Paint Sheen: How to Pick The Right One

When it comes to the interior of a home, a great-looking remodeling project can be accomplished with as little as five gallons of paint and some elbow grease. However, before you run off to the local home improvement or paint store, you should be familiar with the products that will likely be offered to you. After all, a nice-looking paint job isn’t just about picking the right color. More often than not, it’s about picking the correct sheen.

Who Needs To Know About Paint Sheens?

Put simply, if you are planning to apply any amount of paint to the walls in your home, you need to get familiar with the different paint sheens available. The wrong choice, here, can result in a poor-functioning - even unattractive outcome.

Benefits of Each Type of Paint Sheen

Flat Paint

Flat paint is a type of paint that has little to no sheen. One of the benefits of flat paint is that it breaths a little better than glossy paints, allowing moisture to soak through. It is for this reason that paints with a flat sheen are generally used on ceilings. This allows any sort of leaking from either the roof or pipes to be easily detected. Many people also prefer flat paint for their walls because it helps to conceal minor flaws in the sheet rock or in the texture. If you’re not in love with the texture of your walls, your best bet is to use a dark color with a flat sheen. Paints with a darker tint do a much better job of concealing these types of flaws, whereas lighter-colored paint tends to enhance flaws, making them even more noticeable to the naked eye.

Semi-Gloss Paint

By far, the most likable thing about semi-gloss paint is that it is quite easy to clean. Whereas flat and satin paints tend to stain easily, markings and stains on semi-gloss coated walls can usually be wiped away with nothing but a simple sponge. It is for this reason that semi-gloss paints are often the choice of parents with very young children. Since kids tend to get their dirty fingerprints all over the place, a thick coat of semi-gloss in their bedrooms makes a lot of sense. Semi-gloss paints are also a good fit for commercial kitchens and work areas. Food and grime can usually be cleaned from a semi-gloss coated wall without much fuss. Whereas, satin and flat walls usually need to be touched up or completely repainted. Semi-gloss paint also adds a nice glowing, attractive sheen to things like railings and banisters and can really make trim and baseboards pop. (Note that, although, high-gloss paint can also be used for things like banisters, baseboards and railings, it should not be used as wall paint.)

Satin Paint

Paint with a satin sheen is somewhat of a combination of the two previous paints. It is better than semi-gloss at concealing sheet rock and texturing flaws, but it is not quite as good as flat paint. On the other hand, it cleans up much better than flat paint, but not quite as well as semi-gloss. Satin is generally the correct choice for homeowners unless they have a special need or concern. It offers similar qualities to the other two types of paint without the drawbacks.

Risks or Drawbacks of Each Type of Paint Sheen

Flat Paint

The worst thing about flat paint is that it gets dirty quite easily. It doesn’t take a filthy hand to make an imprint on a wall coated in flat paint. The simple oils from any part of the skin are enough to leave a mark. Quite often, you will see these types of dirty marks or stains directly below or around light switches in a home painted with flat paint. Also, this type of paint does not clean up well. Complicating things further is the fact that attempts to touch up a stain or mark can leave an imprint of their own. Since flat paint tends to fade, even identical paint from the original container can look different after a touch up.

Semi-Gloss Paint

As previously mentioned, semi-gloss paint is great for high-traffic areas that need constant cleaning. It is for this reason that many apartments use it as their standard style of paint. However, for most houses, its negative qualities make it a poor choice for home remodeling. The fact is: semi-gloss paint is very glossy. Often, it can put off unattractive reflections from sunlight and lamps, alike. Also, it doesn’t cover quite as well, and can tend to have more of a plastic look which can rob a room of beauty and warmth.

Satin Paint

As stated before, satin paint is somewhat of a combination of the other two types of paint. So, obviously, its drawbacks center around the fact that it is not quite as good as the others for some things. Although, it cleans easier than flat paint, satin paint will stain. Furthermore, satin paint is not flat, meaning it does have a certain amount of sheen.

Despite its limited drawbacks, satin paint is usually the right choice for the interior of most homes. Unless you are a homeowner who requires special needs from your walls, your best bet is to choose a high-quality satin paint for your remodeling project.