1. Flat. This gives the most forgiving finish with the best color payout. If you want a saturated, velvety wall, a flat finish will give you rich results.
Flat paint is the most forgiving finish with the best color payout.
Matte paint requires fewer coats than higher gloss paints and is easier to touch up. It's also the least durable paint finish. Perfect for new construction, drywall, ceilings and low-traffic areas like adult bedrooms and dining rooms.
High Gloss
The most durable and easy to clean of all paint sheens, high-gloss paint is hard, ultra-shiny, and light-reflecting. Think appliance-paint tough. High gloss is a good choice for areas that sticky fingers touch — cabinets, trim, and doors. High-gloss, however, is too much shine for interior walls.
Flat paint has a velvety, matte look and is the best choice to hide any wall imperfections. However, it's the least durable choice and doesn't usually stand up well to scrubbing.
From the perspective of a Color Designer/Consultant, I typically specify eggshell on walls for multiple reasons that benefit the people who are dwelling in the home. Eggshell paint cleans easier, covers better, wears better, and lasts longer than flat paint.
Satin. Satin finish paint has a smooth, velvety look with a bit more gloss than eggshell. It is most often used for windows, doors, trim, or ceilings, but it can also be used as wall paint. This is particularly suitable for kids' rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and other areas that get a lot of traffic.
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!
The lower-gloss finish of eggshell paint makes it better at hiding imperfections like uneven brushstrokes on the surface of your walls. The higher-gloss finish of satin paint makes it the best paint for highlighting the definition of decorative surfaces such as cabinets and moldings.
Satin finishes are the most commonly used paint for interior walls. They are easier to clean than flat and eggshell paints, which makes them a great choice for high-traffic areas like kitchens, bathrooms, family rooms, and playrooms.
Satin is easier to wipe clean while eggshell typically needs a little more effect to clean. Ideally use a cloth and warm soapy water to wipe clean both. But eggshell's slightly rougher surface means it will typically take longer to get it clean.
When to Use Eggshell Paint. Eggshell is commonly used in living rooms and dining rooms, as it is durable and does not pick up dirt easily. If your walls have bumps or imperfections, an extra coat of eggshell can disguise them more easily than satin or high-gloss finishes.
Many artists recommend using acrylics if you're new to painting because they dry quickly, mix and clean up with water, and they're easy to paint out and hide mistakes. Acrylics can also be used on just about any surface, so you can paint on paper, canvas, or board.
Flat finishes often require fewer coats than semi-gloss and gloss paints. They are also easier to touch up; there is less contrast between the touch-up paint and the rest of the painted surface. On interior walls, flat finishes are ideal for low-traffic areas such as formal dining rooms and master bedrooms.
Low sheen finishes hide imperfections but are hard to clean. Use them in low-traffic areas. Glossy sheens are easy to clean but highlight imperfections. Use them for high-traffic areas and trim.
If you use flat or matte paint, it is very difficult to clean. Most homeowners use flat and matte paint for the bedroom than a kitchen or bathroom. On the other hand, eggshell and satin finishes offer more glossiness and are easily washable.
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.
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.
Pros: A satin finish reflects more light than matte and stands up well to washing. Use in high-traffic areas such as bathrooms, the kitchen and a kid's room as well as on trim and molding throughout the house. Cons: This finish does not hide imperfections in surface or application; any touch-ups will stand out.
Contractors are often requested to use low- or zero-VOC paints, and this is something they can get from Sherwin-Williams in a variety of their paint lines. Sherwin-Williams paint is thick because it uses more solids, which makes it easier to work with and will cover more surface area.
In the living room and dining room, opt for an eggshell or satin finish.
Professional Quality Acrylics
Nowadays painting in acrylics has been adopted by many artists as their medium of choice having many of the strengths of oil paint in terms of colour translucency, opacity and body without the need to use toxic solvents for mixing and cleaning.
Best for: Family rooms, living rooms, bedrooms, and hallways. Satin, which is a little more hard-wearing than eggshell, works well in those rooms and also in kitchens, dining areas, children's bedrooms, and bathrooms. Many satin finishes are tough enough to use on trim as well.
We recommend matte paints for bedrooms and as living room paint finishes where the walls are exposed to less moisture, choosing a glossier eggshell finish for kitchens and as a paint finish for bathrooms, which are more prone to moisture, as well as children's rooms, which might need more regular cleaning.
Satin and low-lustre paints have a slightly higher sheen than eggshell finishes. Paints in this category are warmer and provide a greater appearance of depth than flat paints. They also resist stains better than flat paints.