Paint sheen varies from flat to high gloss and each sheen has its own characteristics - as does each room in your home. Let's play matchmaker and find the perfect sheen for the rooms in your home. 

High Gloss

• The most durable and easiest to clean
• hard, ultra shiny, and light reflecting
• Where to use:
  • a great choice where sticky fingers come into play; think kitchen cabinets, trim, and doors. 
  • However, high gloss is too much shine for walls. Think about spandex: shows every bump and roll there is. If you do choose high gloss for walls (and the higher sheens: semi-gloss, satin, eggshell) don't skip on your prep work! Read our blog about drywall finish!

Semi-gloss

• Great choice for rooms with moisture! Think of a long hot steam shower or Grandma's fried chicken recipe. Also, semi-gloss works great for trim that takes a lot of abuse. We all grab tightly to that trim when swinging around the corner of the house. 
• high durability
• Where to use:
  • kitchens
  • bathrooms
  • chair rails
  • trim

Satin

• Despite the name, this finish has a velvety texture. It is a beautiful paint to use in showpiece rooms like your foyer, family room, hallways, etc. 
• Easy to clean and works great for high traffic areas
• Biggest flaw: it reveals every paint stroke and application, so touch-ups can be tricky. Also, satin requires a higher level of sheetrock finish. 
• Where to use: 
  • family rooms
  • foyers
  • hallways
  • kids' bedrooms

Eggshell

• Between satin and flat sheen is eggshell, named for its flat finish with very little luster - literally, a chicken eggshell. 
• medium durability, but covers wall imperfections well
• This product is great for rooms with little traffic areas:
  • dining rooms
  • living rooms

Flat

• If you have a wall with ugly imperfections and looking for a paint to cover everything up, then choose flat.
• lat hides all imperfections because the sheen soaks up light rather than reflecting.
• Most pigmented, and provides the most coverage. Think full coverage makeup foundation.
• Biggest issue: flat sheen paint is really tough to clean. Get something on the wall, and you can count on wiping the paint off when you clean it. 
• Where to use: 
  • adult bedrooms
  • any rooms that don't have potential for a child's beautiful Crayola artwork or spaghetti fingers

A Few Tips: 

• Dark and rich paint color requires a high sheen, but with a high sheen comes a shiny effect. If you don't want the shiny effect, set[ down at least one level of sheen. A darker, more rich color will only enhance the sheen. 
• The higher the sheen, the more defects will show
• The higher the sheen, the higher the cost

When faced with a new renovations project, our design process begins with a story. But it's not our story.

It all begins with a conversation. Of course, we ask 'how many bedrooms do you need?, 'do you want an open floor plan or more formal living spaces?' etc. The most important conversation is learning and listening to the homeowner's daly life. We truly believe that home is the most important place on Earth. It is where a family grows, learns, and gathers. 

It is important to characterize and understand the clients' daily life and how they work, play, eat and live in a home, along with how they want the look and feel of their home to be. Whether is be warm and cozy, modern, or a clean and great design, it is important we merge all of these aspects to the mold of the home's past stories. 

Every run down, falling apart home has a story and we feel that it is our purpose to give these homes their story back. In doing so, we look deep into the history of the home, or as much as we can find, and attempt to merge the history of the home with a new family story for time to come. 

We often find ourselves wandering the home and looking for any inspiration to brighten a light that will set a path for the entire process. Our hope is to build new memories and create and renovate the home to cater our client's needs, while preserving the past of what once was a part of the home. 

To find the inspiration for yourself, take time and sit in one room where your family most gathers and let the home tell your story. What do you want the space to feel like? What takes place in this space? If you can, look a little deeper into what your home's history is and let that inspire you to find a way to preserve its past stories, while you and your family create new ones for years to come.