<p>I am preparing to paint the inside of the entire house. In the past for kitchen and bath, I have been using the same semi gloss paint for the wall and ceiling.
I have decided to use two colors this time to make the rooms brighter, should I use flat or semi gloss for those rooms? what is your experience? and what color do you use?</p>
<p>I would use semi-gloss for both ceilings and walls. It resists mildew and is easier to clean.</p>
<p>I have ceiling white in all rooms with flat paint in pale cream on living room, dining room, family room and den walls. Kitchen is semi-gloss cream; main floor bath is wallpapered. I tend to like very neutral colors on large walls. </p>
<p>We used satin finish when we redid the kitchen recently. Looks great and is still easy to clean. Semi gloss makes sense for bathrooms with all of the steam from showers, but I think the satin will hold up well in the kitchen. My contractor recommended it. We used matte for the ceiling.
The wall color we used is Bare by Benjamin Moore. </p>
<p>We just repainted family room/kitchen. Had been egg shell, but went with a flat/matte this time. Decorator kept saying, “But the egg shell will clean up easier.” And I keep replying, “But I don’t have kids at home anymore.” </p>
<p>We always use flat.</p>
<p>Oh I wish I could remember the paint type, but the last time I painted a bathroom, the paint store man told me that there is a new flat paint available that does not do the sweating thing from the shower steam and he was right. It actually is better than my other bathroom with an eggshell. Ask your paint store about this. I think it is a Benjamin Moore product for kitchens and bathrooms. But as for the ceiling, just flat white ceiling paint (Ben Moore with blue label.)</p>
<p>I used the stuff Bowie is talking about from Benjamin Moore for my bathroom and it worked - it was also something special about being non-toxic to work with (probably why the painter recommended it). For a small bath stick with one color for walls and ceiling (but for bigger kitchen you can do white ceiling instead).</p>
<p>We use flat. Semi gloss makes me feel as though the walls are greasy, which sort of defeats the purpose.</p>
<p>Typically flat paint is used for ceilings, but this is a bathroom, so moisture would be an issue…maybe instead of semi-gloss, consider using Shell or Satin???</p>
<p>We used semigloss in the bathrooms in the past, but now use satin. It is fine. Ceilings are ceiling white paint…which I believe is flat finish.</p>
<p>I use Kilz as the primer on walls & ceilings in bathrooms to prevent mildew, and then in smaller rooms we use semi-gloss on the ceilings to reflect more light. Matte on the walls.</p>
<p>Do you have a hood over your stove? Are you good about using it?</p>
<p>@mathmom Yes, under cabinet hood is over cooktop.</p>
<p>I might go with flat because I still think it looks better, but #5 might be referring to BM Matte which is between flat and eggshell and is mildew resistant, more important in a bath than a kitchen generally. You might also want to look into BM’s Aura line.</p>
<p>Ok, I was mistaken. They painted our kitchen with BM Matte finish, but it was the Regal Select, which is supposedly very washable and mildew resistant. We shall see if it holds up in the kitchen. It looks great, though.</p>
<p>Regal® Select Waterborne Interior Paint</p>
<p>It’s crucial to use a quality product such as Benjamin Moore. I prefer a matte or eggshell finish on walls and ceiling. We used Benjamin Moore’s Aura Bath & Spa paint (matte) the last time we painted a bathroom. It’s a great formula, low VOC, covers beautifully.</p>
<p><a href=“http://store.benjaminmoore.com/storefront/primers-specialty/aura-bath-spa-paint/prodPRM29.html”>http://store.benjaminmoore.com/storefront/primers-specialty/aura-bath-spa-paint/prodPRM29.html</a></p>
<p>I got it, BM seems to be the con-census.</p>
<p>I had good results from Dunn-Edwards, but I will try BM this time.</p>
<p>It depends on your walls. If they are older and not perfect, then eggshell or flat. If they are perfect, then you can go shinier. I have rentals so I have painted a lot. I prefer eggshell. It is nearly flat and I think it looks a bit more elegant than shiny. </p>
<p>Buy the EXPENSIVE paint, not the cheap paint, even at Home Depot or Lowe’s. The more expensive paint has more pigment and provides a better coverage. </p>
<p>Dunn-Edwards is a quality product, too. The exterior of our house was painted with Dunn-Edwards seven years ago and still looks great. When they put new windows in the kitchen recently and painted the exterior where the additions were, the new paint was indistinguishable from the old. The paint hadn’t faded at all in 7 years of harsh sunlight.</p>
<p>I love the look of flat/matte paints, but the environments of bathrooms (steam, soap suds, etc) and kitchens (more steam, oil spatters, etc) make me shy away. This is not a “kids” thing, it is a “these ceilings are apt to get dirty” thing.</p>