Choosing the Right Paint for Your Home
Not sure which type of paint is best for your space? Our expert guide breaks down finishes, durability, and design trends to help you make the right choice. At Brush Magic Decorators, we combine decades of experience with up-to-date insight to ensure your home looks its best—inside and out.
Matt Paint
Matt paint offers a smooth, non-reflective finish that creates a soft, elegant look.
Unlike sheen paints, it absorbs light rather than bouncing it back, making it ideal for spaces where you want a calm, understated atmosphere. Its low-glare surface provides a clean canvas that helps conceal minor imperfections, giving walls a more uniform appearance. With a quick drying time of around two hours, matt paint is both practical and visually soothing. However, it’s worth noting that matt finishes are more susceptible to scuffs and marks, so they may require a bit more care in high-traffic areas
Eggshell Paint
Eggshell paint provides a subtle sheen—slightly glossier than matt, yet still understated compared to high-sheen finishes.
Its smooth, low-reflective surface helps mask minor imperfections while offering a clean, elegant look. The term “eggshell” refers to the finish itself: soft, flat, and gently lustrous. Unlike matt paint, eggshell is more durable and better suited to areas that see regular wear, making it a smart choice for walls, skirting boards, and other frequently touched surfaces.
Satin & Silk Paint
Satin and silk paints offer a step up in sheen compared to matt and eggshell finishes.
Their higher reflectiveness gives surfaces a subtle glow, while added durability makes them ideal for areas that need to withstand more wear and tear. Satin paint is particularly versatile, with a finish that shifts subtly depending on the lighting—though it’s less effective at hiding surface imperfections than flatter paints.
Thanks to their resilience and smooth sheen, satin and silk paints are well-suited to woodwork and metal surfaces. Silk, which shares a similar sheen level with satin, is specially formulated for high-traffic areas like hallways, kitchens, and bathrooms, where durability and easy cleaning are key.
Gloss Paint
Gloss paint delivers the highest level of sheen, creating a bright, mirror-like finish that reflects light and adds vibrancy to any space.
Known for its durability, gloss is commonly used on trim, doors, and woodwork where a clean, sharp look is desired. It’s especially effective in enhancing natural and artificial light, making rooms feel more energetic and polished.
However, gloss paint highlights surface imperfections, so it’s best applied to smooth, well-prepared areas. Bumps, dents, or uneven textures will be more noticeable under its reflective surface. Thanks to its tough, wipeable finish, gloss is ideal for high-moisture or high-traffic areas like kitchens, bathrooms, and woodwork throughout the home