Paint Types

By the way, I am talking about paint for living room and bedrooms. Kitchen and bathrooms will be semi-gloss.

There are so-called "scrubbable" flat paints but whether they are or not, I don't know.

I can tell you that eggshell is not a texture, it's a level of gloss between semi-gloss and flat.

Go with the flat. I did my walls 7+ years ago. I do a touch-up every 6 months or so -- it still looks as good as when it was all freshly skimcoated and painted. I don't have children either, but when I do, I really don't fear keeping the flat paint. I've had guests spill red wine on white walls, I've had furniture scuffs, dirt, etc. mark them up. It all comes out looking clean if you use those Mr. Clean wall sponges for any major discoloration, and then just touch up paint as needed.

Here's another way of looking at it --

I for one greatly dislike flat paint - I find it hard to keep clean and find it shows scratches and dirt easily, and looks dingy faster (to me). Then again I don't use those Mr Clean sponges b/c they contain formaldehyde -- and I avoid chemical-y cleaning products like the plague. So maybe if you use those, the paint stays cleaner? The other thing is I am low maintenance and could not ever imagine touching up my walls every 6 months. So if that is what it would take to keep it looking good - obviously someone who isn't likely to be so attentive to the upkeep may not like it. However, if you're like kas242 - then you might be really happy with flat.

So if you're like me and aren't likely to perform expert upkeep, well, I prefer an eggshell or semi finish.

Why don't you try painting two large pieces of wood or cardboard or something... and then stand them up side by side and see which you like??

...which was all a long-winded way of saying -- probably depends on your personality type!

We made the mistake of using flat paint the last time we had our apartment painted. Within a few weeks, our son had hand prints everywhere. Trying to clean the walls created a worse mess. We're now in the process of painting again and are using eggshell and semi-gloss.

Many years ago I worked in a beautiful, palatial restaurant in Los Angeles & I remember that there was a fellow who would go around at night after it closed & just touch up the walls here & there ......... but I have absolutely no idea what kind of paint it was. It was a very soft light color, maybe a cream or an ecru. Hmmm, haven't thought of that in years but I thought it was a great idea!

Velvet wallpapers are the best. No paint!

I have painted various apartments since the 1980s as a do-it-yourselfer. The best paint I've used is Pratt & Lambert Accolade Interior Acrylic Latex Velvet. Very low sheen, extremely durable. I have painted over smoke stains (from using a fireplace) two years after the initial paint job and you couldn't tell the difference! I would not recommend flat since it's extremely hard to clean.

Farrow and Ball, a British company, makes a very nice low-sheen paint. You have to import it, so it's expensive, but it will last for years. Also, the paint color matches the chips, which American paints never do. Finally, it has no preservatives in it, so it's not at all stinky the way off-the-shelf paint here is. (I haven't tried the Benjamin Moore low VOC paint).

Pratt and Lambert low-sheen may be very nice, but their semi-gloss is quite drippy and hard to work with. Just for that reason, if you want something you can get in the hardware store, I would go Benjamin Moore over Pratt and Lambert.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

i second farrow and ball. we used modern emulsion in the hallway and estate emulsion on ceilings and lower traffic areas such as master bedroom...

coverage is excellent and there is no smell.

Front Porch: Farrow & Ball is the only paint company that still actually paints its samples / chips (rather than using color printing techniques), which explains why you think the color is more accurate.

kas242 -- cool fact, thank you!

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Thanks for all of the suggestions. Farrow & Ball sounds great. However, we are prettry much settled on some Ben Moore colors and don't want to re-open that nightmarish process, so I think we will stick with BM.

Here's a question. We had all of our walls skim coated so now they look really smooth. In my current apartment (which we are in until the renos on the new one are done next month) the walls have a definite eggshellish texture. I am not sure whether that is more from the paint (which was either matte or eggshell) or the texture of the walls themselves. In any event, I hate that texture. I love the smoothness of the skim coated walls in the new apartment. If matte or eggshell is just going to add back all the texture in the new apartment that we got rid of through skim coating then I think I will just take my chances with flat. So, does anything other than flat add texture to the walls? Will even flat paint add a little texture? Thanks.

colgin...i believe that will depend on the quality of the paint. i understand you may not want to reopen the paint debate but the amount of latex/artificial ingredients in the paint may add texture. i suggest you go to a high end paint store with these questions. i ended up using farrow and ball because i also hate any shine on the walls. also, just so you're prepared your skim job may start to crack or peel a bit so your paint decision may get a redo when/if you have to paint again.

IMHO, Benjamin Moore flat will be fine. Be sure to use BM primer ("First Coat") and to give it the proper drying time between coats.

ali r.
{downtown broker}

Check out the new Benjamin Moore Aura paint. Supposed to be their highest quality and they advertise a matt finish where "stains wash off easily".

The finish also greatly depends on how the painters apply the paint. ie If you use a medium roller you will also get an orange peel/eggshell look on the paint surface.