There’s a lot more science involved in choosing an interior paint than picking a color. You have to consider the colors of the furniture and flooring, and the amount of light a room gets as well. There is always a trade-off between looking great and washability.\u00a0 First, let\u2019s look at the difference in how sheens are created.<\/p>\n
Paint gets its sheen and texture from the pigments used to manufacture it.\u00a0 The most common pigments come in powder form, are white and typically are made of either Titanium DiOxide (TiO2) or Clay.\u00a0 TiO2 is much better for opacity (ability to hide) but is much more expensive.\u00a0 Cheaper paints normally use cheaper ingredients like clay.<\/p>\n
As an analogy for a flat paint imagine we have a bucket of sand (the pigment) and we add in a very clear glue (the binder).\u00a0 If we pour this out on a flat surface it would be very rough like sandpaper.\u00a0 It would not reflect much light, but if it gets dirty it would be very hard to clean.<\/p>\n
Now to make the paint shinier, we would simply add more clear glue until it covers all the sand particles.\u00a0 It would stay the same color because the glue is clear, but it would be very shiny.\u00a0 It would also be very easy to wipe down and clean.<\/p>\n
So, why don\u2019t we use glossy paint everywhere?\u00a0 Unfortunately, the more shine a surface has, the more it shows every imperfection.\u00a0 Shiny walls tend to look terrible because they highlight every bump and imperfection.<\/p>\n
The answer is to determine What Matters to You Most<\/b><\/p>\n
It\u2019s the paint sheen, or finish that affects how the color appears. And that depends on whether it absorbs light or reflects it. In addition, for paint to hold up well over time, it must be durable enough for the surface and the situation.<\/p>\n
Typically, we use a paint of very high quality that can be scrubbed so that you get the best of both worlds, great-looking walls and cleanable.<\/p>\n
Below, we provide a breakdown of different paint sheens and where they work best in a house.<\/p>\n
Flat and Matte<\/strong><\/p>\n Flat paint has a nonreflective finish; matte is low luster. The paint brand we typically use offers both. Both help hide imperfections on the surface. Unfortunately, these finishes are the least resistant to stains but make your walls look luxurious.\u00a0 Flat paints are a must for ceilings because of the amount of light reflecting down.\u00a0 Flats and Mattes are also best for living rooms, foyers, entryways, bedrooms, and any place where you don’t have to worry much about wear and tear or messy splatters.<\/p>\n Eggshell and Satin<\/strong><\/p>\n For one level of sheen up from flat or matte, eggshell and satin are good choices. Satin and eggshell are nearly identical, but Satin is slightly shinier and both are easier to clean than flat or matte paint. These sheens tend to accentuate surface imperfections, so it takes more time to prep and get the walls as smooth as possible. Satin and Eggshell sheens are best for the kitchen, dining area, children\u2019s bedrooms, and bathrooms. Use Satin paint in areas that wear hard or often collect splatters of water or fingerprints.<\/p>\n Semi-Gloss<\/strong><\/p>\n With semi-gloss finishes, your walls will have a shiny look and really catch the light. Typically Semi-gloss sheens accentuate every imperfection in the walls as well as many roller marks (called flashing). Semi-gloss is also the toughest paint against wear and tear. The most lustrous of this group, semi-gloss paints typically resist stains better than the other finishes, and are much easier to clean.\u00a0 Typically, we only recommend semi-gloss paints for Trim, windows, and doors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There’s a lot more science involved in choosing an interior paint than picking a color. You have to consider the colors of the furniture and flooring, and the amount of light a room gets as well. There is always a trade-off between looking great and washability.\u00a0 First, let\u2019s look at the difference in how sheensRead the full article <\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":1,"parent":1773,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-dynamic-fields-full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1774","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/lancaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/lancaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/lancaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/lancaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/lancaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1774"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/lancaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1774\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/lancaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1773"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/lancaster\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/lancaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/lancaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/certapro.com\/lancaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}