When repainting your home, you’ll want to think about color, of course, but also the sheen of the paint. The sheen is just a fancy word for how glossy your paint will look once dried. Below is a screenshot off my iPhone using the awesome Benjamin Moore app (found on the here) discussing sheen:

paint sheen sw fl painter

Which Sheen is Best?

 

There are various sheens: flat, matte, eggshell, and glossy.

Flat is perfect for you if: you have no children or pets. It is extremely hard to clean up from dirty handprints and smudges. The upside is that is hides wall imperfections, well, perfectly.

Matte and eggshell are the most common sheens, giving you the best of both worlds.

Glossy is super easy to clean and should be used in the kitchen as a backsplash, if there are no tiles. Remember, it will show every imperfection in the drywall, however.

Which should you choose? It depends on what your aim is. Do you have children? Pets? Go with a more glossy finish like eggshell or glossy. Do you have imperfections in the smoothness, shape, or straightness of your walls and have no children or grandchildren in these rooms? Go with flat or matte.

Have children and older drywall? Go with eggshell or matte.

Using these tips will make choosing the sheen a snap! Now, for choosing the color…. 😀