What paint finish should I use? Matt, silk or gloss explained
Walk into any DIY store and you will find the same paint colour available in five or six different finishes. The difference between them is more than just appearance: each finish has different practical properties that make it better or worse suited to particular rooms and surfaces. Picking the wrong one is a common DIY mistake that is easy to avoid once you understand what each finish actually does.
This guide covers the main finishes available in the UK market, what they are best suited for, and where they fall short.
Matt emulsion
Matt emulsion has a flat, non-reflective finish that absorbs light rather than bouncing it back. This has a practical benefit: it is the most forgiving finish for imperfect walls. Small dents, filled cracks, uneven plasterwork, and minor surface irregularities are far less visible under matt paint than under a sheen finish, because the flat surface does not create the shadows that highlight bumps.
Matt is the default choice for most living rooms and bedrooms in the UK, which is why it accounts for the majority of emulsion sales. It does have a drawback: it is less washable than sheen finishes. Scuff marks and fingerprints can be harder to remove without leaving a dull patch, particularly on cheaper matt formulations.
Better-quality matt emulsions like Dulux Easycare Matt are formulated to wipe clean more easily while keeping the flat appearance. These cost more but are worth it in family homes where walls take regular contact.
Silk emulsion
Silk emulsion has a low sheen that catches light and gives walls a slightly reflective quality. It is more washable than standard matt, which makes it appealing for hallways, children's rooms, and kitchens where marks are a regular problem.
The trade-off is that silk shows up surface imperfections far more clearly than matt. Any poorly filled crack, ridge from a previous paint job, or slightly uneven plasterwork will be visible under raking light when a silk finish is applied. If your walls are not in good condition, silk will make them look worse, not better.
Silk also tends to show roller marks more readily, particularly in colours with mid-depth tones. Applying it with a good-quality, short-pile roller and maintaining a wet edge throughout each coat reduces this risk.
Eggshell
Eggshell sits between matt and silk in terms of sheen level. The name is a good description: the finish has a subtle, soft glow similar to the surface of an egg. It is most commonly used on walls in kitchens, bathrooms, and dining rooms where you want something more durable than matt but less shiny than silk.
Water-based eggshell has largely replaced oil-based versions in most residential applications. Products like Farrow and Ball's Estate Eggshell or Little Greene's Oil Eggshell are used extensively in period properties where designers want a quality finish on walls without the full reflectivity of silk.
Satin and satinwood
Satin finishes are primarily used on woodwork: skirting boards, architrave, doors, and window frames. Satinwood has a mid-level sheen that is more durable than emulsion and handles the regular contact that woodwork receives in a household.
Water-based satinwood has improved significantly over the last decade. Brands like Dulux Quick Dry Satinwood and Johnstone's Aqua Satin dry faster than oil-based alternatives, have less smell, and clean up with water. The finish is slightly less hard-wearing than oil-based gloss but adequate for most domestic woodwork.
Gloss
Full gloss is a high-sheen finish used almost exclusively on woodwork in the UK. It is the hardest-wearing paint finish you can apply to interior surfaces and is highly washable. In older properties, the original woodwork will often be under layers of oil-based gloss applied over decades.
The downsides of gloss are that it takes longer to apply properly, it yellows over time (particularly oil-based versions in rooms with limited natural light), and it amplifies every imperfection in the surface underneath. Any filled nail hole or sanding mark needs to be dealt with carefully before glossing or it will be visible in the finished result.
High-gloss paint on walls rather than woodwork is occasionally used in specific decorative contexts, such as a feature wall in a hallway or a bathroom, but it is not a standard choice for general decoration.
Choosing the right finish by room
- Living room: Matt emulsion on walls; satinwood or gloss on woodwork
- Bedroom: Matt emulsion; eggshell if you prefer a slight sheen on feature walls
- Hallway: Silk or durable matt emulsion due to higher wall contact; satinwood on woodwork
- Kitchen: Eggshell or silk on walls for washability; satinwood or gloss on woodwork
- Bathroom: Bathroom-specific emulsion (moisture resistant); satinwood or gloss on woodwork
- Children's rooms: Durable matt or silk for ease of cleaning
A note on ceiling paint
Ceiling paint is almost always flat white matt. Sheen on a ceiling catches overhead light and creates an unpleasant effect in most rooms. A dedicated ceiling paint like Dulux Ceiling White has a higher opacity than standard emulsion and is formulated to reduce drips when rolling overhead, which makes the job noticeably easier.
If your ceilings are in poor condition with visible patches and staining, a white primer coat before the ceiling paint will give a more even result and stop stains bleeding through over time.
