What's the Best Paint Sheen for Your Living Room?

So, what exact­ly is paint sheen?

Sheen is the lev­el of shine that your paint has, rang­ing from flat (dull) to high-gloss (an almost mir­ror-like fin­ish, depend­ing on the prod­uct and tech­nique you use).

Is it an aes­thet­ic pref­er­ence? Absolute­ly. Some folks want super shiny, glossy walls, while oth­ers pre­fer the warmth and sim­plic­i­ty of low­er sheens that don’t demand the same lev­el of atten­tion. But it goes deep­er than just that. You need to con­sid­er the age and con­di­tion of your walls as well, plus the lev­el of activ­i­ty in the space. Low­er-sheen paint is much more for­giv­ing of sur­face imper­fec­tions, and is eas­i­er to touch up too. High-gloss paint is more spe­cial­ized, and while very durable, it’s also hard­er to work with and care for in the long run.

Keep in mind too that high-gloss paint requires exten­sive sur­face prepa­ra­tion. Since it will show every bump, scrape, or uneven­ness in your wall, it has to be applied after exten­sive, expert-lev­el prep.

Let’s run through your basic inte­ri­or paint­ing options here, but keep in mind that there are more on the spec­trum than what we’ve list­ed. This will just pro­vide a rough idea of the pro­gres­sion and hope­ful­ly help you decide which might be the best choice for your room.

Mat­te paint finish

Mat­te paint gives the walls a soft, warm look that’s per­fect for any liv­ing room. Since it has a very low sheen lev­el, it’s not very shiny or reflec­tive. It has a slight tex­ture to it, but it’s far less notice­able than a high-gloss finish.

Satin paint finish

This paint fin­ish is a bit like the mid­dle ground between mat­te and glossy. While it’s not super shiny, it has a high­er sheen lev­el than mat­te paint, which means it’s a bit more notice­able. Unlike mat­te paint, satin paint also has a very slight tex­ture to it, so it’s not as smooth as mat­te. Why is it a nice pick for liv­ing rooms? Well, satin paint is a great com­pro­mise if you want a paint fin­ish that has a bit of sheen, but isn’t too shiny. It’s also a ver­sa­tile fin­ish that can be used in a vari­ety of rooms, from bed­rooms to bathrooms.

Gloss paint finish

High-gloss paint has a high sheen lev­el, so it’s very shiny, and a lot of light reflects from the paint­ed sur­face. Glossy and dra­mat­ic, this is a nice choice if you’re look­ing for a more spe­cial­ized fin­ish with wow factor.

Which paint sheen is most pop­u­lar right now?

There are cer­tain­ly excep­tions to the rule, but over­all we’re see­ing a LOT more low-sheen, and even flat, paint being used. It used to be that flat and mat­te paint was too weak to be used in high-traf­fic spaces; a bet­ter fit for ceil­ings than for liv­ing room walls. Thanks to prod­uct improve­ments and advance­ments, how­ev­er, that’s real­ly not as much of an issue any­more. Yes, high­er-gloss paint will always be a bit eas­i­er to wipe down and offer an extra mea­sure of dura­bil­i­ty, but flat­ter sheens are not far behind. And they’re so for­giv­ing, easy to work with, and easy to touch up (as we men­tioned before). That’s a win from every angle.

Have more ques­tions about inte­ri­or paint­ing in San Diego?

Give us a call at Chism Broth­ers Paint­ing! We’d love to help you nav­i­gate your options and make just the right choice for your home.