Choosing Interior Wall Paint

There are many types of paint on the market so it can be difficult deciding which type of paint to use. Let's take a quick look at the type of paints that are available and where you might consider using any particular type of paint.

There are many paint manufacturers out there all doing different types of paints. Some like Little Greene company and Farrow & Ball do more muted tones. Then there are trade companies that do more traditional blues, greens, reds, yellows and all the different values of the colour.

With interior decoration you will mostly be using a matte emulsion or a silk emulsion on the walls. Powdery matte emulsion can be applied in a room which is used primarily by adults. But matte emulsion is quite chalky and it doesn't wipe very well.

So where you need to have wipeability I would choose a vinyl matte emulsion or a silk matte emulsion. Many manufacturers will have a very clear demarcation on their paint cards of the different paints that they supply. Vinyl matte still gives a kind of powdery quality but it's fully wipeable which makes it useful in children's rooms.

Alternatively there is vinyl silk emulsion. This would be used in a room like a bathroom or a kitchen or children's room where you want easy wipeability but want the finish to have a bit of a sheen. So, that's the difference between the vinyl matte and the vinyl silk emulsion. Remember that emulsions are water-based paints that you primarily put on walls.

For the woodwork, sometimes called the trim, you generally have a choice between eggshell or gloss. Eggshell has a soft sheen wipeable finish that is lovely on woodwork.

Traditionally in Victorian times and earlier in the 20th century, people used a lot of gloss paint. Gloss is great for high traffic public areasas it's very easily wipeable.An unusual way to use gloss paint is to put it on a wall. Here it gives a lacquer-type effect.

Gloss traditionally was made of oil caused odour issues during application. This has largely been overcome as these paints are now more water-based so they have less of a smell and they're much more environmentally friendly.

So for interiors there are the emulsions, vinyl, silk or standard matte emulsions for walls, or for woodwork you can choose eggshell or gloss.