Quick Paint Question Matte or Egg Shell?

[October2008bride]

Hello painting gurus I need some assistance please!!

We are moving into our new home in ONE week (ahhhh!!!!) and have decided on some paint colours.

We had always planned on using Benjamin Moore''s "Abalone" in our hallway - it is a soft grey that I think will look GREAT Anyways, we found someone locally who actually bought gallons upon gallons of that colour only to determine they didn''t like it in their house, so we were able to buy a pail of it (5.5 gallons) for $50. That is a huge steal!

The paint is eggshell, which I''ve heard works well for hallways.

Anyways - here is my question. We also plan on painting our dining room in Benjamin Moore''s "Silver Fox", which is just one shade darker on the paint chip. The local Benjamin Moore store looked it up and said we could just add more tint to Abalone and get Silver Fox. So we were thinking of saving even more money and buying a few more gallons of Abalone and just tinting it to our desired colour, however I''m not sure if Eggshell will work in a long, narrow living/dining room.

Do you think there is such a big difference in matte vs eggshell that you''d pay 100 for 2 cans (versus 30 for 2 through this method)?

Please weigh in if you can! Thanks in advance!!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Is the hallway beside the dining room, or does the dining room just sort of melt into the hallway?

I don''t think that the variations in sheen/shine would be very noticeable, if you want to have the dining room be matte. Eggshell is a very, very light gloss, and a lot of homes do eggshell throughout for easier clean up with smears, etc. I think having eggshell in the dining room would be ideal, in case anything ever got spilled on the wall, it''s so much easier to clean up.

 

[AsscherGirl]

I''d stick with the eggshell. It''s not super shiny and besides the easier clean up, it also helps the light reflect around the room. Umm, plus the cost! That is a super duper deal for BM paint!! We have matte everywhere in our house and in some rooms where we don''t have a lot of lights, the walls look a little dull. I am crazy and have actually considered putting another coat of paint in a different finish just to get some sheen!

Good luck!

 

[October2008bride]

Date: 9/4/2009 8:35:10 AM
Author: fisherofmengirly
Is the hallway beside the dining room, or does the dining room just sort of melt into the hallway?


I don''t think that the variations in sheen/shine would be very noticeable, if you want to have the dining room be matte. Eggshell is a very, very light gloss, and a lot of homes do eggshell throughout for easier clean up with smears, etc. I think having eggshell in the dining room would be ideal, in case anything ever got spilled on the wall, it''s so much easier to clean up.

Hey Fisher! The hallway runs next to the dining room/living room, with only one view showing both rooms.

Ideally, we''d go with eggshell in both just because we''d save so much money, but I didn''t want to make a bad decision on our home just to save 100 dollars, so that is why I''m asking you girls! Sounds like you think eggshell would work (which is great for me! ahah)

Thanks girlie.

 

[October2008bride]

Date: 9/4/2009 8:42:39 AM
Author: *~*Danielle*~*
I''d stick with the eggshell. It''s not super shiny and besides the easier clean up, it also helps the light reflect around the room. Umm, plus the cost! That is a super duper deal for BM paint!! We have matte everywhere in our house and in some rooms where we don''t have a lot of lights, the walls look a little dull. I am crazy and have actually considered putting another coat of paint in a different finish just to get some sheen!


Good luck!

Thanks Danielle - that is totally helpful. I can''t remember the last time I painted, and my parents are total Matte people which is why I was concerned.

We actually won''t have a lot of lights in the LR/DR however it does get quite bright with the sun.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Tacori E-ring]

egg shell

 

[October2008bride]

Thanks Tacori!

 

[Italiahaircolor]

While matte paint is really modern due to its appearance...it''s also really hard to keep up with. It shows everything. I don''t know if you have a familly of wall touchers...but it gets really spotted really fast.

Eggshell is a nice compromise. It''s low-shine, but high hide.

 

[anniee19]

We painted our entire house in Eggshell, with the exception of our bedroom, which we recently did with matte Dutch Boy paint. We painted it about 2 months ago, and even though we have no children, there are spots on the wall already. When hubby hung our upholstered headboard, there was a big spot on the wall from where he was leaning, and I swear he''s not a greasy type of guy! We''ve had to do touchups more than once, and I don''t think I''d ever do matte again! It''s also really hard to clean. I''ve found the paint just wipes off if you''re not super gentle.

 

[neatfreak]

Personally I LOVE matte paint. But I would only do it if you are willing to buy aura or some other BM type of paint that is washable and extremely durable. Otherwise matte paint can be a mess.

That being said we just painted almost our entire house in matte and I LOVE how it looks. So chic. And we have 2 kids and dogs too! But the good quality paint really is VERY washable. It isn't the same matte paint that you had 20 years ago. I can scrub the heck out of it (and have already had to test this twice

) and it washes very well.

So my vote is matte unless money is really tight.

ETA: We used the Behr Ultra Plus matte paint-which so far we are really impressed with. No marks on the walls at all even though we've been moving furniture everywhere, have babies that have thrown food on the wall, etc.) The colors came out spot on to our BM color swatches too.

 

[TravelingGal]

eggshell isn''t really that glossy at all. We have been in painting hell this week so it''s really fresh in my mind (we were just painting last night, in fact!). We did my daughters'' room in satin, which is a step up for Behr and I didn''t even think that was that shiny. Eggshell is a nice compromise and supposed to be much easier to maintain. In fact, I kind of like the subtle sheen - there''s no way I''d do matte with a kid anyway.

 

[lili]

We did the high traffic and common areas in eggshell and matte for bedrooms.
I love how easily the eggshell wipes off

 

[October2008bride]

Thanks everyone for the advice. For the price and the votes, we picked up 2 more gallons of the eggshell paint (for $30!) and will have it tinted darker for our LR/DR.

We are also going to get our bedroom paint this weekend while we are at it, so we will likely go with Matte for in there.

Thanks again - you guys are great!