High gloss, satin or matt: which sheen should you pick?

Most people choose a colour with care, but the sheen level is often decided hastily at the last minute. That is a shame, because sheen shapes the look of a room or front door at least as much. The same colour looks completely different in high gloss than in matt. Sheen also affects how easily you can clean a surface and how many imperfections you notice. This article sets out the sheen levels side by side and explains which choice suits which part of your home.

1. What the sheen level does

The sheen level tells you how much light a painted surface reflects. The higher the sheen, the smoother and harder the paint film generally is. That makes glossy paint easier to wash and more hard-wearing, but also less forgiving: every dent, scratch or filler seam is magnified by the light. Matt paint does the opposite and gives a calm surface on which small imperfections are less noticeable.

Sheen also changes how you perceive colour. A dark green front door in high gloss looks deep and classic, while the same colour in matt comes across as bolder and more modern. The same goes indoors: a white wall in matt feels soft, whereas satin looks a little crisper and cooler. So it pays to choose sheen and colour together rather than separately.

2. Matt and dead flat for walls and ceilings

Matt is the standard for walls and ceilings. It gives an even look without shiny patches, even in raking light from a large window, and hides small irregularities in the plaster. That is why latex paint on walls and ceilings is almost always applied in a matt finish, whether it is sprayed or rolled. The pros and cons of those two techniques are covered in spraying or rolling latex paint.

The drawback of traditional matt wall paint used to be that marks were hard to remove. Today premium brands make matt wall paints that are scrubbable, so you can still wipe down a hallway, child's bedroom or kitchen wall. For ceilings, which nobody touches, a dead flat finish is ideal. You notice the difference most of all on a sprayed ceiling, which then looks seamless.

3. Satin as the all-rounder

Satin, sometimes called eggshell or silk, sits between matt and high gloss. It has a soft sheen that looks crisp without immediately magnifying imperfections. That makes it the most widely used finish for interior woodwork: window frames, doors, skirting boards and banisters.

Satin is used a lot outdoors too, for instance on the window frames of modern homes and on sheds and timber outbuildings. It is a little more forgiving on wood that moves over the years. For parts you touch a lot, such as interior doors and stairs, a hard-wearing satin gloss is a sensible choice. You can read more about that in the article on painting interior doors and stairs.

4. High gloss for doors and accents

High gloss is the traditional finish for exterior woodwork in the Netherlands. On many older homes and canal houses you see glossy window frames and doors, and that is no coincidence: a closed, smooth surface lets rainwater run off well and dirt clings to it less. High gloss does, however, demand perfect preparation, because every imperfection shows.

As an accent, high gloss is striking. A front door in a deep colour with a mirror-like finish draws the eye immediately, like the grey front door with a high gloss finish that Oranje Kwast painted. If you want to know how a door like that is tackled from start to finish, read everything about painting a front door.

5. The choice for each element

As a rule of thumb, you can use this breakdown:

• Ceilings: dead flat, for a calm and even surface.
• Walls: matt, or scrubbable matt in hallways, kitchens and children's rooms.
• Interior doors, window frames and skirting boards: satin, crisp and easy to wipe clean.
• Exterior window frames and front door: high gloss for a classic building, satin for a more modern look.

If you are in doubt, have a test patch painted somewhere inconspicuous and look at it in daylight and under artificial light. During the free consultation our painter advises which sheen suits your home and the chosen paint, so that colour, sheen and surface form a coherent whole. If you live in or around Purmerend, also take a look at interior painting in Purmerend.

In practice this topic belongs with interior painting and exterior painting. There you can read about the approach and the options, or request a free, no-obligation quote straight away.

Further reading: Interior painting in Haarlem, Interior painting in Amstelveen, Interior painting in Wormerveer.

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