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Living Solutions blog

Ideas & Inspiration

Tuesday’s Design Tips ~ Paint Sheens

October 6, 2015 By Gina Jackson

I often get asked similar questions either with clients and friends when it comes to design dilemas or challenges and it’s been awhile, but I thought I would start up Tuesday’s Design Tips again! Lets get those questions answered!

You can find a lot of recommendations out there and if you ask different designers, they may have different opinions, but here I’ll share what has worked in my 15+ years professional experience and in many cases, what has worked in my personal projects and home. We have a busy house with kids and a big loveable dog. If you know them, you know at least 2 out of the 3 kids are not easy on much of anything. When they go, they go all out, and so a lot of these design tips will be from my experience with the most agressive of testers!

So I thought I would start with a question I get asked a ton:

“What finish do we paint this wall or this room?”

Tuesday's Design Tips Paint sheens

There are no set rules, per-say, but here are my guidelines. I should preface this by saying that these are just my opinions and don’t reflect all paint manufacturing guidelines. These are the tips I would suggest to you if you were my client.

 

Flat Paint on Ceilings

Flat paint works well on ceilings. I personally don’t like a flat paint anywhere except on ceilings. For some reason, flat paint makes me feel like I can’t breathe. I know. Weird. It’s too chalky or something. Flat paint is also not very user friendly if you need to wipe down a wall due to a dirty dog or messy hand prints. It will leave a shiny spot where you have rubbed clean. However, a flat paint is more contemporary, and it hides more imperfections, so it’s not uncommon for people to paint their walls a flat finish.

In my experience, if you have a busy household: Pets or kids, I would suggest only painting your ceilings flat.

In bathrooms and kitchens, it’s always a good idea to use some kind of sheen on the ceiling for moisture or cleaning purposes.

Eggshell, Low Sheen, or Velvet on Walls

Having a busy household, I prefer a low sheen (the next one or two finishes up from flat) on my own home’s walls. I like that there is just a tiny sheen to the paint, but nothing too distracting, and I love that I can actually wipe it down and there won’t be any changes to my paint.

I have used all kinds of cleaners on my walls and the paint has held up well. I should say that I use good paint {Dunn Edwards, Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams to name a few} and I always prime my walls first if I wasn’t the one to paint the wall in the first place.

It’s an extra step that takes time and money but it’s well worth it.

Low Sheen/Eggshell in Bathrooms and Kitchens

As for bathrooms and kitchens, some people go to the next level in the sheen scale. I however, don’t like anything shinier on my walls {dry wall or plaster} than an eggshell or low sheen. The more sheen you have in your paint and on your walls, the more you will see every imperfection {cracks, texture, etc.} In our home, we have used Dunn Edwards paint in Velvet/Low Sheen finishes throughout and never had a problem with mildew and paint in those rooms.

If the spaces don’t have the best ventilation, you may want to do an eggshell, {which is usually up couple steps up from a low sheen} to prevent mildew or mold in damp areas like a bathroom or a kitchen. I do change it up though on the ceiling in a bathroom or the kitchen and do the eggshell/low sheen on the ceilings of these rooms.

No flat in the bathroom and kitchen!

Semi-Gloss/Gloss on Trim, Doors, and Built-in Cabinetry 

It’s all about the details when it comes to trims, so I like it to stand out a bit from the walls and ceiling. A semi-gloss or gloss on the trim just dresses it up a bit and makes it bit more special! It’s also easiest to clean and door jambs and baseboards can get a lot of abuse.

 

Of course there are exceptions to every rule and guideline, but the guidelines above are what I tell clients and what I follow myself!

If you have any design questions you would like answered in a future post, leave them in the comment section and I will do my best to answer them in an upcoming Tuesday’s Design Tip post!

 

You May also Like:

Tuesday’s Tips ~ Sheens of Paints Tuesday’s Tips ~ Paint Brushes Brick Fireplaces…To Paint or Not To Paint?! Top 10 Tips

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Hi! I'm Gina and welcome to the Living Solutions Blog! I'm a wife, a mom of 4 little kiddos and the owner of Living Solutions Interior Design. My family and I recently moved from San Diego, CA to Nebraska and this blog is where I share inspiration, design tips and ideas, projects and every day life! Thanks for stopping by!

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