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Use flat paint on ceilings, and matte or eggshell on bedroom and living room walls. Kitchens and busy halls suit eggshell or satin, and bathrooms suit satin. Trim, doors and cabinets take satin or semi-gloss. On the Master Painters Institute's 7-level gloss scale, each step up generally cleans more easily but shows more flaws.
What are the paint sheens, from flattest to shiniest?
The common sheens are flat, matte, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss and gloss, in that order. Sheen is measured with a gloss meter. The Master Painters Institute (MPI) sorts paint into 7 gloss levels by how much light bounces back at a 60-degree angle.
Sheen:
how much light a dried paint film reflects, from flat (almost none) to high gloss (close to a mirror).
| MPI level | Common name | Gloss units at 60° |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Flat or matte | 5 or less |
| 2 | Velvet, a matte with a faint glow | 10 or less |
| 3 | Eggshell | 10 to 25 |
| 4 | Satin (some brands say pearl) | 20 to 35 |
| 5 | Semi-gloss | 35 to 70 |
| 6 | Gloss | 70 to 85 |
| 7 | High gloss | More than 85 |
Paint makers choose the names on the can themselves. Benjamin Moore calls one finish "satin/pearl", and one maker's eggshell can look like another's satin. Before you commit, paint a large sample board and look at it on the wall at noon and again at night.
Which sheen should you use in each room?
Match the sheen to how often the room gets touched, splashed and scrubbed. Quiet rooms can go flatter. Kitchens, bathrooms, halls and kids' rooms need a finish that survives a wet cloth, and trim, doors and cabinets need the hardest finish of all.
| Room or surface | Sheen | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ceilings | Flat | Hides seams and roller marks, and no glare |
| Living and dining rooms, bedrooms | Matte or eggshell | Soft look that hides small flaws |
| Kids' rooms and playrooms | Eggshell, satin or a scrubbable matte | Crayon and fingerprints wipe off |
| Kitchens | Eggshell or satin | Grease and splashes clean off |
| Bathrooms and laundry rooms | Satin, or a bathroom-rated matte | Handles steam and frequent wiping |
| Front halls, mudrooms and stairwells | Eggshell or satin | Stands up to hands, bags and boots |
| Trim and interior doors | Satin or semi-gloss | Scuffs and fingerprints wash off |
| Kitchen cabinets | Satin or semi-gloss enamel | A hard, washable film |
GTA homes add a few twists. Front halls and mudrooms take winter salt, wet boots and hockey bags, so a washable sheen earns its keep there. Basement rec rooms often have pot lights close to the walls, and that light shows every drywall seam, so keep those walls low in sheen.
Is eggshell or satin better for walls?
Eggshell is the safer choice for most walls. It has a faint glow, wipes clean and hides small flaws better than satin. Satin resists stains and scrubs more easily, but it shows roller marks, lap marks and patched spots more clearly.
Choose satin where walls get washed often: a kitchen, a bathroom, a child's room or a busy stairwell. Choose eggshell, or a premium matte sold as washable, for living rooms, dining rooms and bedrooms. Flat paint on walls looks lovely, but it marks easily, and scrubbing it can leave shiny patches.
Burnishing:
shiny spots that appear when a low-sheen finish is rubbed or scrubbed, often along hallways and behind chairs.
The paint line matters as well as the sheen. Premium lines are sold on washability and stain resistance, even in their flatter finishes. Our guide to premium and contractor-grade paint explains what to look for on the data sheet.
What sheen should trim, doors and cabinets be?
Semi-gloss is the traditional choice for trim and doors, because it is hard, smooth and easy to wipe. Satin is the popular alternative. It still cleans well, but it looks softer, and it hides dents and old brush marks better. Cabinets need a satin or semi-gloss enamel made to cure hard.
Keep one sheen for all the trim in a room, and let the doors match it. On trim that carries decades of coats, which is common in older Toronto homes, satin forgives more than semi-gloss. For the smoothest doors and cabinet fronts, spraying usually beats brushing. Our guide to spraying or brushing trim and doors covers when each makes sense.
Trim is priced by length. Trim and door painting with Great North runs $2.50–$4.00 per linear ft for baseboard, casing and crown, before HST.
Which sheen hides wall imperfections best?
Flat and matte hide imperfections best. The shinier the paint, the more it shows dents, patches, drywall seams and roller texture. That matters most where light skims along a wall at a low angle.
Think of a condo with floor-to-ceiling windows, or a long hallway lit from one end. Low light rakes across the wall and turns every bump into a shadow. In those spots, drop a sheen level, or plan for more patching and sanding before a shinier finish goes on.
Patches bring their own problem. Filler absorbs paint differently from the wall around it, so a patch can show through as a dull or shiny spot. A coat of primer over each repair evens it out, as our guide to fixing nail pops, cracks and holes explains.
Flashing:
a patch or touch-up that shows as a duller or shinier spot, because it reflects light differently from the paint around it.
Touch-ups follow the same rule. Flat paint touches up best, while semi-gloss and gloss often flash. That is one more reason to keep walls in the lower sheens.
Can you change the sheen when you repaint?
Yes, but the old finish decides the prep. Going from flat to eggshell over sound latex paint needs cleaning and a light sand. Going from gloss to a lower sheen means dulling the old gloss first, or the new paint may not grip.
Old oil-based enamel is the common trap on GTA trim. Latex paint over glossy oil can peel unless the surface is sanded and primed with a bonding primer. A quick rubbing-alcohol test tells you what you have, and our guide on when you need primer walks through it. In a home built before 1960, have the old paint tested for lead before anyone sands it.
How do you get a price for painting with the right sheens?
Start with Get My Estimate for a price range in about a minute. A crew lead then looks over your photos, so send your sheen questions with them, room by room. The written quote follows
within 24 hours of seeing the job and names the paint by brand and line.
For interior painting, a bedroom's walls start
from $450, and a living or dining room runs $700–$1,500, before HST. A room booked on its own is billed at no less than the $750 + HST minimum. The interior painting cost guide breaks down ceilings, trim and whole homes.