1954, and we fell in love at first sight. Once we’re finished we’ll send pictures your way!!
Thanks!
Amy
Wow! I’m actually *really* surprised you guys have flat on all of your walls! The only flat paint we ever buy is for ceilings – we generally use eggshell for everything (and we have those annoying textured walls!) except for baths/kitchens where we typically use satin (semi-gloss = too shiny for textured walls). We’ve never had any problems with touchups on eggshell, but we also keep all of the touchup paints in the same finishes close by and no problems here.
I will say this, however – different paint brands definitely have a different “feel” to them. I.e. – I think Behr paints have a tedency to be *too* sheeny while Valspar just isn’t sheeny enough. I think Glidden is juuuuuuuust right. I painted my bedroom in Olympic and I have to say it hasn’t held up as well as the Glidden paints. Glidden is definitely my go-to paint in a pinch. I don’t think I’ll ever use Valspar or Olympic again.
Great post, Sher! I respectfully disagree on the eggshell paint being worse on touch-ups, but to each his own!
xoxo,
Lindsay
I think it’s also important to consider the texture of your walls when choosing a paint finish.
All of our walls have a pretty heavy drywall hand texture, so any dings or whatnot just look like they’re part of the texture. So, with that said, we went for Semi-Gloss for the entire house, and I am constantly surprised at how UN-shiny it is. I’m also really glad that we did, because I am constantly wiping down walls from spills, dirt, etc.
However, if our walls didn’t have texture or didn’t have as heavy of a texture, flat or satin probably would’ve been a better choice.
Sherry-
Our house is on a hill facing west and our front door gets so hot these summer days. Almost too hot to touch in our midwest heat. I know a lighter color would help but I like our slate blue trim. Do you think a higher gloss paint on the door would help reflect the sun? Any other suggestions? Thank you!
Good question! It seems like a sheen could potentially reflect more of the heat, but we don’t know that it would with any scientific certainty. Does anyone have any info or input on the subject?
xo,
s
As far as I know, you need special heat-reflective additives or specific heat-resistant paint to alter heat absorption.
I’m speaking as an artist though, not a scientist.
Though my thoughts are if a company could lower everyone’s heating/cooling bills with their product, they’d be advertising it out their wazoo~
And if I may add, satin paint is very good for furniture building/re-purposing. Very professional look.
Thanks for the insight, Leah. Sounds logical to us!
xo,
s
You are talking my language. I love love love paint! I use eggshell because flat is too, well, flat for my taste (and for my two young kids) but eggshell is just right. I use a kitchen/bath paint from Sherwin Williams for those rooms.
I need to give you guys a shout-out! I have used your tutorial on how to paint furniture with great success. I’ve repainted about 6 pieces of furniture now. I used high-gloss finish and loved it. Thanks!
It’s so nice to have a guide. We used semi gloss VOC-free for our kitchen. Check out pics of my work.
http://kellyloves.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/so-fresh-and-so-clean-clean/
Question about repainting… Do you notice the paint looking too “thick” (too many layers) after repainting so many times? I assume this would be less of an issue with flat paint, but we are eggshell users and DH is always worried about too many layers of paint building up when it comes to changing the paint. Any advice/words of wisdom on this? Thanks!
Christy- Nope, we haven’t experienced that. As long as we caulk nail holes and sand any previous drips, the next coat of paint seems to go on really easily and look nice as well.
MinaAriel- You could opt to use satin paint in both areas for a seamless look in both spaces. You also could probably get away with semi gloss in the kitchen and eggshell in the living room without any people noticing the difference in sheen.
Carolyn- We’d suggest getting a little test pot of the semi-gloss paint and putting it on the wall to help you make a decision. Good luck!
xo,
s
You couldn’t have picked a better time for this post! We are closing on our house at the end of July and last night I was pouring through design photos trying to pic colors and finishes. Our kitchen opens up into our living room with only a partial wall inbetween so I was wondering if the different finishes would be too stark against each other where they meet? Any suggestions? I was thinking that I would do maybe an eggshell in the living room (I have two boys, definitely need wipeability) and a satin in the kitchen. Now I’m leaning toward semi-gloss in the kitchen but didn’t know if that would look weird.
Thank you! I was just going through your site last week looking for this- I’m starting a week’s worth of painting today.
You’re lifesavers (with perfect timing)!
Glidden eggshell for most rooms and satin for bathrooms is my go-to paint. I certainly think the brand and more importantly the color you choose has a big impact on the look of the finished product.
I’m in the middle of repainting a bathroom and the guy at Home Depot convinced me to go with a semi-gloss for the ceiling and so far I like the way it looks (one day later!). He also recommended semi-gloss for my upcoming kitchen ceiling project but I’m hesitant because the kitchen and living room share a ceiling and get LOTS of natural light — I’m afraid it will be too much. What do you guys think?
Thanks Leah! I’m going to check into asap because dang that door is hot!
This is really useful, thanks so much! This kinda stuff has ALWAYS confused me.
On a random note, do you know how to get rid of glue on the top of a ceiling? I had those sticky stars when I was younger and eventually pulled them off, only to have all the residual tacky glue stuck on the ceiling. I’m thinking just a scraper, but just wondering what you all thought. Thanks :)
Yup, we’d try scraping or even sanding that glue out. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
What am I doing wrong with my flat red bedroom wall (Benjamin Moore paint)? Just trying to wipe off dust leaves large grey streaks across the surface, and when I tried to touch up minute paint splatters from the adjoining wall a month after the original paint job, it left very telltale dots – the paint looked a different colour?
Lisa- There are a lot of factors that could be coming into play, from the material of your walls (plaster walls like ours can react differently than drywall or textured walls, etc) to the brand of paint you’ve chosen (we’ve had a lot of luck with Glidden and Behr’s flat paint). Hope it helps!
Sarah- The sheen (gloss) in the paint makes it more wipe-able, so the more glossy you go, the easier it is to wipe down. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
i’m surprised you like flat paint so much. we have had it in two of our apartments now and it is so annoying to keep clean. every little nik and scratch shows up and when you wash it, the paint wares off with it – boo! from now on when we look for apartments we specifically look for wall without flat paint! ha!
great and HELPFUL post!! do you know why flat paint isn’t as wipeable as say gloss? you said it has a lot of flex it in haha but i am not quite sure what that means
What would you recommend using in an open floor plan? My dining room/living room/kitchen share walls so I was planning on just using flat paint everywhere. Or do you think satin would be better?
Michelle,
We’d definitely go with satin in all rooms!
xo,
s
Helpful post! What color did you guys use in your kitchen?
Hey Penny,
Our kitchen is Glidden’s “Gentle Tide” (color matched to Behr paint) in semi-gloss. You can see a full run down of our paint colors here: https://www.younghouselove.com/our-homes-recently-expanded-color-palette/
-John
This post just made my day! My house has builder’s white paint in a flat finish. My 2 year old has put crayon everywhere and those magic erasers are too harsh (read takes the paint right off and some of the plaster too) for this cheaply built new home. I’ve got extra paint in the garage but I was too afraid it would look obvious where I repainted. I’m off to cover up those scribbles right now!!!
Ohmygosh. I’m pretty much an eggshell devotee, with semi-gloss for trim and doors. We’ve got satin in our kitchen and bathrooms – although wall imperfections in our newly remodeled bathroom are leading me to repainting in eggshell or flat.
We had an “incident” with semi-gloss in a bathroom – I don’t know if it was the finish, the paint itself(although we’ve used the brand before and since), the lighting, the color, a defective can, or the walls, but we could never get it to look right. I pretty much swore off of semi-gloss after that.
I tried painting a guest room with plaster walls in a deep red, with a satin finish, and that was also a disaster. Three coats in and it was STILL uneven looking. One coat (that would be coat #4!) over it with eggshell and all problems were solved.
Having had homes with either old plaster walls or poorly patched holes, the flatter the paint finish, the better!
If only this had come a week sooner. My fiance and I spent the entire weekend painting semi-gloss in our wood panelled master bedroom. It looks fine and all, but if I would’ve spent a little more time deciding I would have picked a flat paint instead of the semi-gloss. Dings and such are super visble. It’s just killing me.
Oh well, maybe in a month or so I’ll get the courage to repaint the panel. (Awful experience, let me tell you!)