Flat has a chalky appearance in finish, absorbs light, and can make a color look slightly lighter. Semi-gloss/gloss will make a color look darker. The sheen will reflect the light, causing the color to be darker.
Flat, eggshell and satin paint are best for interior walls, whereas semi-gloss and gloss paint are best for trim and woodwork.
You should be using flat paint on walls and areas that have a lot of bumps, scratches, or holes. Since it can conceal these blemishes easily, it'll be the one paint finish you'll want to be using. It's best for low-traffic rooms that have a ton of light like offices and more formal rooms, like dining rooms.
Flat or matte paints absorb more light than they reflect, so they have no sheen. Semi-gloss and gloss paints reflect light, giving them a bright, shiny finish.
Matte and Flat
These paint finishes deliver a smooth, subtle look and show little to no sheen when dry since they absorb light. Pros: Matte and flat finishes cover imperfections in surface and application, making them a great choice for ceilings as well as walls in the bedroom, dining room and living room.
If your wall has imperfections like uneven texture, patches or joints, flat paint will absorb light and make them less noticeable. However, flat finishes are not very durable and need to be carefully cleaned. Scrubbing flat paint could wear down the finish and cause sheen to appear in patchy spots.
Flat has a chalky appearance in finish, absorbs light, and can make a color look slightly lighter. Semi-gloss/gloss will make a color look darker. The sheen will reflect the light, causing the color to be darker.
Using flat paint means less work for builders and painters. BUT, flat paint is recommended for ceilings and very low traffic areas for a reason. It's not as durable or easy to clean as eggshell or other higher sheen paints.
Between flat vs eggshell paint, eggshell is better to use as it's easier to clean, also hides well imperfections, and is more durable than flat paint. Eggshell is also preferable to designers because it lasts longer than flat paint finish.
Even if paint is not actually scraped away or scratched off, the color can be harmed by abrasion, especially on low-sheen finishes such as flat and matte. The problem is that low-sheen finishes contain microscopic hairs which stand on end and absorb light so that the surface does not reflect.
Flat paint has a chalky appearance in finish, absorbs light, and can make a color look slightly lighter than the swatch color. Glossy paint will typically make a color look darker because the sheen will reflect the light, causing the color to be darker.
In many such situations, the builder, seller, or low-cost painter used a low-grade flat paint for three reasons: the first is that it is inexpensive; the second is that it is easy to touch up; the third is that it hides imperfections in the drywall walls.
Walls: We usually prefer to do two coats of paint on all walls whether or not we're using a paint and primer product. Why? Because it's far more difficult to mask flaws, even with flat paint, on an area as broad as a wall. Also, if we're using anything but flat paint, then a second coat is required.
As semi-gloss has a higher sheen than satin, it can affect how the color appears on the wall once painted. Semi-gloss bounces and reflects light around a room, so if your space has lots of lights and lamps or plenty of natural sunlight, the end result can be a little different to the color on the tin.
Flat paint needs a rough surface for it to stick properly. If the area is not sanded and the flat paint is applied directly over the semigloss finish, your risk of paint peeling becomes greater, and you will have to refinish it.
Eggshell is always an interior designer's preferred paint finish, which is why our founder, Nicole, an interior designer, chose this as our ultimate finish for walls. The name eggshell stems from the fact the finish appears mostly flat with just a touch of luster... similar to a chicken egg!
It depends on the surface you are painting. For interior walls in high-traffic spaces like a mudroom, satin or eggshell finishes work best. Flat or matte finishes work best for most ceilings and semi-gloss is recommended for interior trim and doors.
On Walls. Flat paint can also be used on walls in low-traffic areas, such as formal living and dining rooms. It could also be a good choice for a home office space, depending on how much wear and tear it gets. You may even get away with using it in infrequently used guest rooms.
Flat and Matte finish paints are ideal for covering walls that have flaws or blemishes. Even larger imperfections, such as extensive scuffs and nail pops can get covered and camouflaged since Flat Paints are effective at absorbing light, in essence, “hiding” the bumps and lines that exist on every wall.
A paint color with a flat sheen can look lighter or darker than the same color with a satin or gloss sheen. While evaluating a color's appearance, you should also judge the effect of your preferred paint sheen.
The flat low-end paint is very porous. Due to the porosity; the liquids (vehicle) of the new paint being applied are absorbed in some areas, more than others, leaving the binder partly exposed and an uneven finish.
Does matte paint scratch easily? Despite being forgiving of imperfections already present in the wall, matte paint finishes tend not to be so forgiving of scuffs and marks. For this reason, experts would usually recommend against using them in high-traffic areas.
Does Paint Dry Darker or Lighter? Paints typically dry darker, particularly oil, acrylic, and latex paints. However, that doesn't mean it will look different than what's on the paint swatch. If you mix the paint properly, it should look the same as the color you picked out once it dries.
Eggshell paint dries lighter because it has a more matte finish. While it has a lighter appearance than gloss finishes, it is darker than flat finishes. It also has a bit of sheen but less than semi-gloss paint finishes.
Typically, touch-up coats will be lighter in color if they are applied when the temperature is 10 degrees cooler than the initial application. If the reverse is true, the touch-up coat will appear darker. Color differences with warmer temperatures—over 60 degrees—are less predictable.