Matte is good if you have imperfect walls. Eggshell - good all around finish. Pearl - If you want something with a little sheen. Semigloss for trim only.

I did matte at first but my home is not very well lit and I have super-dark wood floors, so it looked terrible and drab.

I'm slowly changing everything over to eggshell (note: I used in Glidden and it's v. shiny, so I would say it matches Pearl in Ben Moore or similar) and it's great for bouncing the light around and making the rooms look a lot better better.

This is where I'm at, too. I just did the bathroom in a creamy white. While I love the color and it's working very well in there, I think it looks kind of dead. There's no play on the walls. No murky depth, not luminous color. It's Aura Bath & Spa which is matte only. Had planned on doing the whole house in matte due to rave reviews and because I've always loved flat paint.

I grew up with eggshell, so I'm thinking I'm so used to seeing a little glow and variation on the walls or something. It just falls very, well, flat. And I really like the color! I'm thinking I need to try an eggshell. I do like the way the matte is hiding blemishes so well.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Fri, Jan 18, 13 at 10:12

I'm very sensitive to lighting, and partial to lamplight, so I usually prefer eggshell to matte, because it gives back a warm glow wherever the lamplight hits it.

Some matte finishes in deep colors have a wonderful velvety quality, but are only practical where the walls are rarely touched and don't have to be cleaned beyond the occasional light dusting, because that matte finish can wear away and leave shiny spots much too easily. (Some of the newer, more sophisticated formulations may hold up better.)

I also love a shiny lacquer finish for depth and drama in some places, but only if the wall or ceiling surface and the application are dead bang perfect. Otherwise, it can too easily look sort of tawdry and tragic.

I like a warm glow, too, and am very sensitive to color and light. I can see where it has kind of a velvety finish, so could be very appealing in darker colors. Light falling on white, I think I need a little glow!

P.S. Why do I say this? The flat walls I've loved are white. Something is amiss.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Fri, Jan 18, 13 at 13:21

I guess I'm the oddball because I don't like shiny walls at all! I like flat all around, except for trim, and I only like to do eggshell on trim. When we built our house 3 years ago the builder told us they require an addition 5K deposit for buyers wanting any finish other than flat. Their reasoning was that they would have to repaint the house with flat paint if the buyer backed out because no one liked the shiny walls. I have started using BM matte finish, but only because I have young triplets and I need to be able to clean the walls. The sheen drove me crazy at first, but I got used to it.

For us, no flat anywhere.

I am in the process of repainting my whole house. I used a semi-gloss in the kitchen and Aura Bath & Spa paint for the bathroom. The Aura paint doesn't show streaks of humidity.

When I moved into my c. 1875 home I presumed that flat wall paint would be best with my wavy plaster walls. What a nightmare. You can't clean them without smudging the walls and making a mess. Never, ever gain, no matter how much I like the look of flat. I used satin in my condo and really liked the slight sheen on my sage walls.

Great point on humidity streaks! I don't think I'll have them anymore due to the new rain head shower. I have seen no steam at all and the fan isn't even hooked up yet!

I don't think of eggshell as shiny because it's so soft and subtle. I'm surprised you really notice a sheen on the matte, but there are very limited viewing angles in this bathroom! Most of it I see head on, walking in.

I don't usually go for shiny walls either, or in a house like this, except in special cases like Bronwynsmom noted.

I've tried just about every sheen everywhere, but my preferences are:
Drywall walls: Matte
Wood-clad walls: Satin (although we found that Sherwin-Williams satin was much less shiny than Benjamin Moore and went with the duller Sherwin Williams satin)
Trim and cabinetry: Satin
Wood ceilings: Satin in bedrooms, Semi-gloss elsewhere. Just not flat. I did the wood ceiling in the kitchen in flat and it looks horrible. Looking forward to changing it to semi-gloss.

I think sheen is such a personal preference thing, but I'm happy to have figured out what I like best.

This post was edited by wi-sailorgirl on Fri, Jan 18, 13 at 14:06

Any eggshell lovers out there? Would love to hear why you prefer this finish!

Or the whys of sheen haters, too, lol.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Thu, Feb 7, 13 at 21:22

Flat enamel...I dont like "shiney" paint but a complete flat gets marked up.

enamel where needed on doors/trim etc.

No one here prefers eggshell?

I just painted a powder room in satin, and I think it's a tad too shiny, and wish I had gone for the eggshell. I love a satin finish on painted furniture because it has a soft glow, and enough light reflection to highlight the details of the piece. The satin on the walls just looks a bit too institutional/commercial, if that makes sense.

All future wall painting projects will be done in eggshell.

I can imagine the satin is too much for most walls. Is eggshell what you usually use? Have you ever tried flat?

This post was edited by snookums2 on Thu, Feb 7, 13 at 22:08

A few people actually did say they prefer eggshell. I prefer eggshell in my home - the walls are textured ("knockdown" - very common here in the SF bay area) and it looks very drab with flat paint. Eggshell does not look shiny at all on our walls, just not dead looking, and can be cleaned.

On very smooth plaster in a room with tons of natural light, I like the look of matte paint. But generally I prefer eggshell.

aggierose, I am pretty sure that the builders asked for a deposit because they use builder flat paint they buy in bulk cheap. Anything else is a "special upgrade".

After years of flat, now doing satin everywhere. I find the satin brings life to the room. The darker the color the more "shiny" it looks. I would imagine that the sheens may vary between paint manufacturers.

We've always used eggshell but I recently tried flat on a limited area and I don't like the feel of it at all, seems like chalk.