Have you recently purchased a new home? Congratulations! One of the most exciting things about homeownership is being able to customize the interior, making a cohesive design aesthetic that reflects your taste and personality. If you buy a house with the intention of putting new coats of paint on the walls it’s important to understand the different types and select the one best suited to your needs.
Matte Paint
Matte paint is very common, easy to apply, and fairly subtle. It’s ideal for your ceiling or walls that you don’t want a lot of visual impact. Depending on the shade of matte you select, you may need more than one color, but it’s a forgiving paint that’s ideal for the DIY weekend warrior. Matte paint is applied with either a brush or roller or both and easily covers imperfections on the walls. One downside to this type of paint is that it gets marred easily. If you have small children, you may wish to invest in a couple of extra cans of paint for frequent touch-ups.
Matte Enamel
Matte enamel is similar to matte paint but is more durable. When you buy a house, you may wish to have the kind of paint that you don’t have to retouch every day. Matte enamel is easy to clean which may be nice for families with small children. This enamel is as easy to apply as the paint.
Satin
Satin finish is a type of paint that falls in between matte and gloss, with a subtle sheen. It’s easy to clean, to may work well for areas where you’ll have to frequently clean the walls. The sheen of satin paint doesn’t cover imperfections in the walls, however, so keep this in mind if you’ve had to patch or spackle.
Eggshell
Eggshell paint has the subtle sheen of satin paint with a more textured finish. This means that It more easily covers imperfections that satin simply can’t. Eggshell is easy to apply, and you can often get away with a single coat of paint. It covers more surface area with less paint than matte paint does, which may be helpful if you’re on a time crunch.
Semi-gloss
Semi-gloss paint is usually used for trim or crown molding. It produces a long-lasting hard finish and is durable and easily cleaned with warm soapy water. The shine is less than full gloss paint but more than satin or eggshell and can usually look great with just a single coat. Semi-gloss, as well as gloss, will take longer to dry than matte paint, so plan this into your drying time.
Gloss Paint
Gloss is one of the most common interior paint types, along with matte. It’s flexible enough to be used for most walls and looks especially nice on woodwork. The high shine brings out the grain. However, gloss paint will also bring out all the imperfections on your walls, so if you plan to use this in an older home you may wish to put a base coat down first or use two or more coats.
Buying a home is both stressful and exciting, and decorating your new pad can be a fun weekend project. Whether you’ve chosen to buy a new home, or if you’ve purchased your house from an investor, you can make it uniquely yours with the right shade and finish of the paint.