The Dummies Guide to the Different Types of Interior Paints

Once you've taken the time to properly prepare the interior that's about to be painted you can finally get to the painting itself – at long last! But it's not simply a matter of throwing paint up on a wall and hoping for the best. You do need to be careful about the type of paint you use – the finish might not be what you expected otherwise.

It does not matter whether or not you choose oil based or water based paintings there are still a lot of choices to make. You can have glossy, satin, flat, semi-glossy, eggshell or a matte finish. What type of finish does each one give? Well it does what it says on the tin – so to speak so the actual descriptions will save you a lot of guess work.

Gloss paint, as the name suggests, leaves a shiny finish that's very easy to clean but they do tend to get dirty very easily too. If you have little feet running around you might spend a lot of time cleaning handprints off the gloss on your newly painted walls. If you use this type of paint it will mean the room will reflect a lot of the light coming into it. This can be ideal for rooms that do not get much natural light. Semi-gloss is basically the same type of paint but not as intense in terms of the sheen from it.

Satin paintings are generally good for use anywhere in the house – they're very versatile in that way. Walls painted with a satin paint will be easy enough to keep clean and have a low gloss look to them.

Eggshell paintings … well … try to imagine what an eggshell looks like and you'll have an idea of ​​the type of sheen you'll get from this type of paint. Not too glossy and not too dull – because of this it works well in most rooms in a home.

Matte or flat paint is exactly what it sounds like. You do not need to apply a lot of it and it reflects almost no light. This might make it sound a bit gloomy as a paint choice but it's far from it. It can look really well in bedrooms – where minimizing light is usually the idea. One of the main places you'll see matte paint in use is on ceilings – have a look at your house or apartment now to check.

Now all you need to do is pick out a color scheme and you're good to go – you'll be picking the perfect type of paint for whatever room or painting project you have in mind!