Interior Paint, The Basics

There is interior paint and then there is interior paint!  All paints are not created equally and all do not work equally well.

Here’s the thing about paint and the first time you decide to paint a room.  It isn’t as easy as picking a color.  We will get to colors later.  But, before you even start thinking about what color you want to use, there are a few things every woman — and every man — needs to know about paint.

Interior Paint Basics

Acrylic latex is what to look for when painting interior walls in most rooms.  To keep it simple, unless you are painting the kitchen or the bathroom, always use acrylic latex paint.  In the kitchen and bathroom, you can use this type for large flat surfaces, but all in all around the tub, sink or other work areas we will discuss other solutions that will make life easier in the long run.

The Three Basic Finishes

There are three basic finishes to interior paints.  Now, in our world everything has been complicated somewhat, but here are the three basics:

1. Flat
2. Satin
3. Semi-Gloss or Gloss

Gloss or Semi-Gloss Paint

Working backwards, gloss and semi-gloss paints are really shiny.  They good for trims such as door frames and doors, window sills and window trim.  It is not so good for walls because it is too shiny.

Most often you will see enamel where you will find finger prints.  The gloss family of  paint is easy to wipe clean.  Buy glossy for the trim, doors, windows, etc.

Satin Finish Paint

Satin paint is one of the most popular today because it gives a little sheen to walls without making them too shiny.  It falls somewhere between shiny (semi-gloss) and flat.  Most new homes are profesionally painted with a satin finish.

If this is a DIY project, stay away from satin finishes.  Satin finish is extremely hard to work with to make it look as good as “they” say it will look, even for professionals. 

Most painters paint an area of about 6″ around the top of the wall and the same at the bottom, just above the toe molding.  It just makes sense if you are going to use a roller.  Satin finish dries rather quickly.  Of course, it isn’t completely dry, but it dries enough that if you paint the top band and the bottom band and then start painting the larger wall areas you will always see the bands with satin finishes.  I have seen professionals fight the problem when there were several painting at once, one doing the top band, one doing the bottom, and the third spraying or rolling.

There are a couple of other issues with satin finish paints.  First of all, if the walls are not perfect (and none are) every dip or slight bulge will show up as if you have magnified the imperfection. 

Second, it is impossible to touch up an area after the paint has dried.  For example, let’s say you decide to move a picture.  You may have to patch the space where the nail or screw went into the wall before painting over it.  With satin finish paints, it will look like you patched the wall and painted over it.  In other words, you could have painted a bullseye where the picture was.

Flat Finishes 

Flat paint is what you should probably use if you are painting an apartment or repainting an existing home yourself. 

Aside from the fact that flat finish paints hide blemishes better than other finishes, most of us will discover that there are a few spots that need a little extra paint after it has had time to dry.  With a flat finish paint a touch up is not a problem.  Just paint the area and feather it out a little.  No one will ever notice the touch up.

Bottom line:  Buy acrylic latex flat finish interior wall paint for DIY projects when painting large wall areas in most rooms.