The Homeowner’s Guide to Interior Wall Paint and Finishes
Living
Your home’s previous owners painted the walls a rainbow of loud colors. Or maybe they went with a shade of beige that you can’t stand. They might have even committed one of the tackiest design sins: sponge painting.
Whatever the state of your walls, when you want to paint them, navigating the paint aisles at the hardware store can be tricky. There are primers and base coats, a myriad of finishes, and a million different brands.
How do you choose?
Types of Interior Wall Paint, Explained
Simplify your life and follow this guide when choosing interior wall paint.
Base Coat
A base coat is essentially wall primer. It preps the wall for the final color, covers up stains or imperfections, and generally makes the color application go smoother.
Especially if you want to go dark on the walls, applying a base coat is an incredibly important step. Otherwise, you’ll be painting walls with three or more coats of the final finish – yet the color you’re trying to cover up will still show through.
A base coat is a heavy-duty application that lets you get the look you want with fewer coats and less time.
Paint Finishes
Interior wall paint comes in a variety of finishes. You can get any color you want, mixed up into any finish you want. Broken down, finishes fall into a few categories, from matte to shiny:
- Flat Paint (also called Matte Paint)
Flat paint has no shine to it once it’s dry. A flat finish is great for hiding imperfections on your walls, especially if you have an older home. One downside to a flat finish, however, is that it marks easily, and it’s not as easy to clean (think fingerprints from children, dust from outside, or grease in the kitchen).
This finish also takes more paint to cover a wall.
- Eggshell
Paint with an eggshell finish has the barest hint of a sheen. It’s also more durable and easier to clean than flat paint. With this one, you’ll cover a wall in about two coats.
- Satin
Satin has a soft sheen that’s subtle, but it’s shinier than eggshell as well as more hard-wearing.
- Semi-Gloss
For a durable, hard, shiny finish, semi-gloss is the way to go. It’s incredibly easy to clean, too. It’s usually used on trim, however, not walls. This is because the shiny paint highlights imperfections such as patches, cracks, and dings.
- Gloss
The shiniest finish of all for paint, gloss earns its name. For painting walls with no imperfections, gloss gives a high-shine look. However, this paint finish is usually reserved for smaller applications, like trim, wood surfaces, or even metal and furniture.
When Choosing Wall Paint, Do Your Homework
To avoid mishaps, do your homework before diving into a big painting project. Learn the types of paint and finishes and decide which will work best for you and your home.
