We have plasters walls in our home. Because satin seemed to be a popular choice, we went with that in our bedroom. And I absolutely hate the sheen. We plan to go over it again with the same color but in flat enamel.

The other rooms we have renovated in our home, sans the kitchen, have flat enamel paint by Behr. We love it. Like I said, we have plaster walls so flat paint is perfect for disguising imperfections.

With the flat enamel, it's not so flat that it's dull, but you won't need sunglasses due to glare =P

I love the B/M matte paint. We've used it now in a few rooms and find we prefer the softness of the look. We don't have kids at home anymore and haven't used it in high traffic places like the kitchen so I can't report on washability or touch up performance.

Nope... don't like flat paint at all!

We did the whole interior of our home in Aura Matte about two years ago. I have two preteens and two big dogs so I'm constantly scrubbing walls. It has held up beautifully!

I love flat. The matte-r, the better. I don't have little kids, but even when I did, I used flat paint. I greatly prefer the look on my 100 yr. old plaster walls.

I used flat in our foyer and hall area because the drywall is less than perfect and I didn't want to draw any more attention to it. I and can't wait to repaint! The texture is like newspaper or nails across a chalk board to me. I went with Ace Sensations because I was told it was wonderful, washable, and I thought all flat paint touched up nice. Well, it flashes and I honestly really dislike everything about the paint. Maybe other brands will be different for touch ups. I'll be going eggshell or satin next time.

flat or matte for sure. No walls or ceilings are perfect. I like to come as close to perfection as possible, so we use flat or matte finish on walls and knockdown texure on ceilings.

roseabbey - The Harvest Brown you have on your walls right now, is it flat or matte?

Laurie

Flat, except for use in kitchens. It hides the flaws in plaster walls. However, it's terrible in kitchens around the stove area. I did use BM paint for kitchens and I can wipe off any splashes.

I definitely prefer flat. Might be, in part, because I live in an old farmhouse which wouldn't look right with shiny paint. If I lived in a more modern house I might feel differently.

It is actually ultra suede from Para Paints. It does what it says:

Para ULTRAsuede is a Top Quality Flat 100% Acrylic Designer Finish. Provides semi gloss performance in a smooth, non-reflective flat finish. Due to its washability, this product is appropriate for living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, hallways, dens and family rooms. For professional results, we recommend two coats. Formulated with all the fine qualities of a flat with added technology, providing stain resistance, super washability, burnish resistance, low odor and fast dry. Ideal for concealing surface irregularities.

Love BM flat paint the best. Having a shiny glow to a room makes me cringe.

I've always used flat paint, I prefer it. Every wall and ceiling inside our house is painted with SW flat Superpaint. I have three dogs and reason to wash some wall areas quite frequently. The paint hold up to washing quite well.

I don't like shiney paint or flat paint...I use the flat enamel by Behr. Not flat, not shiney, just right. And it's a nice paint to work with.

Love BM Aura flat paint. Very washable and even though it is more expensive, it's self-priming and the coverage is excellent so you use less paint. Low odor too and it resists fading. I hate shine unless it is on paneling or trim.

Absolutely - I will most likely never paint eggshell again, and never, never satin!

Most recently I painted SW Duration Matte in the kitchen and used BM Regal Pearl AquaPearl finish on the trim. Love them both!

Definitely flat (defects are less noticeable). The only room that I've used otherwise was my bathroom (used BM Pearl). I wanted something a little more washable in the BR, but didn't want semi-gloss. Still, I had rather have flat even in the BR as it gives more of a even appearance w/o sheen. I just wasn't sure if I could find a paint that would tolerate water splatters, etc. The Pearl finish has.

Love the flat finishes. Hate shiny paint, except in perhaps a very specific circumstance. DonâÂÂt like trim painted with a shiny finish, either.

I much prefer no sheen at all unless it's on woodwork or trim.

And anything with a sheen is going to be very unforgiving of the wall finish and the actual paint job. If I see one streak, it's ruined.

I'm a fan of flat. We use SW flat in all rooms except kitchen and baths, and then go for the lowest sheen we can. I think flat looks much richer and I dislike sheen.

We currently live in a 100 yr old house, and love that flat paint. I can touch up cracks in the plaster, sand it out a bit, and the flat paint makes it look great. I always used to buy the Super Paint from SW, but lately I tried the Cashmere paint, and it is very nice.

We've done pearl, semi-gloss, eggshell and matte. I like matte best, especially for darker richer saturated colors.

I prefer Pearl Finish (in between egg shell and satin) for the walls and high gloss for the trim (but did semi-gloss for the trim due to the painting contractors preferring it). I don't like the way flat paint feels on my hands and I find the pearl finish richer. just my opinion.

I'm really surprised this many people like flat, but glad to hear it.

Laurie

I find flat washes just fine if there is enough paint on the walls. A scrub with an old washcloth will remove the dirt while redistributing the paint. It helps to feather the edges.

If there is not enough paint on the walls it can leave a bare spot.
Grease spots must be primed and touched up, however.

I like Valspar and Sherwin Williams (and their price points) and will continue to use them.

I much prefer flat. Sometimes satin can seem harsh. I used flat for the first time in the bathroom and while I like the way it looks, it does show spots in places and I can't figure out why. They don't seem to be water spots.

I use flat everywhere but in bathrooms and kitchen. On trim I use oil, which does not shine like latex

igloo makes some excellent points!

I use flat on the walls and semigloss on the trim. And until I came to this forum, I never heard of or used BM paints( sorry faron) or SW. For years we used Sears paints, and then moved to Behr or valspar at HD or Lowes.
That said we are about to paint our bathroom in eggshell finish, and I am getting a bit worried about the sheen having never used anything but flat on our old plaster walls.

marti8a - What brand of paint did you use? I don't know if you're seeing small spots or big spots, but I've been trying samples of BM on the wall. I just tried a Behr color the other day and when I look at the wall from the side, I see these big splotchy spots.

igloochic - Your comment about staying with high quality flat paints may explain my big splotches, but then again I hear great reviews of HD's paint. I just used the regular though and not the one with the primer, so I wonder if that would make a difference.

cooperbailey - I never heard of BM until I came here either.

Laurie

Pardon me if I've missed this....but.....the OP said 'I noticed Behr has Flat enamel and BM has Matte, which is between flat and eggshell.'

My question is: Can you touch up with the BM Matte paint without it being noticed? I have always preferred flat paint because you can touch up a portion of a wall without seeing a 'patch'. Can this be done with the BM Matte as well?

Who wouldn't want a paint that is washable? But on the other hand, I wouldn't want it if it means any touched-up area will be noticeable. I tend to touch up my walls periodically in the main traffic areas, and this is important to me.

FYI this thread is a month old.

So glad to read about experiences with flat paint!
I normally got to SW (no BM close) and their satin is pretty shiny for me but never thought of choosing a flat sheen. I'll try their SuperPaint in flat in the future.

BM Matte! My painbter recommended it when he painted the foyer and upstairs hall knowing I have four kids.

I do not like flat paint at all. In fact, I am starting to love glossy glossy paint.

I've been using the Ace flat matte and the BM matte. Love both. NOw that I live without shine, can't do the shine. My bathroom bugs me because I did it 2 years ago in eggshell and I see the shimmer..........

Red

Last spring I used SW Cashmere paint in our bedroom (dark orange/brownish color) and just love it. The *look* of that finish is so rich and vibrant ~ and it went on like silk. Will be using it again for sure :)

Definitely flat. BM flat matte is beautiful in my library and it's washable. No shiny rooms for us.

I used to prefer eggshell back when I was using the cheapest possible paint, since the cheap mattes seemed chalky and bland.

After I discovered Ben Moore, and particularly Aura a while back, I now LOVE flat/matte paint. The Aura matte has such a beautiful, soft texture... rich and elegant. Plus, as mentioned, imperfect walls look much nicer in flat paint.

Aura matte on walls, semigloss on trim = beautiful!

I prefer flat, but am not opposed to eggshell in kitchens and bathrooms where the cleaning needs to be done more vigorously (in my house, anyway). I have semi-gloss on trim (by previous owners). I love the gloss on my mom's flat walls & gloss trim. My trim is original & nice, so I suspect the gloss would be fantastic and add that something-something to the great wood details. I'll probably try a room with gloss trim some day when I'm bored.

I have a 5 yr old, so I do have paint cleaning to keep up with on a regular basis. Chocolate milk splatters and grimey hands are inevitable in my house...in every room. lol!

My entire house was flat paint throughout when I bought it. I do touch-ups with paint a lot (thanks to the kid) and the spots blend in just fine.

Spots where I've tried to clean with magic eraser are UGLY and obvious. Cleanups with a damp washcloth are not as bad as magic eraser, but are still there...even on minor quick wipe-down spots.

I've re-done my bathroom and went from flat to eggshell to avoid the constant touch-ups and it looks great. Thrilled I can clean & magic-eraser it without incident.

Right now, my kitchen is flat (by previous owners) and I will be re-doing the room. I'll use eggshell when the time comes for same cleanup reasons.

When I paint the other rooms, I will use flat again and be okay with touching up.

Gayle

We have SW Duration satin and BM eggshell on the walls, and SW ProClassic semi-gloss on the trim.

DH doesn't like flat paint, and I couldn't convince him that the matte wasn't flat :-) He says he doesn't like the feel of flat paint and doesn't believe that the matte is washable enough.

I would probably prefer the matte except in the kitchen and bathrooms, but it matters more to him than it does to me so I gave in on this one. I do prefer semi-gloss for trim.