When you’ve made the decision to alter your interior, picking the paint colour can be fun, but picking the finish is another decision entirely.
With so much variety these days, where do you begin?
Don’t worry - Paint Direct have compiled the perfect guide on picking the right paint finish for you.
Matt paint, sometimes referred to as a flat matt often contains more pigment than the other finishes. With very little sheen, highly pigmented matt paint delivers a velvety texture that absorbs light and offers excellent coverage - perfect for covering any imperfections on the wall.
For a super velvety finish, we couldn’t recommend Dulux Heritage enough. Expertly formulated with the finest ingredients, the collection offers a Velvet Matt for a soft-to-touch finish on walls.
Silk emulsion is ideal if you are looking for a shinier finish to your walls. It adds a soft glow, reflecting light into your room giving a sophisticated and elegant look. It is often used in kitchens and bathrooms where you can easily wipe your walls down with a soft sponge. Silk paint is also ideal to use on a feature wall if you want to add finishing touches with a shine.
For silk, you can’t go wrong with Crown’s Beatheasy Silk Emulsion.
Crown Breatheasy Silk Emulsion provides a high sheen, wipeable finish on your walls and ceilings.
Silk Emulsion is for use on most plastered, textured or papered walls and ceilings, and is suitable for use in kitchens and bathrooms.
It is available in over 30 ready mixed colours including City Break, Seldom Seen, Fairy Dust, Happy Daze and Duck Egg - ready for your next project!
Soft sheen paint is a perfect choice for high traffic areas such as hallways and kitchens. It reflects the same amount of light as silk but is much more durable. Soft sheen paint is not as flat as Matt paint and gives a subtle sheen but not quite a shine. Soft Sheen paint is a good option if you live in a house with kids as it’s more hard-wearing.
A favourite among customers is Armstead Trade Vinyl Soft Sheen.
Available in two ready mixed colours, and 98 mixed to order colours, Armstead Trade Vinyl Soft Sheen is a water based emulsion paint that provides a professional quality finish for walls and ceilings.
Armstead Vinyl Soft Sheen has a wipeable, mid sheen finish that is tough and durable.
It gives a lovely classic look to your room, softening it up. It has excellent opacity and coverage helping to cover previous coats and giving a great even finish to your walls.
Eggshell paint has a flat finish, it falls in the space between a matt and mid sheen paint, in that its harder than a matt but duller than a satin or silk, you won’t be left with shiny walls. Eggshell finishes are often used in bathrooms, kitchens, kids' rooms, and other high-traffic areas and it’s great for covering imperfections. Most eggshell paints are fast drying and produce a low odour when being applied.
Picking the perfect eggshell for your project can be tough - so why not give Dulux Heritage Eggshell a try?
Dulux Heritage Eggshell is a fine quality, durable and hardwearing eggshell paint finish for use on interior wood and metal protecting it throughout your home, ensuring it remains beautiful for years to come.
Heritage Eggshell has a stunningly smooth finish which complements the Heritage Velvet Matt for walls.
Choose from a range of over 100 expertly selected colours, including favourites such as Green Clay, China White and Piano White to the absolutely glorious Florentine Red. Inspired by some of the most beautiful periods in British design history all the tones of this colour range sit in perfect harmony with each other.
Claypaint is a water-based emulsion made from using clays, that is safe and clean. The specially formulated breathable paint provides excellent coverage and its thick, creamy consistency makes it very easy to apply. Claypaint is free from solvents and VOCs and is extremely eco-friendly, making it an ideal choice for kids rooms and anyone who suffers with asthma or allergies.
The BEST claypaint is made by Earthborn (in our opinion!)
Earthborn Claypaint is a luxurious, environmentally friendly flat matt paint suitable for interior walls and ceilings around the home. It can also be used in kitchens and bathrooms.
Earthborn Clay Paint is eco friendly containing natural properties, advanced formulation combined with low odour giving high performance and easy application for a professional looking finish.
What’s more, their colours come in super fun names, making the process even better! For example, the colour pictured is called Bo Peep!
Gloss paint is traditionally used for woodwork, doors and trims. The sheen level of gloss paint is high at approximately 90% making it highly reflective and washable. Ranging from high gloss to flexible gloss, it’s a practical option best suited to woodwork and with little preparation required it gives a room with matt walls a greater depth.
There are a lot of glosses that stand out but at the moment, we’re loving Craig & Rose 1829 Vintage Collection Gloss.
The colours truly evoke a vintage feel, which is very on trend this autumn.
Craig & Rose 1829 Vintage Collection Gloss is a durable hard wearing paint which is perfect for all woodwork ie. doors, window and furniture for both inside or outside use.
Craig and Rose Gloss gives excellent coverage and adds striking gloss highlights to your wood - especially panelling!
Satin paint has a beautiful lustre that is often described as appearing velvety or with a glow. Satin is slightly less lustrous than semi-gloss, and can appear to be both flat and glossy, depending on the lighting in the room.
A popular choice in this category is Dulux Quick Dry Satinwood.
Dulux Quick Dry Satinwood paint is a water based emulsion perfect for trim around your house.
Satinwood produces a hard wearing, subtle sheen finish that give a modern look to your interior wood and metal.
Quick Drying Satinwood is an appealing alternative to gloss paint and it has the added benefit of being self undercoating and non yellowing making your job easier and without hassle. With its Quick Dry, low odour formulation, it's both convenient and pleasant to use.
Now you've got all the information you need to plan your next project.
Tap here to explore all of the paints we have to offer now!
